The eagles are Coming...Slowly but Surely.

 A old Gandalf figure from Citadel next to an eagle toy from Plastoy. I bought this guy off Amazon and was really happy at the size. Larger than the Schleich models but not by too much, just enough. I think he has a good scale to the 28mm figures too.

 My crowded painting table comes under aerial attack. I have a couple more of the 'wings up' Schleich model but I doubt I'll ever have room to field them, these guys are going to come in as expensive when It comes to points.

I have based the colouring on a Golden Eagle, to lesson the points values, I'm going to make two of them juveniles ( with the white feathers) and they will be less skilled and less expensive.

At the moment I have two hours a week to paint what with work and family commitments, these eagles are great and quick to paint with lots of wet and dry brushing going on, that said, my two hours are up for this week. Next week I hope to get a little bit closer to finishing them.

North star/Osprey goblins out of the dark at last.

Here is the first look at North Star's and osprey's new plastic Goblin range. I think they look quite old school which is nice to see and with quite a nod to Tolkien.
 These are 3-ups and it looks like the arms have been stuck on with blue tac. The bases too will not be so thick in the final products. I like them and think they will do well. Looking forward to the Elves now after seeing the Dwarves and Goblins. The release date for these sets is still in the air but is mentioned as being later this year.

It will be interesting to see how they fit in with the Warlord games plastic orcs scale wise. Hopefully they will mix well but you know what orcs are like, always kicking off and scrapping at the slightest thing.

Gwaihir, Wind lord.

Sorry I couldn't help myself...

Gwaihir Found, Alive and Well.

Whilst trawling amazon I came across this eagle model from a company called Plastoy. I had already collected several eagles from Schleich which were perfect for 28mm gaming, but I was wanting something a little special for the Wind lord himself.
 There was no scale on the photo on the site so I had to take a chance and ordered one, to my delight it turned out to be slightly larger than the Schleich models and with a better wing silhouette. Perfect for a leader of the Great eagles.

I have keep an eye open for years for good eagles of this scale, Schleich have just up dated their model (the one with the wings tucked in), the other one now is off the shelves. Still this gives me a little bit of variety in the units. I did try to bend the wings of the first one in warm water but they didn't set and just sprung back over time. So having these new versions is a very welcome thing.

 So, if you are looking for a cheaper option on giant, orc killing, wind soaring, troll scaring eagle, Amazon is a very good place to start your quest.

Norba Elves, The battle of the Ring figures.

 I saw an advert on the Dragon Rampant Facebook page and decided to follow It up. It was from Norba Miniatures from Spain, they have designed miniatures based on the 'Hobbit' movies. Their Elves are basically the armoured wood elves from the Battle of the Five Armies and In fact the range is called 'The battle of the Ring'. I was quite intrigued by these figures so I ordered a few. I will let you know what arrives through the door. I can't make out if they are plastic of resin...the bases look like resin to me.

 They are classed as 28mm and I'm hoping they will be on the large side so they match my Copplestone High Elves, let's just wait and see.

They are quite reasonably priced too I thought being 12 Euros for 10 figures, They also have plans to release Orcs again based on the 'Hobbit' movies.

It's a very good time to be collecting Tolkien style armies at the moment I think with osprey/Northstar about to release their fantasy plastic range of Elves, Dwarves and Goblins. These new plastic multi-part sets all draw quite heavily from Tolkien from what I have seen. Interesting stuff and very welcome in today's market.

A Stranger from eBay tries to cross the bridge to the Lead mountain.