Dol Amroth for Gondor!

"Nahhh... I don't want Amroth. I don't like their goofy looking helmets." *facepalm*

So after acquiring a box of mounted Dol Amroth knights, I threw my current plans for my Gondor army completely out the window. And now? Oh-ho-ho, am I glad I did! Why? Cuz they are fun and awesome, thats why!

Actually a very good pack. With some attention paid, you can easily make each model unique using only the materials that comes in the set. (and still have some leftover goodies for fun elsewhere)

For a single point more than the basic Warrior of Minas Tirith with shield, a KoDA gets an extra fight value, an extra courage value, AND a special rule that counts them within range of a banner if Prince Imrahil is within 12"! wow... And yes, there are those who find these little bonus stats quite frustrating. llew hO. What are you gonna do?

"I will charge you and kill you
whilst you fall over laughing at me!"
(of course they are finecast now.
No comment on that yet)

So I've got the cav. Now what?
I didn't want to just go out and buy a bunch of foot knights for several reasons.
1) I don't like the giant spires floating out of the side's of the KoDA's metal minis head's... I think they are ugly. plain and simple.
2) I didn't really feel like investing in the steep priced foot models, me being less then enthusiastic about the way they look, and deciding against it. Not to mention, they're hideous... did I say that already?
3) In simple mathematics for ya we have:  1+2 = 3... take this a little further - it gets a little complicated. we need get into derivatives here... but just skipping to the end... - we are left with this final equation: 3 = nope.

With the math out of the way I now need to decide how to proceed. hmmm... well, my buddy Zorro is having all kinds of fun converting mini's and making works of art by hewing up these poor little guys and putting them back together in cool ways. So I thought, "meh... why not give it a go." So with modelling putty in hand, a pile of numenorean volunteers bought off ebay, and a knife, I started making plans for creating my very own Knights of Dol Amroth... (They really need to come out with a Working on Tiny Little Miniature Human Gamepieces That Are Smaller Than your Fingernails for Dummies. I would have bought it. If anyone's a dummy when it comes to this stuff, its me... But... As of yet, they have not. So I was largely on my own)

The most noticeable detail of the KoDA's is the helmet - I have already expressed my feelings on that - Easily the second most important detail is the shield. By a stroke of dumb luck, the shape of the Amroth shield and the Numenorean warrior's shield is identical. I only noticed this after already committing to the plan. But it worked out well. (Now of course you still have the Numenorean insignia, but that really isn't a problem)

Once again, I did not take any WIP pix. So I will describe the steps I took.

The helmets were built in two stages using modelling clay. But first, I prepared the models... er... that is I tore up their current helmets.

Step one: Cut off those stupid 'cat ears'

From here I spent an eternity cutting out little wing-shaped pieces from a sheet of cardstock... Imagine trying to cut a a complicated shape, that's about the size of a tick, out of a piece of paper... Now cut out 16 of them... You feeling me?..  But hey! No worries here! My psychiatrist taught me a great little trick in case I have another screaming spell. Its alllll good.   

So with the wings all cut out (I had to cut out a few extra... I'm sure we have all experienced moments when those tiny little modelling pieces go rocketing over the horizon after the slightest little nudge... or even an exhalation that was a little too strong) I now got out the modeling putty and unleashed my creativity!

On the first stage I glued the wings on to the helmet and shaped the 'dome' look with the putty. Once dry, I carefully applied another layer and shaped the features of the helm in the signature Amrothian style.

Other modifications that I made were basic, easy stuff like applying a generous amount of putty to the chest to create the breastplates. I also spread a thin layer of it down the right side of the models hip/thigh area and poked a myriad of tiny holes into it with a pin to create chain-mail. Or my favorite, I modeled the 'wing' thigh-guard  armor piece over the upper corner of the tunic.

Final product. (yes, of course I'm showing you the best helmet job) hmmm... You can't really see the thigh-guards.. oh well.

With all the modifications to the mini itself complete, I just now needed to alter the shields as I did not want half of my men running around with the obvious Numenorean logo. So after I had some fun with that, distributed the Amroth shields with my altered shields and a couple un-altered shields (as Amroth is supposed to be a pure line descended from the men of Numenor), I geared up for painting.

The paint scheme is obvious. Green and white. Not too hard there. As I am not writing a post about painting (although I would invite you to inspect the faces of these minis), I am not going to go through a step-by-step painting process. But basically, the underside of the green cloaks are a lighter green then the outside, and where the background is green, I put a white stripe, and where the background it white, I put a green stripe. Simple and elegant. Booyeah.

                           


With the surplus of heads in the mounted KoDA set, I had a helmet left over. Just some added detail fun. I just hollowed it out, and plopped it on Imrahil's base. Easy peasy.

So there you have it! An interesting and cheap(ish) way of fielding a Dol Amroth division. The fact that I got to tone down those goofy wings a little is just another plus!

Later, guys.

    
    ~Tavros~