DIY Annatar to go with SS/W Sauron

[DaveMac]

I thought I would share this project I have just finished here with you. I originally posted on the S+F forum so forgive the jumps!


Scratch 5651 off the Sauron list!




The packaging made me smile :thumbs



And here is the fallen Dark Lord ....or what's left ;\

 

[DaveMac]

His Lordship needs a lot more help as after a night with Gimli and Legolas he is legless! :beer


First up I remove the cloak, which like the rest of him is a solid piece of resin...




The white area is what appears to be plaster Paris which the previous owner has used to try and repair. This will need removing...




Saurons leg needed breaking off again due to misaligned repair. The two pieces are cleaned and filed down to ensure better fit.







Although there is a good adhesion area, the leg will need reinforcing as it had been cast as one piece. To do this I drilled into each section and inserted a steel pin held in place with epoxy resin...





The sections are put together and glued, then allowed to set in place. Resin is used to partially fill the missing chunks for now. Finer filling will be done later...







The cloak has had the same treatment in that sections that had been poorly repaired needed snapping off, cleaning/filing and re gluing before resin filler added...

P.s The cloak appears to have floral or leaves pattern on. Very evil!

 

[DaveMac]

Main jigsaw pieces fitted. Some are too small to refit due to realignment so will need filling in.

Too make him more pleasing/ deceiving to the eye, I will be removing the sharper, more aggressive parts of the armour such as the spikes etc.

The gauntlets are the most tricky as they appear to be a mix of solid resin and flexible 'hard rubber' type material. I want him to have Elven hands and not armoured claws.







As you can see, some of his digits are missing so they will need adding/ replacing.

Time to bring out the 'tool' kit!




Same process as the leg. Secure an anchor pin first....




And then build a thumb!



The other digits can be built up over the finger stalks left from grinding off the gauntlet plates.



A quick comparison with the original piece..




Finer filling and detailing of digits will be needed, but that will come prior to painting.

 

[DaveMac]

The cloak has been a tricky little puzzle as some sizeable, finely folded pieces were beyond repair and needed building from scratch, but it is coming together nicely.
Due to the flimsy look of the cloak edges, I have used Super Sculpty (pink stuff) to achieve this as opposed to resin putty (green stuff) which is used to fill and strengthen the main structure.

The sculpty pieces are shaped and fitted to their respective edges and little squiggles, wiggles and markings are etched in before it is dried hard. This is to help it blend in with the rest of the cloak design for painting.
They are then taken off and glued into place as they would be too fragile if just dried in place and left.

 

[DaveMac]

Main spikes removed. Areas filled, remade. Ready for a base coat..

Pussycat (Ziggy) QC!











Started adding the base coat. This helps to highlight lumps n bumps, cracks and holes that I may have missed.

I will be keeping the undercoat white as well for the armour. Usually a dark base would be used which would help to highlight the joints, pits and scratches in the armour when the painting is finished but as Annatar is emanating light (though false light), then no such shading would be there in my view.







As you can see there are a few patches to fill/ file and correct.




The trickiest piece so far has been to replicate an elbow plate. One was missing completely and there is a left and right piece which means reversing the pattern.
As it is not fixed to anything I have had to make it 'free hand'. It is a thin, curved and patterned piece, so fragile to make and handle.



The remade piece is on the right...

 

[DaveMac]

O.k . Cloak glued on and pinned through the back into the housing block on the body




The bulk of the body was painted before adding the cloak. Silver and gold highlighted armour, white/ cream under cloths. Cloak will be a translucent white when finished (in theory)



Next up is the head. The plan was to model one on mi old sausage, Benedict Cumberland, but as I have never 'sculpted' anything before I thought I would just go freehand and see how it goes!

So, using the body as a modelling stand I make the basic head shape. I realised the neck on the body will need to be cut down as it has the base of a 'head' which would make fitting a new head more tricky.




I start to build up certain features and outline the cheekbone line.





Same with the jaw line....








Some defining of the nose and eyes too get basic proportions lined up (ish). This allows for where his ears will need to go....








Bottom of nose = middle of face. Bottom of ears tend too follow this line round. Eyes line up to the mouth etc...





A check too see how it looks in place.....




Some finer detailing added to the head and then cleaned up and smoothed down before baking/drying.

Next stage is to give him his elven locks and his 6 spike crown. The crown spikes will be supported by metal rods (the core wire from HD cable) as will his hair ...

 

[DaveMac]

Some more work on the head, giving him some eleven locks!...




Added the obligatory braids. This was done by adding wire to the hair mass and building the braids around it. Positioning on the body would be crucial....






Continue defining the hair....










Once the braids and defining done the head is baked again to firm it up. The crown will be a seperate piece which meant allowing for it to sit on the hair, hence the groove around the head....

The crown is basically a decorative band with the distinctive 6 spikes. Big, yes, but very imposing I think for the character...

The spikes again have wire reinforcing. In hind sight the band should have too, but it seems to be holding...










Old helm and new head for comparison...




Buffing up and final painting next. I think he has a look of Charles Dance a bit, arrogant and imposing!

 

[DaveMac]

I initially painted the hair black, to match his heart, but then decided to go with a silverwhite look to go with the 'eminating' light look. This also meant giving him a very pale skin colour as well. Couldn't resist the red pupils either...



The garments and armour too maintain the light catching/ reflecting feel with lots of white, silver and gold to highlight his high status...









The mace also was themed in this way to make it more of a ceremonial piece than a weapon...



The final sealing coat is applied and he joins his alter ego...

 

[Gurthang]

This is outstanding, old chap!
big kudos

 

[Pork Chop Express]

Nice work Dave, thanks for posting pics from start to finish. That looks like quite an ordeal to piece together.

 

[DaveMac]

Thanks, I like a good puzzle and this was a beauty. Annatar is always someone I wanted to add after PJ hinted at him in RotK EE, I've been on the look out for a very cheap Sauron statue since.