Middle Earth SBG: Figs, Customizing

Soon, they will have TWO cave trolls!

I was a bit daunted at the prospect of assembling the plastic cave troll from the Fellowship of the Ring box set. I'm not keen on filling gaps with Green Stuff, etc. Somehow, they always look a bit lumpy and off, or that there's a bit of a ditch at the seam. But, I needed this guy on the table, so forced myself to get enthusiastic and have a go. Turns out, he was actually quite easy to work with, much easier than a metal model!


First, I used the X-acto blade to cut, as bending off the sprue can lead to indentations in the model. I carefully left a bit of extra sprue there to trim off later.


Next, I test-fit the bits together. Lots of gaps - ugh!



I assembled the model without glue, and compared him to the other, metal cave troll I completed years go - he is actually a lot more different than I thought he was!

Technically, I guess he's the same cave troll as in FoTR film, the famous fight seen in the Chamber of Mazarbul [Hall of Records] of Khazad-dum. He's just dropped his hand-and-a-half hammer and picked up handy spear.

I'd prefer him with an under-hand grip on the spear, actually.



After applying the super-glue, and giving it a minute to soften the plastic, I pushed the bits together. I then squeezed them tightly, hoping to get rid of the gaps a bit. This didn't work as it actually created an overlap instead! Oh well...don't do this!



The seams looked pretty bad, but I was hopeful and pressed on!


I used a round file to work along the seam, matching the ripples and folds of Cave Trolls fat trunk.

These smoothed down quite well, and quite quickly - hoorah!


I then used the angled file to repeat the grooves of skin lines that are sculpted on the model - this breaks up the seam line even more, and perpendicular to the seam.



After I filed all the lines down, there was a lot of plastic powder about, so I gently washed him with some soapy water. Probly the only time the filthy beastie every had a bath...



Final product - the seam is nearly gone, and looks pretty natural. While it is visible, I am hopeful the primer will settle in any shallow gaps and crevices, and make the lines disappear.


Seam on left side - more visible, but I think it is the glue.
The shoulders have the worst seams - unfortunately, this is also the most visible part of the model during play, at the top.



I say "primer" but this is really $2 can of cheap flat black spray paint from Home Depot. It works really well, amazingly.


End result? Virtually seamless - amazing!

And the shoulder seams were the worst!





Just a little bit of a seam at the wrist. I had to trim the peg down a little bit to fit the hole better, but it actually looked pretty tight - surprised there's a bit of seam at this point.



Next up, I had to make a Groblog, that pretentious "king" who hangs out somewhere in the depths of Moria with a Mirthril Crown. I wanted him because he is cheaper than Durburz, and has a fun ability due to the Mithril Crown - raising the FV of the Goblins +1 within 3". This can really help as you no longer lose ties against average models. Ultimately, with Goblins, you want to gain any parity you can against average models, and let the Cave Trolls take on the big-shot good-guy heroes! But he is a resin model from GW, and he is also a bit awkward on the table, I found, being posed on a pillar. So...

This is the figure I started with - I forgot to take a pic before I modified him...he had a square-ish head, which made him the likely candidate. He is metal.

from: [CLICK]

And this is how he came out, after being primed. I like that the crown is sort of irregular and slip-shod looking. The official model looks too much like dwarfs carefully made it.
He is basically all original, except that I fashioned a crown out of bits cut off the angled edge of plastic sprues. These come out triangular, so I put the larger flat edge against his head, which gives each bit of crown an angled edge.
These were super-glued on, and I also took a bit of wire, wrapped it around the end of a paint brush, then set it on his head inside the verticle bits to give them more structure to stick to. This worked really well, to my surprise.
Mithril probly shouldn't look so rough, but, hey, they are goblins, so what metallurgical skills to they have, really??



I also somehow acquired ten assembled and primed plastic orcs. Upon close examination, they were not cleaned of mold lines. This is a problem as I like to dry brush and Magic Dip, and mold lines stick out even more prominently!


Using a bright light, I worked to remove them with X-acto blade and file. Only had one small cut with the blade, so a good day compared to other ones!


That's an ugly mold line!


This is how they looked after plenty of filing and cutting. But the final product will be worth it.

Well, I hope this tutorial on the plastic cave troll is handy and gives you some ideas of what to do and not to do. Above all, press on, and work towards that finished product!


I have a game for Tuesday, so hoping I can at the very least do the basic painting for these models, so they won't stick out on the table.