LORD OF THE RINGS
This months Community Corner talks to Mike Peters whose big passion is creating book-accurate Lord of the Rings models for wargaming: “I rst read Lord of the Rings when I was about 11 years old. I was instantly hooked and have been ever since. I have always wanted to create the forces from the books in the way that they appeared in my imagination. Originally, back in the day, this involved Air x gures, converted with drawing pin shields and sewing needle spears and painted with Humbrol enamel paints. Recently with the advent of new, multipart plastics it has become easier to achieve what I envisaged.
“Like every other Tolkien fan I was excited at the prospect of seeing my dreams realised when Peter Jackson made his lms, but his vision was not mine... Much as I enjoy the lms I still feel the need to create my own versions for gaming. For the Rohirrim I used bits from Gripping Beast Dark Age Cavalry and Saxon Thegns, Victrix Vikings and Gallic cavalry along side some Perry Miniatures Wars of the Roses. I had this idea of creating a ‘horse head helm’ from greenstuff and I think it has worked well.
“My vision for them comes mostly from Tolkien’s Letters and the few meagre descriptions in the books. I created Outriders-lightly equipped scouts, the Royal Guard, more heavily armoured with cloaks and the Eorlingas, the more usual Rider of Rohan such as might be in Eomer’s Eored.
“I created Theoden based on the descriptions of him in the books. I used two ‘hairpieces’ from the Victrix Vikings to create his plaited beard and braids and the crown from Perry 15th century foot knights to create his helmet.”
What paints do you use? “I use a large range of paints from Citadel, Army Painter, Vallejo and Foundry and a pallet based on the colours in the Bayeux tapestry. I wanted them to be distinctive and individual. Each of them has a different trim around the cuffs. The shield patterns are based on random google searches for images of horses. Two years ago, I adopted three new approaches that have really lifted my painting: wet pallets, the use of glaze mediums and expensive brushes, all of which I would recommend.”
What’s next? “I’ve now completed my version of the Haradrim and the Fiefs of Gondor using similar techniques. Next , I am going to start on the forces of Mordor using Oathmark, Wargames Atlantic and Warlord Orcs and goblins as well as Gripping Beast Saxons and Vikings, Fireforge Byzantines and Foot Sergeants, Perry 15th century Infantry and anything else that looks like it might t in!” Check his work out at wilgut.blogspot.com.