The Hunt for Gollum

If you are going to collect The Lord of the Rings miniatures, sooner or later you are going to need a Gollum. Actually, I already have one from the current Games Workshop line, but I found it just too small for my tastes. I wanted something in a more 'heroic' scale. By this I mean figures that have more exaggerated features - bigger hands, heads, shoulders. I generally find such figures much easier and more satisfactory to paint.

The problem being - Gollum has such a specific appearance that I struggled to find anything among the generic fantasy miniatures that were available. I finally resorted to asking for help on the Wargaming in Middle-earth FaceBook page. One member suggested I look at the Gollum sculpted for the official LOTR Citadel range of the 1980s (Thanks Rob!). Most of that range is a bit too cartoony for me, but Gollum is supposed to be a bit cartoony. Anyway, I found a photo, loved the figure, and found one on Ebay that didn't cost too much. 

Painting was a pretty simple process, since he's mostly pale skin. I decided to over-emphasis the eyes (remember those eyes are really only about a couple of mm wide) as these are Gollum's most defining feature. I also love that he's clutching a fish.

Unfortunately for Gollum, after a long chase, my Aragorn has finally run him down!