Mini of the Week 1-12-18

Welcome back to Mini of the Week, where every Friday I will find a miniature from around the web that exemplifies an aspect of our hobby and share it with you.

Elrond by Anna Shestakova

I'm pretty sure this is the first Lord of the Rings model I've featured on here, but there are some really nice ones out there. They often attract some of the best painters as well, since they really let you show off how realistically you can paint. Since you're trying to bring to life something we've all seen on a movie screen portrayed by real people, you have to adhere to more subdue color and realistic looks. That's definitely the case with this Elrond. Everything is fairly subdued, with all of the color a little desaturated. This immediately makes you think of this as being more true to life. Despite this, the colors aren't boring. The yellowish cream of his inner cloak stands out from the browns that surround him and really draws your eye in. I really like the color palette used here. I can't recall if these are the exact colors from the Hobbit movie, but the autumn colors help give this model a sense of time.

Everything is as crisp and smooth as you would expect from a mini that won gold at the Golden Demons, but it's the patterns on the clothing and the display that stand out the most to me. I really like the looping and swirling pattern on the cloak. It's extremely intricate and detailed, yet at the same time is painted in a color that almost fades into its background color from a distance, ensuring that the model doesn't appear to busy. Once you get closer to it though you can really appreciate the effort poured into it. The base is outstanding as well, with an extremely naturalistic approach. The tree looks like a real tree, with each leaf depicted using a piece of leaf flock normally used on a base. The railing to the stairs is what impresses me the most. It's so delicate and small that it feels like something that belongs there. Due to the size of miniatures, details like this often have to be exaggerated so they either stand out, or are easier to make. Here though, that is carefully avoided, with the posts and swirls of the railing perfectly in scale with Elrond himself. This really is just an amazing model.

Be sure to check out more views of the model on the Official Golden Demon website and show the artist some love if you like it.

Until next time,

Tyler M.

For all of your own miniature needs visit Ministomp where you can get the entire Games Workshop product range. They also have frequent model giveaways on their Twitter account, so be sure to follow them.