Something a bit older for this blog update.
I have always loved the Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings animation film, especially the Orcs. Now an American company, long out of business now, used to produce some miniatures based on the style from the film. Elan Merch was the company which owned the licence for the production of Lord of the Rings merchandise, but he the actual miniatures were produced by Heritage Miniatures, from 1977. Heritage went out of business in 1983, and so I assume that the miniatures were produced in that time period. The Lost Minis Wiki site has more details on this here:
https://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Elan_Merch
and
https://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Heritage
All this was before I started collecting (I started in 1986), but I always wanted some Orcs in the film style. I have toyed with the idea of converting some from other miniatures, but I never really got around to it. Anyway, some months ago I managed to buy, very inexpensively, a set of six Heritage Miniatures Orcs. A couple were broken, with missing weapons replaced. So I purchased them, and set about a mini miniature project.
The miniatures themselves turned out to be from two different packs. Two of them were from 1808 Saruman's Urak-Hai Orcs of the White Hand Spearman, whilst the other four were from 1820.Saruman's Guards - Guard Orcs with Two-Handed Axes. Of the two broken miniatures, both from the 1820 pack, one had had his axe replaced with a nice looking halberd, and whilst the other had a wire pike. I kept the halberd conversion, and swapped the pike for a Essex Miniatures bill.
As for painting, I wanted to get as close to the animation look as possible. I kept the paining very simple with a drab earth tone for the clothing, grey for the weapons, grey/black for the skin tone, bright red eyes, and white(!) fangs/teeth. Basing (on 25mm square bases) I wanted to keep them drab and dark, and so went for a drab, rocky look, again similar to parts of the film.
I am very happy with how they turned out. I was a true joy to be able to paint some miniatures based on the films style of Orcs, and from an earlier era of wargaming and miniatures. I would probably buy more if they were still in production (I believe someone does own the rights, but rarely casts), and I will probably try to pick up any odd and ends on e-bay over time, although it's not a high priority.
Enjoy :)
(1808a, vertical spear).
(1808b diagonal spear).
(1820b)
(1820b, converted with unknown halberd).
(1820a)
(1820a converted with Essex Miniatures bill).
Awesome work Lee, never knew that there were models based off of the cartoon, so thank you for sharing your excellent find.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dave. I only found out about them a few years ago and they were at the back of my mind until I saw the auction.
DeleteLoved the film and like Dave never knew there were miniatures based on it, I have never seen those figures before but they look super, very nicely painted, they look like they just stepped out of the film, super stuff.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I wanted to see how close to the look of the film I could get. Glad you think I captured the look from the film, I enjoyed trying to achieve it.
DeleteMy Dad and I rented the film from Radio Rentals back in the day and loved it. I even had a response from Ralph Bakshi who I wrote to asking about part 2!!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a lovely story, nice that he responded. Shame there was never a Ralph Bakshi part 2. I saw the film on Channel 4 one afternoon in the 1980's and videoed it (commercial breaks as well!) and kept on watching it on VHS for years.
DeleteWatched that movie hundreds of times on vhs when i was a little snotling. Knew every line of dialog by heart. Really cool to see the Heritage figures painted up in the shadowy style of Bakshi and company. The Elan Merch line was surprizingly extensive given the era it was produced in and a lot of the minis, like the Nazgul, seem quite beautiful. I have some of the hobbit villager figures. They did big boxed sets based on Helm's Deep and Gandalf's fight with the Balrog which are hard to find and horribly expensive when you can find them. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI did the same with the film, watched it over and over again. A lot of people who commented on the Oldhammer Facebook page said the same. It's lovely to hear how many people enjoyed the film and have great memories of it.
DeleteThank you, glad you liked how I painted the miniatures. I did really want to capture that film look, mainly because of happy memories of watching it.
You're right about the range. I looked I wasn't to familiar with the range, but when I looked into it I was also surprised how extensive it was. They can be expensive, but I was lucky with this auction and I'm happy I have a few painted up now.
Another really interesting topic and much nicer minis than I was expecting. I remember the film but didn't think much of the roto-scoped orcs. And these minis capture the spirit of the film but better! Thanks Lee
ReplyDeleteThank you. I agree with you, I expected the miniatures to be a little worse than they actually turned out to be. I liked the idea of how they approached the roto-scoped orcs in the film, but they lack a little depth.
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