Merry Christmas

I wish all of you a very peaceful and joyous holiday season- regardless of your beliefs, I hope you can appreciate what is, to me, a season of rebirth and renewal.

Merry Christmas!

Giant Scaly Attack Chicken!

The holiday season has, of course, been busy for me, but not so busy that I haven't had a chance to do some painting- even if all of the miniatures I have finished in the last few days are from the limbo of my to-be-completed pile.

First is a Nolzur's Marvelous Miniature, from a relatively new line by Wizards of the Coast. The line is sold pre-primed,which is a interesting concept, and is much more anatomically accurate than is usual for fantasy (especially female) miniatures. The color scheme I chose is much like my Una McDonnel miniature.

I am very happy with the wizard's book, which I modeled after some 14th-century tomes. Sharp eyed readers may notice a white Graveworm on the left-hand page. That is a representation of a custom sculpt of mine, which I need to get posted sometime.

This is an Etsy-listing for when I finally get my shop revived. Be expecting more like it in the future!

This is a  Reaper miniature, from Monte Cook's RPG setting Numenera. This particular model, I believe, is called an Ithsyn, but it looks more like a giant scaly attack chicken to me. I went for a slightly twisted, prehistoric look to the beastie, especially on the head, with its true double chin. As you can tell on the tongue, I have started using gloss varnish to add some effects to my miniatures. It can really make the eyes (or giant purple tongues) pop out at you.

This is actually a Christmas present for my girlfriend, who loves dinosaurs. When I got the miniature, it was bent at an angle (the one problem with Reaper's Bones line), as you can still see. I decided to keep it how it was, as it makes the whole miniature look more dynamic.

Speaking of scaly beasts...

Suffice it to say that Malakili is very happy.

Birthday Wishes

Today is the 93rd birthday of Christopher Tolkien, son of J.R.R. Tolkien. He grew up surrounded by his father's creations, and when Tolkien died, he gave up a lecturer's post at Oxford and became his literary executor, publishing his father's unfinished work, like The Silmarillion, Beowulf, and most recently, Beren and Luthien. For years he has been at the front of Tolkien studies, not only by the monumental labor of publishing that he has undertaken, but by seeking to propagate his father's true and unaltered legacy to the many admirers of his books.

I'm sure that most of those reading this are aware of the recent LotR Amazon rights deal (if not, check out this press release). Basically, Amazon has purchased from the Tolkien Estate the global TV rights for both LotR and The Hobbit (not the Silmarillion), and is planning on producing a multiple season show. That bit about the Tolkien Estate is worth revisiting, as it is important to understand the other, lesser-known piece of news that I'll mention below. In 1969 Tolkien himself sold the film rights (not including TV rights) to LotR and the Hobbit to United Artists (later bought by Saul Zaentz, who created Middle-earth Enterprises). This is what allowed Peter Jackson to make his film series, in addition to the earlier Rankin Bass and Ralph Bakshi animated films, and is distinct from the Tolkien Estate, which handles the book rights, and, until recently, the television rights. I was astounded when I discovered that the Christopher Tolkien-led Estate, which had been completely at odds with Jackson over his interpretation ("They gutted my father's book and made it into an action film" was one statement Christopher Tolkien made) would allow Amazon to buy the television rights- it was a very hopeful sign for the show to have Tolkien's son supporting it.

However, far from supporting it, Christopher has resigned from the Estate, which he had led since his father's death. This is very important news, not just because it involves the virtual retirement of the foremost advocate of Tolkien's legacy, but because, as the Amazon deal proves, the Estate is now much more willing to licence Tolkien properties than under Christopher's management.

This probably means that we'll be seeing many more such deals, and a change in what could be called the 'Middle-earth franchise' approaching the changes Disney's takeover made to Star Wars. What the quality of these productions will be is yet to be seen, but after the Jackson films I would say many, including myself, feel pretty pessimistic about their chances.

With all this going on, I thought it fitting that we Tolkiendili should remember Christopher Tolkien and his work- no matter what changes the public perception of Lord of the Rings undergoes, thanks to Christopher, Tolkien's true legacy has been preserved, and is accessible to all who want to discover it.

For this, heartfelt thanks and a hope for a happy birthday!

A Change of Pace

It's been a while since I've gotten any non-LotR fantasy miniatures painted! As opposed to my LotR paint jobs, which demand accuracy to the books, my more RPG inspired miniatures give me the freedom to play around with colors and details, to have a little fun painting. This isn't to say I dislike my LotR miniatures, they are one of my favorite things to paint, but it is refreshing to change pace for a little while.

This particular miniature was a freebie with a Reaper Miniatures purchase I made last spring, sculpted for the occasion of Reaper's 25th anniversary. One issue I sometimes have with Reaper, and the larger gaming community, is that the poor miniatures are often overloaded with gear and supersized weapons- I'm glad that with this one they stuck to a more realistic minimum. She's definitely a Rogue, even holding a bag of loot, so I gave her very muted clothes, including a blackened dagger.

The cloak back is an excellent sculpt, it flows very nicely, adding some dynamics to a somewhat static pose. All the armor is supposed to be soft dyed leather- the last thing a Rogue wants is creaking metallic sounds when she's moving. I struggled for a while trying to find good grey tones, but I'm very happy with how they turned out- all slightly different, but not enough that it stands out too much.

Aggressive Support

Despite the fact that the E-Wing or the 181st wing's TIE Interceptors never made a screen appearance, they are both relatively well known, appearing several memorable times in the expanded universe. The same cannot be said for the TIE Aggressor. It first appeared in the video game Star Wars Galaxies' Jump to Lightspeed supplement, and until it was made as an X-Wing miniature, it seems to have never reappeared- in fact, I had never heard of it. This is a pity, as it is a good looking TIE variant.

I have heard that, meta-game, it was intended to provide the Imperials with a fighter/bomber similar to a Y-Wing, especially with its rear-mounted turret. While I don't know how this translated in Galaxy terms, the X-Wing game maneuvers seem to grant it a slight advantage over the actual X-Wing, let alone the 'wallowing pig' Y-Wing. Its ability to take missiles, in addition to the ion or laser turret will, I think, prove useful in a support role. More useful, in fact, than the better known TIE bomber, as its added maneuverability and rear-mounted firepower will allow it to engage in dogfights.

All the painting work I did on this miniature was a few details (see below) and a heavy ink wash. Despite the simplicity, I think it adds a great deal of depth to the model.

The turret on the Aggressor (not on this model!) is removable, allowing for the craft to be easily modified for different missions. The same is true for the missile racks which have been left off of the miniature- they fit onto the slots directly above and below the inside solar panel brace. The laser cannon mounts are also supposed to be externally mounted instead of the standard internal mounts shown on the front of miniature.

When you watch the movies and look at stills of the TIE props, they are painted an overall Imperial grey. Even with the 181st Interceptor, the only color is the bloodstripes, there is no mechanical detailing like on Rebel craft. However, as this is supposed to be more of a first run or prototype, I added some slight gunmetal detailing, which can be seen most clearly between the panel lines on the top and belly.

The Aggressor is based on the same basic design as the TIE x1 advanced, flown by Darth Vader at Yavin Four. Like the x1, the Aggressor has limited shields and a hyperdrive, making it a good escort or long range craft. This high cost eventually undid the Aggressor, especially after Endor, when the Empire struggled to keep even the much less expensive Fighters and Interceptors supplied to its forces.

Might of the Empire

I couldn't let the E-Wing I posted last week go without an opponent, so I purchased one of my personal favorite Star Wars ships to battle it- a TIE Interceptor. First encountered by the Rebellion in the months leading up to the battle of Endor, it improved upon the TIE Fighter's already considerable maneuverability, while adding improved firepower and visibility. It is also, in my opinion, one of the most lethal looking space fighters inside or out of Star Wars canon, and is flown by some of the greatest aces the Empire has to offer.

The pilots included with the expansion pack show a strong focus on the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing, lead by Baron Soontir Fel, first seen in the Rogue Squadron comic series. This is to my liking, I even added bloodstripes used by the 181st to the side solar panels. The pilot abilities and upgrades included seem to take advantage of the Interceptor's greatest asset, its speed and maneuverability. Turr Phennir (the 181st's XO and later commander) in particular will be able to pull hit and run passes with ease, darting in and out of range to strike at slower Rebel opponents.

I did not do as much detail work on this model as on the E-Wing. In looking back at its only screen appearance in RotJ, the Interceptor is relatively clean and is painted a uniform grey. Weathering was really restricted to a heavy wash and carbon streaking around the laser muzzles. In researching this fighter, I discovered that some argue that the Intercepors at Endor had 10 cannons- four on the wingtips, four inside the cutaway portion of the wings, and two below the cockpit. I re-watched the Endor space sequences specifically looking for this, and all the shots fired appeared to be coming from the wingtips, so I only detailed these.

This shows the bloodstriping to good effect. These stripes were all painted by hand, without masking, so there is some slight deviance in the lines. I was expecting them to be much harder to paint than they ended up being. I had no trouble painting over the actual solar panels, the detailing on them actually helped keep the lines straight.

The twin ion engines, which give the TIE its name, were the only other spot of detail I added. You can also see the extra depth that the ink wash added around the engines and on the inside of the solar panel.

Squints incoming!

First Step Into a Larger World

I have a soft spot for dogfight games, going back to a copy of Wings of War: Dawn of WWII that I was given for my 11th birthday. Despite my continuing interest in that game, there are issues with it, especially for an eleven year-old. The plane cards lack the cool factor of miniatures, and made movement tricky, and the maneuver deck was also fiddly. Because of this (and the fact that WoW supplements are vastly more expensive than I remember), I had been interested in finding a replacement game for some time, and Fantasy Flight's X-Wing Miniatures Game fit the bill. In addition to great looking minis and a more streamlined gameplay than its predecessor, it tapped into another thing I enjoy, the X-Wing novels by Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston. The idea of recreating the actions of Rogue and Wraith Squadrons on the tabletop had me hooked. So, as a test of the miniature quality, I purchased an E-Wing expansion pack.

The quality of the game tokens and cards is up to Fantasy Flight's usual high standards, the tokens are printed with a great deal of detail, and all the cards feature original artwork (I'd like to see credits for the artists as per Arkham Horror, though). The E-Wing first appeared in the comic series Dark Empire plagued with mechanical difficulties, although it later became something of a replacement for the X-Wing by the time of The Black Fleet Crisis and New Jedi Order era. Since the E-Wing is strictly an Expanded Universe ship, unrevisited as yet by the Disney takeover, all the pilots come from the novels and comics of 'Legends' canon. The two generic cards, from Knave and Blackmoon Squadrons, are from Dark Empire and The New Jedi Order novels respectively. Having Corran Horn, the protagonist of Stackpole's Rogue Squadron novels, makes for a great ace character, although Etahn Ah'Baht's addition is somewhat perplexing. A'Baht is the Dornean General in charge of the Fifth New Republic Fleet in the Black Fleet Crisis and the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, and never to my knowledge flies a snubfighter.

Still, it is an excellent pack. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the paint job too. Even I would feel comfortable fielding it in an unmodified state- perhaps the first prepainted miniature I've felt that way about. Still, as seen above, there was room for improvement! I opted for Blackmoon Squadron markings, which I do not believe have ever been illustrated, even unofficially, giving me room to invent my own.

I kept the shape of the original red markings as I liked the outlines and wanted to retain the good 'alliance grey' color on the body. All the repainting was done freehand, with no masking of any kind, as such there is some slight variance with the markings. I also wanted to relieve the resultant monochromatic look, so I added a stripe in medium tan/yellow down the body.

Last to be added were some slightly overscale squadron and pilot insignia, along with a row of kills below the cockpit. I actually could not find anyone who had added carbon scoring from laser cannon near-misses- these were drybrushed on before I applied an overall ink wash.

I opted for no markings along the underbelly of the E-Wing, making the tan arrows stand out in contrast with the plain grey.

I look forward to testing the ship's mettle and trying out the game in the near future!

Heir of Numenor

It's been a while since I've posted! Other responsibilities have taken precedence over the blog lately, and I really have not had a chance to paint since I posted Malakili a couple of months back. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I had some spare time yesterday, and decided to finish up one of my many unfinished projects, a GW Elendil.

While the Jackson films had many flaws, I really enjoyed the prologue attached to the Fellowship of the Ring. The costume design in particular was excellent, based mostly on Alan Lee designs, and Elendil was no exception. I grew up with Alan Lee's illustrations -my first copy of LotR had fifty watercolors by him- and he is still my favorite Tolkien artist.

Tolkien miniatures can be difficult for me to paint, as he never really gave us any guidance as to the clothes and armor worn. However, in the Silmarillion there are repeated references to Elven armor shining in the sun, so I tried to capture that look with plenty of bright silver highlights. The green stone on the helm is supposed to be the Elendilmir, mentioned in Unfinished Tales.The other colors are supposed to tie Elendil in with the later Gondorians and Dunedain, in addition to setting up a good contrast when placed by my Noldorian Elves...

...like this one. This is one of my favorite paint jobs that I've done. It is supposed to be one of the Elves of the house of Fingolfin, first High King of the Noldor, and is usable all the way from the flight from Valinor to the Last Alliance. The blue and white color scheme is actually mentioned in connection with Fingolfin's son Fingon at the Nirnaeth Arnoediad.

I tried to capture the otherworldly sense of the Elves with clean lines and contrasts. Even when compared to Elendil, or other brighter miniatures like my Khazad Guard the Elf stands out.

Beast-Master

Here at Wolf Age Miniatures, with so many monsters and daemons running loose, there has long been a need for a Beast-Master to control and take care of all these creatures. It was a long time before I found a suitable candidate, but the position is filled at last!

Previously in the employ of the late Jabba the Hutt, the Corellian-born Malakili was the primary caregiver for the rancor Pateesa, until that beast's untimely demise at the hands of Luke Skywalker. After the death of his employer Malakili wandered the deserts, for a time he became a sort of nanny to another Hutt, later helping to found a restaurant in the thriving spaceport Mos Eisley. However, after a disagreement with his partner over the customer status of banthas, he began traveling the stars, eventually ending up at my door, in need of a job.

Needless to say, he found one. It's been a bit of an adjustment for him, he's not used to handling creatures with more supernatural abilities like the basilisk or hellhound, but he picks up quickly and I'm happy with his work.

Malakili is a West End Games model, produced in the 1990's by Grenadier for their Star Wars RPG.

Times without Number

I first encountered John Brunner in his short story In the Season of the Dressing of the Wells in the anthology After the King. After enjoying that tale, I picked up a few novels by him in my last used book store trip, including Times without Number.

The book is a collection of three stories originally published in three consecutive issues of the British magazine Science Fiction Adventures in 1962, collected into a novel the same year, revised by Brunner in 1969. The copy I read is the 1969 revision.

It's an alternate history book, set in a 1989 where the Spanish Armada conquered England, paving the way for an empire spanning the whole of the western hemisphere. While conventional technology is at a severely lower level than our timeline, there have been major advancements in one area- time travel, controlled by a government-supported Society of Time. All three stories (really sections) deal with a young junior officer in this order, Dom Miguel Navarro, and his gradual (although spotty) understanding of the workings of time.

While a very enjoyable read, especially the middle section, the chief interest for me was the ideas contained in it. Brunner is really good at writing historical background and making it very organic and accurate, it felt like something that could have happened, even the time travel, at least the idea. There is one slight issue: as is made clear in the end, there can only be one actual timeline- alternate worlds don't stretch to infinity in this book- however, in part 2 people pass through a time machine into this reality from an alternate one. This can be explained by the inexperience of Dom Miguel, he still hasn't learned the innermost secrets of the Society, but a bit of explanation from a higher-ranking member would have been welcome.

Still, I really enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading more by the author.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

Star Wars, even the originals,  may not be my favorite films, that title going to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I have had a soft spot for much of its Expanded Universe for some time. So, when searching for copies of some Thrawn novels I found a 1978 Star Wars novel with a Ralph McQuarrie cover, I snatched it up!
Foster's name was familiar, although I can't remember actually reading anything by him, he's best known to me for his Star Trek and Alien novels- other adaptions and Fan Fiction-type books.

The Star Wars EU, although Disney has recently thrown a good bit of it out, is one of the most developed of any Sci-Fi universe- every throw-away line and background character has its story- and this, the first novel written, is where it starts. According to that supreme source Wikipedia (backed up by Star Wars Insider) Foster not only had access to many of the early drafts and story ideas, but this novel was to be a cheap sequel if the first film was a flop. This would have lead to a very different development of the series, as I'll expand on later.

The novel itself is a good light read, don't be expecting much in the way of prose style, but it does have something of a swords and sorcery feel to parts, especially towards the end, where Luke and Leia fight their way through a system of caves to reach an ancient temple dominated by a giant Cthulhu statue, wherein lies a gem with Force-controlling powers. This actually works pretty well with the space opera of the films.

The most interesting thing to me is to see how exactly this novel influenced and is different from what could be called 'mainstream' or at least more recent EU material. There are two major deviations from the norm:

Han is only mentioned in a throw-away line on the last page, taking his and Ben Kenobi's  place is Halla, a smart-alec witch woman. There are two Chewie-type strong arm aliens that ally themselves with Luke and co., reminding me of the later Gamorrean guards.

"No Luke, I am your father" and especially Luke and Leia's relationship was obviously as big a surprise to Foster as anyone else. Luke has some more than brotherly feelings towards Leia, which can make for some odd reading.

Some other differences include:

The casual mention of female Stormtroopers, not to mention some surprisingly intelligent (and talkative) guards,

The constant reference to the Lord Darth Vader,

Leia explaining she joined the Rebels due to their less degenerate art!

It also has some parallels with the later films. The setting alone is a lot like ESB's Dagobah with an Imperial presence, while the Coway are similar to troglodyte Ewoks, especially in their fighting style. The ending showdown between Luke and Lord Darth Vader also plays out in some ways like a reversed version of the Cloud City duel. It would be interesting to know how much Lucas (or Foster) actually borrowed from each other.

All in all, if you like the films and would like to see a different handling of them it's well worth a read, after you have gone through some of the more 'canon' works.

Small Hands

"Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world; small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
-Elrond

 The first of the Fellowship to get painted- Merry and Pippin!

Ranger of Middle-Earth

In the Forests of the Ettinsmoors, a lone Dunadan hunts Orcs...

Rendezvous With Rama

The first Arthur C. Clarke I read was his short story, The Star, in the Asimov-edited Hugo winners anthology. I liked it, so when I happened upon a copy of Childhood's End a few weeks later, I snatched it up and read it in the next day or two. It had the steady, organic procession of Greek tragedy, and the description of alien vistas and technology were breathtaking and very cohesive. Clarke excels at first contact stories, whether it involves giant saucers or monoliths and Rendezvous with Rama is no exception.

A big part of the novel is the slow discovery of what lies inside Rama, so I'll try not to give away too much. The set-up's simple, a large object is discovered moving at an astounding rate towards the solar system, a probe discovers that it's a massive spaceship and the only Earth vessel in range goes to investigate.

The best portion of the book for me was the middle, as the spaceship crew enter Rama and begin to explore Clarke delivers some of his great description- it's completely alien, unknowable, but it all fits together, what little we understand makes sense. It's the same feeling one gets with the monoliths in 2001, especially the first encounter on the moon.

It almost reminded me of Lovecraft's Elder Ones, so high above and beyond humanity that we might as well be insects. The Ramans, what ever they are, don't really care about humanity's contact with them.

He paces himself well too, there's no real sudden jerk as something's discovered or explored, it flows at a steady pace. This makes it easier, I suppose, to digest the incredible things he's talking about.

Clarke makes comparisons between the exploration of Rama and Earth-bound archaeology- this is very fitting. There is no life here, it's sterile, at least at first.

As the novel progresses the first mysteries are more-or-less solved, but this only digs up new ones, another Clarke standard (curiouser and curiouser!). After the slow build-up, however, the eventual discovery of life in the form of 'biots', while intriguing, didn't quite live up to my expectations- no monoliths! While an interesting idea and well-done it seemed too much like a science fiction conceit, not a part of the discoveries that have gone on before. It made Rama become a little too human, especially since several of the biots, including the first encountered, came close to actual creatures.

Clarke picks back up soon after the first biot scene, with a crewmember's journey through a suitably strange landscape. It may just be me, but this sequence (and the biots), seemed really close to the stories and ideas written a generation before Clarke, Stanley Weinbaum's short story A Martian Odyssey, for example. While I enjoy reading this kind of Sci-fi, it felt a little out of place in Rama.

Still, it was an excellent book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It ranks with Childhood's End and 2001: A Space Odyssey as some of Clarke's best work, the atmosphere of the first half alone is well worth the read, and I'll definitely be re-reading it.

Have thoughts of your own on this or others of Clarke's work? Leave a comment!

Book cover art

I like buying used books. Something about the act of hunting through shelves of books, never knowing quite what you're going to find, the history behind every beaten-up paperback, and the smell of old books- not to mention the prices- appeals to me a lot more than simply going down to a chain bookstore and getting exactly what you came for. I also like to read older books, mostly Science-fiction and Fantasy from the turn of the last century up to the early 80's, so used bookstores tend to have more of what I like to read than new ones. One of the interesting features of used books is all the different cover art available. Most of these are frankly mediocre at best, but sometimes you find a gem- here are three of my favorites:

First- The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, cover by Yvonne Gilbert. This is one of the best non-Tolkien high fantasies. She creates a well thought-out world, with perhaps the best handling of magic I've ever seen. The cover captures the story well, I like its muted colors, Ged's clothing, in particular, looks like it belongs together and has seen some wear. It really captures what I try to do on most of my fantasy paint-jobs, especially my Dark Tower miniatures.

 Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov, cover by Michael Whelan. My favorite volume of the classic series, the cover illustrates the Mule in the disguise of Magnifico playing his Visi-Sonor in the Ruins of Trantor. It's almost surreal with its yellow and green highlights, contrasted with the bright colors of Magnifico's clothes.

The Silver Warriors by Michael Moorcock, cover by Robert Gould. I actually haven't finished this one, having just gotten it Friday. It's the first Moorcock I've read and I'm really enjoying it. It has the trapping of a good Robert E. Howard story, with a well done atmosphere. The cover is set up almost like a medieval manuscript, and reminds me of Tolkien's Thror's map from the Hobbit.

Disagree with my choices, or have a favorite of your own to share? Leave a comment!