Asmus Toys: Eowyn in Armor

[YDdraigGoch]

Is it hard to switch the body out?

No, his costume looks more complicated than is. The sleeves are separate pieces, there is an outer robe that you just take off his shoulders, under that is a tunic the slips over his head and arms easily, the lower robe is a skirt with an elastic waist and under it all a long sleeve t-shirt and trousers. One thing though the new body has thicker thighs than the original so I couldn't get the thigh armour over the trousers. You don't really notice their absence though and it gives him more articulation.

A pic to show you the different parts,

View attachment 185148

Outer robe, tunic, sleeves and skirt.

The armour pieces just slide off, no buckles or strings to untie.

Question to you YDG: Does your vinyl cuirass have that sticky, tacky feel to it like mine? Also, the long strap on the scabbard harness on mine is also sticky.

I've been meaning to ask you about this. I wouldn't say they're sticky, they feel rubbery, like the Ignite knight belts. Her hair was slightly stuck to it when I first opened her, the cape is fine with it though. I can see them being a nightmare to paint. Any luck with it drying yet?

Also I'd love to see more pics of your WIPs, you've already given me some ideas.

I have got more pics to show. Sorry for the delay, first time doing something like this and all the posing and photographing is taking longer than I thought it would.

 

[superdoug]

Thanks! I was pretty worried and wasn't sure if I'd even try before this information.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

Finally got the "we're expecting this to arrive in 10 days" e-mail from BBTS!

 

[superdoug]

Same here!

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

Finally made some progress over the weekend, so I thought I'd share some updates. First, the belt harness, which is still ongoing but is almost there. Here's how it looks stock:


Here's how it should look:


Here's my first go at it:


All the little belt tips have been removed and reattached to shorten each strap. All straps have been painted my own mix of Tamiya Flat Red and Red Brown to try to achieve that rich red-brown/oxblood color. As you can see I've had to wrap the long strap in plastic because it continues to weep plasticizer and the paint is still wet. It's a placeholder for now, I'll make my own out of real leather. I've also replaced all the ridiculously large jump rings with my own 4mm jump rings in "oxidized gold," available at my local Michaels craft store in the jewelry section. I had to go with a 6mm one for the one on the scabbard itself because of the width of the plastic. Also, the "triple junction ring" thingy needs to be rotated counterclockwise 1/3 turn to match the orientation of the movie original.

While I appreciate the detail on the die cast metal bits as well as the stamped plastic straps (other than the long one), the color they chose for the "leather" and the way they've attached the straps is just all kinds of wrong. The buckled rear scabbard strap should come off an additional triple junction ring in the back, but they've only supplied the front one and so one thing you can do is recreate the function of it with 6 and 4 mm jump rings:

Or you can buy an extra sword scabbard set to get the extra triple junction ring as well as the missing belt tip on that rear strap, which is what I did. I'm actually planning on cutting the extra sword in half so she can reenact the "I am no man" scene where she stabs the witch king through the head, so I wanted the extra set anyway.

I'll post more pics of the finished harness with the real leather belt when it's done.

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

One of the challenges for me was finding the right fabrics for the dress she wears underneath as well as for the cloak. That's right, it's called a dress in the sources I've found, not a tunic. First of all, Asmus picked a fabric that was overly thick and textured, and then they designed and made it way too short and tight, thinking it was some kind of tunic. In fact, given the tight leggings they also gave her (they're actually somewhat loose pants), the whole outfit is actually pretty modern looking (you know, the whole leggings/long top look? ), not that of a Rohan soldier. Here's how it should look:


Instead of remaking and sewing a completely new dress (I hate sewing! ) I basically cut off the sleeves and the skirt portion and added a nice sueded fabric that I thought was a decent color (a little light compared to the source pics, but matches the original well). The dress is pretty generously sized so there needs to be enough extra fabric to achieve the same effect when the chain mail is on. It looks ridiculous by itself but bear with me:


This is all done with Fabritac glue. You don't even need to hem it--just use a torch lighter to singe/melt the edges so the fabric doesn't fray. Actually, it's better in this scale not to hem because that just stiffens the fabric and keeps it from draping well.

I'm still deciding whether I want to create a dickey to replicate the laced collar. It might not be worth it because the cloak will completely hide it. Right now the hemmed V-neck collar has just been cut down because it was too thick underneath the chainmail.

 

[YDdraigGoch]

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay with the photos. The only camera I have is a phone camera so I had to depend on natural light to get some decent pictures. All the photos have been taken without any kind of futzing or modifications so you can see how she comes straight out of the box.

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Ewoyn comes with a sword, scabbard and baldric (a belt worn over the shoulder), a shield, a broken shield, helmet the usual three pairs of hands (grip, fists and relaxed) and two stands. What surprised me about the stands is that unlike the previous figures I own Eowyn comes with two complete bases, with a post and grabber each for both the themed base and logo base.

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I haven’t seen the films in a while but I can instantly recognise the character from the sculpt. My only real complaint with the sculpt is that it is a noticeably different colour to her neck other than that I think it captures the character rather well.

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Importantly Asmus has addressed the issue of the weak bodies bring down this line. Eowyn's base body has been improved upon so she is able to hold her weapons and accessories as well as her self effortlessly allowing her to get a good variety of poses.

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The helmet is as Tank Girl says made of soft plastic with limited detail. From TG’s screen shots I went back and googled the Battle of Pelennor Fields scene and noticed the helmet is the wrong colour as the face guard should be silver. The painting of the helmet is a little bit sloppy but it fits over Eowyn’s head nicely and is not loose when it is on. There is a piece of foam on the back of the nose guard to protect the paint on her face.

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The cuirass has some nice detailing however the choice of material is odd. I was expecting hard plastic but it’s very soft and rubbery and there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to remove it. It doesn’t restrict her movement.

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The sword is nicely detailed with a pair of horse heads on the guard. There is a nice weight to it and it’s not too heavy for Eowyn to hold. As with previous releases the pummel detaches and the hilt it slid through the hole in the grip hand. Unlike previous releases the pummel stays on securely after various posing and reposing.

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The scabbard is nicely constructed with the ring connecters to the baldric. The sword fits into it snugly and is not loose but as you can see in the previous picture it is misaligned.The baldric is made of the same rubbery material as the cuirass, which is a shame as the Morgual Lord, Gothmog and Gandalf the White all had leather belts. It is the wrong colour as Tank Girl says; it should be clay-red like the scabbard as opposed to the dark brown. An annoyance I had with the baldric was that it would keep coming undone with repeated posing.

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The shield is plastic with some nice paint work. I would have liked the colours to be more vivid with a bold contrast between the white and green. However, after some googling the colours appear to be muted in the film. It can be a bit of a squeeze to get Eowyn’s hand between the strap and the back panel this does then mean she holds it tightly.

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A nice addition is the broken shield. It has the same paint work with some nice weathering. It nicely scaled to the regular shield.

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Eowyn’s outfit is nicely made with no signs of fraying and Amus hasn’t gone overboard with the weathering.
Her mail coat should be more gold and is a bit too black. Her boots are made from hard plastic with no flexibility so a stand is required if you want her to do deep poses. As to the accuracy of her clothing I couldn't say, I am sure some members will be able to give a better assessment as I have yet to research it.

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Having purchased the Morgul Lord, Gothmog and Gandalf and being disappointed with the body in each, Eowyn was the ‘make or break’ figure of this line for me. After playing around with Eowyn to take the photos for this review I am really pleased I purchased her.

She is not without her faults, the choice of material for the cuirass and baldric being the major ones and there are inaccuracies but these are mostly colour ones. The photos on Asmus’ website show the baldric, helmet and mail with the correct colours ( Asmus Toys The Lord of the Ring - Eowyn ). I agree with Tank Girl that ACI figures have better detailing, paint work and general crafting that retail at a similar price (£110-£140). My latest ACI, the Knight Hospitaller is unable to stand on his own however which, for me, is one of the essentials of 1:6 figures. I knew what to expect quality wise after previous purchases from Asmus and Eowyn is of the same vein but the improved base body makes all the difference.

I am happy to say that despite some inaccuracies the strengthening of the body coupled with a strong sculpt and little over all improvements such as the pummel I am eager to continue with this line.

Hope this is useful and informative. Sorry again for the delay, to make up for it here are some bonus shots of her with the Morgul Lord on his replacement body.

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[tankgirlfuzzy]

Hey YDG, excellent review with some great pics! Oh yes, and thanks for clearing it up for me, "baldric," that's what it's called!

I've been thinking of doing a blow by blow review and grading each piece and then giving it a final grade, but haven't had the time. I would probably be a lot harsher than you though, but only because Eowyn is my grail figure for this trilogy, much as Aragorn is for most people. Ultimately I'm probably disappointed because of my own pickiness. The good thing though is that it's a good enough base that I can improve to my own satisfaction so ultimately I'm glad I have her. Like I said above the hardest bits (the die cast and molded items) are provided and are pretty accurate. For those who know RC planes, this is like a good "short kit."

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

Before I get to the chainmail, I forgot to mention I shortened the legs. As Wor Gar mentioned, the figure body is extremely long legged, more like an anime figure. Since we're modeling this after an actual human named Miranda Otto (who from celebrity photos on the red carpet and such looks to be of average proportion), the calf had to be shortened. So I ground it down with my dremel, over a half inch! Essentially, I wanted the boots to come up to the bottom of the knee. I might add back a few millimeters by stuffing some spare plastic or wood dowels into the boot, because she looks a little squat now, but it looks much more realistic to me. BTW there are no issues with the boots coming off because they are extremely tight to the calf. You don't need the foot pegs at all.



I like the bunching up around the knee because it disguises how tight these "leggings" are. Like I mentioned in a previous post, she wore pants, not stretchy leggings.

Finally, the "full mail hauberk," as it's called in my LOTR sourcebook. As YDG mentioned, the color is too black and not gold enough. Essentially they slapped on some gold paint randomly, basically doing a poor job of dry brushing over the black micronet fabric. More than that though, they hemmed the sleeves and overall length too short. Why hem it at all? 1:1 chainmail has no discernible hem, it just stops, so hemming this fabric further ruins the illusion that this is actual chainmail. And, as I've noted above, you don't need to hem these synthetic fabrics if you heat treat the edges, which they did anyway! So out came the sharp thread snips, and I undid all the hems (not easy as the stitching is black on black). This essentially lengthens the hauberk to the correct length. They also incorrectly cut in side slits and neglected to put in a rear slit. So, I hand-stitched the side slits closed (did I mention how much I hate sewing? ) and unstitched the rear to create the slit. I then soaked the garment in acetone to remove all the gold paint, washed it, and painted it. I began with a coat of Flat Metallic Grey (all paints are Tamiya), then put numerous alternating coats of Gold Leaf and Metal Brown. I used thinned coats, essentially dry brushing it all. Depending on the scene Eowyn's chainmail can look either yellowish or white metalish, with a strong undertone of brown. It took several coats to get a multitonal effect. The lighting in the pics washes it out a bit--it looks darker in hand. The pic also doesn't really show any of the weathering I did on the dress, but it's there.


Now the extra fabric in the dress works better under the hauberk as it now folds and undulates more like the real one. Still a little puffy in the pics but the fabric futzes well and responds well to water treatment. Also notice how the length now hits right above the knee and below the elbow, as it should:

 

[Sankari]

Great review,
And Tank girl, your customization made her so much better. You've fixed almost everything that was odd on this figure, and it looks much closer to the movies now. Congrats

 

[qualitymm]

yo @YDdraigGoch cool pose!!
thats exactly the pose i have in mind nazgul vs eowyn just like in the battle.
patiently Waiting for mine to come...=D...

 

[Wor-Gar]

As Wor Gar mentioned...

You did read my old review. Thank god, I thought I did all that for nothing.

This figure really will improve 10 fold just in getting the correct body proportions on her.

For the record, you're doing marvelous work here. I'm going to save your pics so when I take a second pass at her I can emulate what you've done. Much care and passion, I like it.

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

Thanks Sankari and Wor Gar!

"Obsessive" is probably more accurate a description than "care and passion!"

And Wor Gar, yes, your first review was read and much appreciated before I even started actively posting. It gave me a more realistic notion of what to expect, and also first got me thinking about what might need tweaking, so thank you for those valuable insights. Looking back on your review it seems you might have gotten one of the first factory "prototypes" or even "advance review copies", because it seems a few things on yours were different from what has been getting to retailers, which is interesting.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Really? I had no idea. Do you happen to remember what's different between the two? I'd love to know. Maybe stuff I need to fix.

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

Really? I had no idea. Do you happen to remember what's different between the two? I'd love to know. Maybe stuff I need to fix.

There aren't too many differences but if anything yours is better. You stated your scabbard was made of pleather. The production one (I have two) is made of hard plastic. It also looks like they configured the baldric/harness correctly in yours, with the rear scabbard strap coming off the rear junction, plus you got an extra belt tip on that rear strap which is correct (check out my "before" pic and you'll see the difference). Your helmet strap was wider but you already noticed that, but at least they weathered the nose piece with metallic paint, which is missing from the production one. (that's an easy fix; I've already dry brushed mine with metallic grey, though I haven't updated my pic)

 

[Wor-Gar]

OK, good to know, thank you. I did notice the rear strap placement difference. I wonder if Asmus is aware the factory is shipping it out incorrectly?

I'll have to check on the "pleather" scabbard -- I likely mispoke and meant the belt/baldric (I get the words mixed up at times). The scabbard is likely plastic on mine too. But I'll double check.

EDIT: OK, I checked, and its very odd -- the opening of the scabbard is made from two pieces of what looks like pleather with the "fuzzy" sides turned inward (as if to clean the blade) -- but the rest of the scabbard is definitely hard plastic. It's that opening that fooled me perhaps.

tankgirl: is your scabbard opening where you put the sword a hard plastic cut-out opening (like on the WK or Nazgul)?

 

[tankgirlfuzzy]

Yes, the scabbard is all plastic, no pleather on it at all.

So I finally finished my baldric. I cut the long strap out of a very thin fine real leather labeled "glove leather" at Michael's. It was expensive but the piece is giant and unblemished, probably a whole lambskin, and will fill my hobby needs for years to come. I used real leather because I wanted to replicate the stamped pattern found on the original, and pleather is not stampable AFAIK, and incredibly I found a stamp that comes pretty close. I used a micro flat head screwdriver to stamp in the crosses in the middle of each "sun". The belt is a little wider than stock to accommodate the width of the stamp, but I think it still works. I ended up stamping the sueded side because the stamp shows up better, and when I painted it I went in the direction of the grain and it smoothed out the nap. The leather is incredibly thin and needs to be treated gently, but it's quite strong for it's size.



I added the extra triple junction ring from my other set as well as an extra belt tip to the rear scabbard strap. This is as close to movie accurate as I can get it for now. For some reason they added an extra gold/bronze banded detail to the scabbard, about a third of the way down from the top, which is not in the original prop, at least none of my sources show it. It's a mysterious and needless addition, but rather than grinding it off and repainting (maybe someday later) I'm done with this part for now.

 

[Wor-Gar]

That really looks sharp. Almost ashame to cover up all the work on the dress and chainmail.

 

[Lee in MI]

Tank Girl...repped

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

Tank Girl...repped

Right?

She's only got a couple of dozen posts, but I want to rep every single one of them! You're working some serious magic in this thread, TankGirl!