Asmus Toys Lord of the Ring Gandalf Gray

[TurdFurgusonsHat]

Well for what it's worth, here's my Gandalf after a bunch of modding I did over the last couple weeks. I sculpted new eyes over the existing ones, retouched the paint to emphasize the wrinkles some more and create a more subtle transition around the beard and hairline, gave him some rooted eyebrows and a mustache that flared out a bit more, added extra weathering to the outfit, and frayed the ends of the outer cloak like it was in the movie.

I then threw together a pretty basic Moria-style base, just to have something that kinda suggested that environment. And finally I inserted an LED into the staff so I could have it light up. I realize in closeups the crystal had more of a warm white color, but I really preferred the cool white CGI glow they added to the distance shots.


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Damn Dave that is pretty amazing. All those improvements turned out really well. The work you did on the sculpt really fixes the likeness. Much better base too. Well done.

Mine arrives tomorrow. I'm already sad it won't look like yours.

 

[davejames]

That's one of your best yet, davejames. Perfect execution.

May I ask what you did to the eyes? They look great! As does everything, all the details -- the creases in the robe, the way you got the hair, the base -- everything really works together seamlessly. But its those eyes and eyebrows that really pop for me. Especially works with the pose -- very determined with that wise old glare.

Thanks Wor-Gar. I started by supergluing the eyes in back to lock them in place, then I pushed the lower eyelids in at the sides so they curved around the eyes more, then I created some new eyeballs with apoxie sculpt, and after those dried sculpted some new folds over the top of the eyes.

It went through a few permutations though. My first attempt at the eyes (seen below) he had much more of a squint going on, which worked fine from some angles but not others. So I decided to open them up a bit more, since the expression was already intense enough.

For the eyebrows I first painted them a darker gray, and then used some strands from his beard for the eyebrow hair. This was my first time rooting eyebrows so I was kinda nervous to try it (since my first rooting attempts were messy as hell), but thankfully these didn't need to look very neat. Lol



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[agonistes86]

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Wow Dave, that is perfection right there.
You really set the bar high! If I'll be able to achieve anything just remotely looking like this, I'll be one happy collector. Saved for future reference...

 

[Stanlore]

wow thats amazing davejames bravo

 

[yy0925]

Thanks Wor-Gar. I started by supergluing the eyes in back to lock them in place, then I pushed the lower eyelids in at the sides so they curved around the eyes more, then I created some new eyeballs with apoxie sculpt, and after those dried sculpted some new folds over the top of the eyes.

It went through a few permutations though. My first attempt at the eyes (seen below) he had much more of a squint going on, which worked fine from some angles but not others. So I decided to open them up a bit more, since the expression was already intense enough.

For the eyebrows I first painted them a darker gray, and then used some strands from his beard for the eyebrow hair. This was my first time rooting eyebrows so I was kinda nervous to try it (since my first rooting attempts were messy as hell), but thankfully these didn't need to look very neat. Lol

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You truely have my respect for your skills!

That looks like the real person.

I would sent my Gandalf (as soon as I get it that is) to you and pay for the customization right away

 

[Luisenigma1]

Yup daves the reason I just might keep my Gandalf. Lol

 

[Life_m2000]

Davejames that?s some excellent work. Looks great

 

[Doodlebob7]

This figure is getting ripped to shreds in youtube and facebook comments sections. Don't say I didn't warn you. Gandalf deserved better than a haired head that lost most of it's likeness from the proto and a fish aquarium base for $350. Some "Crown" line.

 

[chrisstbh]

Perfect davejames. Thats what we should have been given for the price tag.

Still have no idea how you did that after reading through it though . But Im convinced I dont want this now after seeing how good you made yours.

 

[Cammo]

Are there still a lot of people waiting for their invoice from Asmus? I ordered from the website directly (May 2020).

 

[Life_m2000]

Are there still a lot of people waiting for their invoice from Asmus? I ordered from the website directly (May 2020).

Yeah I?m still waiting for mine.
I was a day 1 preorder.

 

[gaiden1992]

Thanks Wor-Gar. I started by supergluing the eyes in back to lock them in place, then I pushed the lower eyelids in at the sides so they curved around the eyes more, then I created some new eyeballs with apoxie sculpt, and after those dried sculpted some new folds over the top of the eyes.

It went through a few permutations though. My first attempt at the eyes (seen below) he had much more of a squint going on, which worked fine from some angles but not others. So I decided to open them up a bit more, since the expression was already intense enough.

For the eyebrows I first painted them a darker gray, and then used some strands from his beard for the eyebrow hair. This was my first time rooting eyebrows so I was kinda nervous to try it (since my first rooting attempts were messy as hell), but thankfully these didn't need to look very neat. Lol

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This is impressive. I would say it looks even better than the prototype. I feel like I am watching the real Ian McKellen, terrific job right here.

 

[FlyAndFight]

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All of your modifications are amazing but the one that immediately caught my eye, believe it or not, was how you improved the moustache. You made it look significantly better and more realistic. Asmus basically just glued hair and snipped it across the bottom of the upper lip.

Can you please share what you used on his hair to control and shape it? While I like how the beard looks on my figure, I can't get the head's hair shaped realistically. Thanks.

 

[davejames]

Thanks again guys.

Damn Dave that is pretty amazing. All those improvements turned out really well. The work you did on the sculpt really fixes the likeness. Much better base too. Well done.

Mine arrives tomorrow. I'm already sad it won't look like yours.

Sorry, not my intention! I still think people can get this looking pretty good just with some proper posing and futzing. And some minimal modding like water treating the outfit, dulling down the eyes, and painting the eyebrows a darker gray.

You truely have my respect for your skills!

That looks like the real person.

I would sent my Gandalf (as soon as I get it that is) to you and pay for the customization right away

Ha thanks but going through all this once was more than enough for me.

Perfect davejames. Thats what we should have been given for the price tag.

Still have no idea how you did that after reading through it though . But Im convinced I dont want this now after seeing how good you made yours.

Yeah I gotta say I would have much rather not have to go through all that after just paying $350 for the thing. Lol

This is impressive. I would say it looks even better than the prototype. I feel like I am watching the real Ian McKellen, terrific job right here.

Wow, thanks. I still don't think the likeness is completely there, but I'm not really sure what more I can do with it at this point.

 

[davejames]

All of your modifications are amazing but the one that immediately caught my eye, believe it or not, was how you improved the moustache. You made it look significantly better and more realistic. Asmus basically just glued hair and snipped it across the bottom of the upper lip.

Can you please share what you used on his hair to control and shape it? While I like how the beard looks on my figure, I can't get the head's hair shaped realistically. Thanks.

For the sides of the mustache I glued on some white tibetan lamb hair that already had those curls in it. Then I used pastel to match the color with the rest of the beard. That was the only lamb hair I had on hand though, so you could probably find some in the proper gray.

For extra shaping I use my heat gun while holding the hair in the position I want, which helps set it in place better.

In fact I think you could probably heat up those existing strands to get them to flare out more. That was my original plan before I decided to replace them entirely.

 

[scumonkey]

I'm actually dying to know what led bits you used for the staff, & where you hid the power supply (is it in the base?)?!

 

[davejames]

I'm actually dying to know what led bits you used for the staff, & where you hid the power supply?!

It was just a 1.8mm cool white LED. I first drilled a hole straight down, then heated up the staff enough that I could easily slice down the back so I could fit the thin wrapping wires inside. Then I sealed it back up again with putty.

 

[Life_m2000]

It was just a 1.8mm cool white LED. I first drilled a hole straight down, then heated up the staff enough that I could easily slice down the back so I could fit the thin wrapping wires inside. Then I just sealed it back up with putty.

Would you have a pic of that?

 

[davejames]

Sorry, I didn't take any pics during the staff mod.

 

[Life_m2000]

Sorry, I didn't take any pics during the staff mod.

No prob dude! You did an awesome job.
Whenever mine ships I?ll have a look to see if I can do it.