Ithilien Job

 

A better shot of Michel Delving's Mayor, on a day off.

He was previously out of focus.

Here, the rest of the Shire is.

'You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!'

This model and problems with glues is the cause of  much of the recent delay.

(Settlers too, of course)

Crippled God Foundry halflings

 

Wonderfully detailed set from Crippled God Foundry.

The truck in the background is an Airfix Bedford QL Gun Portee

with a 6 pdr anti tank gun still very much in bits.

The kit is about 50 years old.

Assembly was full of problems

until I found out that plastic cement goes off.

My glue was less than 50 years old but it was well past it.

A new tube of Revell allowed some progress.

The crippled God ones are the two young ladies, 

the pipe smoker and the drunk.

Forgemaster provided the four travellers

who bear some resemblance to four Hobbits we all know.

The Halfling Trader with pumpkin and barrow 

is from Print Goes Ever On.

All excellent!

The drunk is finished (well, look at the state of him)

And the other two bases belong to one of the ladies

and the tall pipe smoker.

I used brown earth on them all and 4mm grass

so that they could slip, un-noticed among the Hobbit Holes.

I may not even use the bases though their detail is excellent.

However, I'm not sure if the spiky plant is meant to be grass

or an odd succulent plant.

I matt varnished him and the base items

but used gloss varnish on the bottles and the spilt beer

as well as on the metal work.

That includes a fancy medal thing on his left shoulder,

perhaps signifying that he's the mayor of Michel Delving.

I'd forgotten how matt varnish dulls the whole thing.

As well as old glue, I'm using some very old paints.

The yellow jacket didn't turn out so good.

Futureforgeonline Potter's Hobbit Hole

At last I've found some of the shots recently taken.

Note the excellent paving supplied by Joined Curtains Esq.

This is the potter's hole and, as you can see,

he's a rubbish potter.

By sheer coincidence, however, his name is Hal.

This is the hole belonging to a Hobbit who has a large family

and doesn't have that reluctance to having rooms upstairs.

The back view shows the window into the girl's room.

 

About Time!

 

About time too!

A little progress on the 'current' Hobbit Hole

following a period of invasions

and a week in Goole for Sheree's wedding to Jack.

Two grandsons have been living here, on and off.

One for months.

Perhaps I can get on now.

(There was also Settlers, of course)

NOT FutureForge! Hobbit Hole

Of course it's not the excellent FutureForge front. It's one of the two Games Workshop ones. Good, but pricey.

The cause of the long delay has been visitors and hot weather. The latter involving me in hauling many watering cans morning and evening. Now, rain at last!

The windows for this one have the usual kitchen foil tube base

with bamboo skewers used instead of coffee stirrers.

It took about 160 odd, cut, sanded, glued and painted.

Tedious.

Here they are in situ with excellent rock/stone chimneys erected too.

My plan was to have that rarity, a Hobbit Hole with an upper floor.

However, I abandoned the front facing window.

I might have kept it if I'd placed it centrally.

I built up the 'hill' a little, around the windows,

as they were far too deep,

making the interior even darker than usual.

I need to reconsider the angle I cut them at

or the slope of the hills.

I retained the rear facing window, so it's still very Tookish.

Grass next.

Not happy though and I still don't know who lives there.

FutureForge online Hobbit Hole C (I think)

Camera problems again so this is a bit of a jump

and some pics have been lost.

We've also been off line for about ten days

due to a collision between a car and the internet box

on the Fosse Way (A429) just outside the village.

Or, as Bilbo might have put it,

"Struck by lightning! Struck by lightning!"

I'm stuck till some new windows arrive

from the excellent folks at FutureForge online.

Sawing the tubes at different angles

has always been tricky.

The penny has just dropped

that I should carve the hills at 45degrees

and cut the window tubes all the same.

 

FutureForge online Hobbit Hole B (3)

 

I'm none too happy with the loaves on the table

as some are huge.

The Greenstuff efforts on the left are an attempt

to have them about the same size.

As you can see from the 'pots' on the right,

the Hobbit potter is even worse than the Hobbit baker.

I tried for a 'park bench' for the front of the house

made from skewers.

I'll try again using cocktail sticks

making it altogether smaller.

Now the loaves are roughly equal

and the 'scrap' ones have ended up in a bottle cap 'bin'.

I've finally settled on the third 'roof' by the door.

I changed the supports too

as I thought there would be no reason for using those huge logs.

FutureForge online Hobbit Hole B (2)

 

I've been unhappy with the heavy wooden roof

simply to cover the goods leaving the back door.

I figured I could make a frame and use material to cover it.

Here's the frame to stretch a scrap of tights over it.

Still not too happy but perhaps I'll stop there.

FutureForge online Hobbit Hole B (1)

Sorry. It's been a while. Away with The Settlers.

Back to proper underground dwellings, well, half and half.

That tall chimney makes this either a potters home or a bakery. 

Another terrific fascia from FututreForge online through Etsy.

Windows are from Games Workshop.

I've wanted to put a back door on a Hobbit Hole.

This is edging in the right direction.

Hobbits view living above ground floor is strictly for the birds

but having several floors below ground is perfectly reasonable.

Here, we're halfway there.

That side door is also from FFo.

The front door will be approached via steps

and the produce sold from a lower area, a few steps down.

The side door is settled in nicely and a ramp prepared for the front steps.

They are coffee stirrers coated with 'Dark Earth'.

The doors are in Enchanted Blue, the frame in Altdorf Guard.

The wall is in Vallejo Light Sea Green as is the cross of the window.

The usual varnished 'Shadow Grey' for the glass (it's actually blue).

A move to change the appearance of the fascia for the next hole.

The stack has been taken down by about 1/2 inch

and a piece of ballpoint used as a pot.

It sits on card coated with 'Dark Earth'.

I think they'll shape up nicely.

The other change is coffee stirrer boards  to the left.

FFO Hobbit Houses 1 and 2 (f)

 

Path and steps laid though the latter is downright dangerous.

You won't believe the language that came from beneath the 'pointy hat'

when HE came to call and landed full length.

It wasn't, 'Fly you fools!, I can tell you that.

I'm not sure what to put on the back lawn.

The large amount of 'moss' growing up the walls

is to hide the gaps 'twixt beams and brickwork.

The bricks should have gone on first

and the beams placed over them.

FFO Hobbit Houses 1+2 (e)

 

The orange background to the red frames

keeps to the Hobbit liking of bright colours

but is a bit less scary than yellow and red.

I've lightly sanded the plasticard walls to provide a surface for the glue.

As it happens, by taking off the spray painted surface

and exposing the card colour it has produced a nice weathered look.

I should have done something similar to the chimney stacks.

Wall bricks in place.

I realised that none of the adhesives I have

would do a great job fixing plastic to polystyrene.

A small tube of Copydex was the answer, if a rather messy one.

I should, of course, have put the card in place before the beams.

The gaps at the edges are small but noticeable.

Because of the card backing to the windows, ordinary PVC worked for them.

I should, however, have left a flange of card for the beam above the windows.

Even now, there may be a change to that beam.

Here's the house, sunk into the base 'hill'.

I'll have to build it up slightly in places.

I'm still unsure what to do with the limited size of the back garden.

The house being so small, I figure it's that of an old 'retired' couple.

FFO Hobbit Houses 1+2 (d)

 

The 'floor plan' of the second house.

As usual, I made error after error on this.

I first made the building too high,

then, by burying the base, made it too low.

It was supposed to look as if it was on the top of a mound

but looked as if it had been swallowed up by it.

I wanted a different shape for the windows on this one.

At first I chose yellow as the background to the windows

 with bright red surround.

However, they looked like warning signs round Chernobyl.

DANGER!

Do not enter.

Risk of death and foot baldness.

Orange is bright enough.