I wanted to show off this recently-finished figurebecause it is such a beautiful illustration of the point I was trying to makeyesterday with my Deliberate Purchasing post.
This figure is one of the original, all-metal, Knights ofDol Amroth miniatures sculpted by the Perry’s for Games Workshop’s The Lord of the Rings game, and I thinkit is a stunning piece of sculpture. Despite the small role played by the SwanKnights in the book (and their disappointing absence from the movie), they havealways been one of my favourite parts of the story. In a tale filled withheroes, these guys are the literal ‘Knights in Shining Armour’. They are themost elite warriors in all of Gondor’s army
The Knights of Dol Amroth or 'Swan Knights' were a group of soldiers who served Prince Imrahil during the Third Age of Middle-earth. History On March 9, 3019, Prince Imrahil led a company of Swan Knights to Minas Tirith to help defend the City. The Princedom of Dol Amroth is ever ready to help their Lords of Minas Tirith in times of war and struggle. The Generals of the Swan City have long valued the necessity of Heavy Cavalry in their standing armies, and these tall and proud men are the finest knights of all Gondor. They function as both bodyguards for the Princes and Lords of Dol Amroth, and also as a vital part of Gondor’s. The tall Swan Knights of Dol Amroth are the very elite of the warriors of Gondor, fair and stern of aspect and peerless upon the field of battle. Where the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth ride, hope is reborn and victory is torn from the darkness of defeat. This box set contains six plastic Knights of Dol Amroth.
And yet, despite all of that, this figure languished foryears in my lead pile, gathering dust in its blister pack. Why? Basically, Iwas too scared to paint it. I knew it would be hard to assemble and difficultto paint. More importantly, I knew it would take a lot of time, and I didn’thave a lot of time. I had hundreds of miniatures to paint, I couldn’t afford tospend a great deal of time on any one…
Well, with the huge backlog of miniatures gone, this guy quicklyjoined the queue of miniatures waiting to be painted. Without the pressure to ‘getthings done’, I was able to take my time, trying to enjoy every step. That’snot to say it was a complete blast (note to self, when painting a horse withcaparison – paint the legs before gluing it together!), but instead of getting frustrated,I just took my time, savouring every little win.
I completely painted the horse first. I tried a couple ofdifferent decorative edges for the caparison before I was happy. Then I paintedhalf of the rider before gluing him on to the horse to finish him up. I added the shield last, after many, many corrections to the white paint.
All-and-all it took me about 4 ‘sessions’, maybe 6 – 8 hoursto get it from blister to finished model. If I was just going for numbers, Iprobably could have finished 3 or 4 other figures in that time, but I wouldn’tbe near as pleased with myself.
I am proud that I have given it my all and tried to do justiceto this incredible sculpt and to my love of the Knights of the Dol Amroth. I’mnot saying that I’m ready to paint up four or five more right now, but Ithink there is a strong possibility that I’ll pick up another one down the line,and who knows, maybe one day I’ll have a unit. Or maybe not. I’m not going toworry about it. I’m just going to appreciate what I’ve got.
Swan Knights Of Dol Amroth Banner
Knight Of The Swan
The tall Swan Knights of Dol Amroth are the very elite of the warriors of Gondor, fair and stern of aspect and peerless upon the field of battle. Where the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth ride, hope is reborn and victory is torn from the darkness of defeat.
This box set contains six plastic Knights of Dol Amroth. This 39-piece set includes: five different head designs, five variations of lance arm, three designs of shield, three variations of horse, a banner with sculpted detailing and a trumpet arm. Models supplied with 40mm round bases.
© 2020 New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.
© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG, THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.