Tag Archives: Lord of the Rings

Sauron the Necromancer of Dol Guldur (Jewel of July ’18)

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Sauron the Necromancer of Dol Guldur Citadel Miniatures

Like The Tainted and the other “Named” Nazgûl that Games Workshop created in the post-RotK space, this model of Sauron is aesthetically based on the look of the characters and villains from Peter Jackson’s LotR films as well as the snippets of information gleaned from The Hobbit.

As such, this figure was designed and released many years before The Hobbit Trilogy of films was fully conceived, so Games Workshop went with a mode spectral and – in a sense – Warhammer type of design for Sauron as opposed to the “skinny pupil” design that the films went in the end, which was much more reminiscent of the Last Alliance appearance of Sauron taken from the Beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring film.

Sauron the Necromancer of Dol Guldur Citadel Miniatures

Sauron the Necromancer of Dol Guldur Citadel Miniatures

I could certainly see using this model in a Nighthaunt army alongside the new Age of Sigmar stuff, as the “ghostly” design aesthetic is still actually pretty close between this model from the early 2000s and today’s newest 2018 releases. Some of the paint here is a little bit rough – I used drybrushing for the first couple of layers before blending the later ones. It just wasn’t going to be a model where the amount of that extra effort was going to especially pay off, at least in my opinion. As is often the case, though – larger photos serve to amplify less obvious flaws and rough spots.

Sauron the Necromancer of Dol Guldur Citadel Miniatures

Here’s this iteration of Sauron alongside his fellow speculative models. I do have another of this particular sculpt, so perhaps down the line I’ll paint the other in a black-to-red scheme. Lots of other stuff to get done before that’s an active consideration, though. So for now we have another July model done!

Frodo and Sam (Mount Doom) (Jewel of July ’18)

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Citadel Miniatures Frodo and Sam (Mount Doom)

Today we have another duo for the Jewel of July Challenge – indeed – another pair of Lord of the Rings models. Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee – with the particular sculpts that GW released for the final part of their quest to cast the ring into the Fires of Mount Doom. I’m.. not entirely sure why I bought these two. I think they may have been secondhand, where I’ve been much more likely to pick up models that I wouldn’t get at retail. I mean, they’re nice enough sculpts. They’re just very, very limited in their use beyond display models, even if you’re playing a LotR narrative campaign (which we will be doing soon).

Citadel Miniatures Frodo and Sam (Mount Doom)

I painted the pair of them really grubby. Much more than GW’s example models, which are mucky yet a lot cleaner. Given Frodo’s pose here, we’re really talking about the point of the film where it reaches the climax of The Ring’s tale – the first of about five endings – and both hobbits are both filthy and sweaty and covered in muck on their clothes, faces and everywhere else by this point.

And so then, are these figures as well! In the photos they look a bit roughly washed, especially in some of the clothing folds – and they are, with washes, powders turned into muck, and more – though the satin spray I hit them with gives them a sweaty sheen – again, to represent their look when the ring is cast into the fires, and it does a lot to reduce the roughly-washed look. Also, the figures are bloody tiny!

Citadel Miniatures Frodo and Sam (Mount Doom)

Here’s a shot of them alongside the Ral Partha Giant Spider from the other day. It might have been a useful scale shot for the spider  …except it’s with LotR range Hobbit figures.

Still, GW’s Shelob model isn’t a lot bigger, so perhaps this may end up being a proxy once we get to playing through TTT/RotK? It could pass for a Child of Ungoliant in my book!