Bilbo's Party: Bilbo and Lobelia

 

I'm starting a new Middle Earth project, which I'm going to be following along as I go on the blog (to plug my Middle Earth shaped hobby hole).

This is very much a passion project- it's safe to say that the 600 point army that I'm building can be nothing other than one...

The aim is to create an all Hero List themed around Bilbo's Birthday Party, from the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring. This means an all-Hero list, where with the exception of Gandalf, all the heroes are going to be Hobbits... Safe to say this won't be winning many matches anytime soon. Regardless, I really wanted to scratch an itch for building a Hobbit list. Around 12 years ago I built a Hobbit list, which I sold about 5 years ago. I had painted it to a standard I wasn't massively happy with, and I didn't fancy stripping all those Hobbits. When I was looking then at rebuilding a Shire list, I didn't fancy the horde army again. Large armies just don't fit with my hobby strengths. Hence, the Bilbo's Party List was born.

The idea is to therefore make some small tweaks- little kitbashes to give a party feel. This started with my vision for Bilbo.

I wanted Bilbo to be mid-speech, toying with the Ring, ready to put it on and cause something for the Shirefolk to remember. The table he's stood on is actually a stool I bought from Etsy, that's been 3D printed (as the bread and candle on the table were too). Though Bilbo unfortunately can't take the Ring in the list because of Frodo, I still felt this was a key moment to represent in the list. As you can see, I managed to keep Bilbo's height under that of Gandalf still- so he's not too tall as a result. (Also worth noting here that I took advantage of the Rivendell Gandalf Made To Order, in order to get a Gandalf without a drawn sword/action pose- more fitting for the party!)

For Lobelia, I actually decided not to make any changes- she's already reasonably at the party- perhaps attempting to berate Bilbo or Frodo for failing to give her family enough in Bilbos will.

For painting- I wanted to try and get a colour that could run across most of the army to unify them. I'm using Gal Vorbak Red for Bilbo's jacket and Lobelia's dress. I'm planning on this colour popping up on a few other Hobbits- as well as using some Blue's (mostly to help tie Gandalf into the Army too, who has a Bluey-Grey colour)- which Lobelia is using on her apron.

For the bases- I wanted them to have a vibrant, but well kept grassy look- so I've gone for a flock over some Stirland Mud. Hopefully this looks like a well kept lawn for the Hobbits to gather on.

I'll be updating how the project is going over the next few weeks- I'll have to run over the full list at some point too, and how it might work (Answer: not very well).

Thanks for reading- see you soon!