Asmus Toys Lord of the Ring Gandalf Gray

[Hoody999]

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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Found your original post ! So were eyebrows simply stuck on or punched into the sculpt ?

 

[davejames]

Woah, seriously !!

Any chance you could give us an unflattering close up on the eyes and eyelids ? How did you match the paint for the eye lids and face ?

Here you go. I've gotten pretty good at color matching by this point. Unfortunately I'm still not that great at painting eyes, which is why I usually avoid extreme closeups of my customs. Lol

 

[davejames]

Found your original post ! So were eyebrows simply stuck on or punched into the sculpt ?

They were glued on.

 

[Manannin]

Here you go. I've gotten pretty good at color matching by this point. Unfortunately I'm still not that great at painting eyes, which is why I usually avoid extreme closeups of my customs. Lol

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They still look amazing. Really nice work!

 

[Someperson]

Here you go. I've gotten pretty good at color matching by this point. Unfortunately I'm still not that great at painting eyes, which is why I usually avoid extreme closeups of my customs. Lol

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This is/would be a perfect Gandalf.

 

[Alatar]

Has anyone put out a definitive guide… ideally in the form of a YT DIY video… on how to mod this figure to solve the problem of sunken eyes and the stiff robes?

I’m tempted to have a go at painting the whites of the eyes but not sure which is the best paint and sealer to buy. (Probably Vallejo but would like for someone to confirm. I asked the guy about it on FB.) If there are custom third party replacement eyes that I can order I would love to just do that versus trying my hand at painting the stock eyeballs. The wizard hat I’ve already modded with acceptable results—but I agree with others that the brim is too thick for my taste. I don’t worry it about it because this figure looks best without the hat anyway. And even though it sounds simple I’d like to know specifically how people have treated the robs to get them to soften and drape naturally. Like should I maybe add some fabric softener or Woolite to the water I soak the robes in? Etc.

I think this figure can probably look better than the QS one with the proper modification. I‘d just like to see a sort of definitive guide either in the form of a thorough, detailed write-up, and/or a YT video!

 

[Kalkylen]

Has anyone put out a definitive guide… ideally in the form of a YT DIY video… on how to mod this figure to solve the problem of sunken eyes and the stiff robes?

I’m tempted to have a go at painting the whites of the eyes but not sure which is the best paint and sealer to buy. (Probably Vallejo but would like for someone to confirm. I asked Josh Roop about it on FB.) If there are custom third party replacement eyes that I can order I would love to just do that versus trying my hand at painting the stock eyeballs. The wizard hat I’ve already modded with acceptable results—but I agree with others that the brim is too thick for my taste. I don’t worry it about it because this figure looks best without the hat anyway. And even though it sounds simple I’d like to know specifically how people have treated the robs to get them to soften and drape naturally. Like should I maybe add some fabric softener or Woolite to the water I soak the robes in? Etc.

I think this figure can probably look better than the QS one with the proper modification. I‘d just like to see a sort of definitive guide either in the form of a thorough, detailed write-up, and/or a YT video!

To soften the robes on mine, I did the following.

1. Remove the robe.
2. Follow the line of the pleats that appear on the chest area and iron them in all the way down to the bottom of the robe in a straight line.
3. Repeat for the back.
4. Soak the robe in hot water for about 10 minutes.
5. Remove from water and roll into a ball and repeatedly unfold and roll again.
6. Throw at the wall for a bit (this is an old trick Fred Astaire did to get the stiffness out of new suits!!)
7. Replace back on the figure but once again follow the lines of the pleats to the bottom of the robe and replace the woven belt so that it holds the pleats in place. Try to get the pleats symmetrical so it looks even either side.
8. Adjust the sleeves so that they gather around the elbow in a gathered bunch so that when they dry, they give the appearance of being creased like shirts and coats do over time.
9. Repeat the above steps for the cloak minus the ironing. Ideally you should trim the hem off the robe all the way around then pull at the raw material to give it that frayed look of the movie. Can do a step further and weather it with Vallejo mud splash paint too!
10. Leave to dry then add the rest of his accessories and head. Adjust accordingly. You can even start to dry brush more grim in. Or if you are like me, take it into the garden and throw it around the muck and bushes haha.

Basically the trick is to batter and soak the garments so they end up looking like they would in real life. He is always out in every type of weather and his robes reflect that. I think Asmus did a great job of dirtying the robe but with the extra steps, it really looks so much better. Just use the below reference photo as a reference and you can't go wrong.

 

[matrix69]

Here you go. I've gotten pretty good at color matching by this point. Unfortunately I'm still not that great at painting eyes, which is why I usually avoid extreme closeups of my customs. Lol

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Stunning work davejames....

 

[scumonkey]

I also wet and ironed his robe...and trimmed the edges of the cloak.
After applying some weathering i put it back on him and spray soaked it,
pulling it down around his arms etc. and squeezing it into shape.
I also soaked the hat and while it was wet gave it a bath of blue
water colour, the kind you squeeze out from a tube.
plus applied some watered down black to his hand sleeves.
i just started working on his eyes...

 

[FlyAndFight]

Thanks for sharing the great info, Kalkylen and scumonkey!

 

[Someperson]

I also wet and ironed his robe...and trimmed the edges of the cloak.
After applying some weathering i put it back on him and spray soaked it,
pulling it down around his arms etc. and squeezing it into shape.
I also soaked the hat and while it was wet gave it a bath of blue
water colour, the kind you squeeze out from a tube.
plus applied some watered down black to his hand sleeves.
i just started working on his eyes...
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this is a great idea for the edges/ hems! Looks amazing !

 

[satanatos]

Here is a bit of closeup of mine after futzing with the hair a bit.

 

[Mazomaniac]

We are almost ready,
properly next week

Any updates on this?

 

[Galacticat]

I finally got around to opening this guy- Asmus Gandalf. Is his hat supposed to sit that far down on his face? I guess he kinda wears it that way, but for display purposes it's really hard to see him. It may just be the brim is too thick- no easy fix for that I guess.

I'll try the trick with washing/ironing the robes. His hair is a bit fluffy too- I need to try and tame it.

As for the eyes, I'll look for some replacements. They seem too small. The diorama stand also seems a bit hokey... I sound so negative, but actually I do really like him.

 

[Kalkylen]

I finally got around to opening this guy- Asmus Gandalf. Is his hat supposed to sit that far down on his face? I guess he kinda wears it that way, but for display purposes it's really hard to see him. It may just be the brim is too thick- no easy fix for that I guess.

I'll try the trick with washing/ironing the robes. His hair is a bit fluffy too- I need to try and tame it.

As for the eyes, I'll look for some replacements. They seem too small. The diorama stand also seems a bit hokey... I sound so negative, but actually I do really like him.

Can you take a photo of the inside of the hat? The first batch had a weird piece of fabric and a magnet which made the hat sit on the top of the head. If you have one of the newer, hollow versions, just stuff some foam or material in there so it sits better on his head.

The size of the eyes are ok but they are grey instead of white which makes them look small...absolutely ludicrous decision. They are easy enough to repaint with an off white acrylic paint which helps them stand out. I'm working on mine this week so will post some photos once it's done.

 

[Galacticat]

Mine has the fabric and magnet. I guess the first batch. I guess I can just cut it out.

I'll recheck the eyes- maybe I can fix it. I've got paints.

 

[Kalkylen]

Mine has the fabric and magnet. I guess the first batch. I guess I can just cut it out.

I'll recheck the eyes- maybe I can fix it. I've got paints.

Here's the eyeball...I mean, wtf?! Who signed off on that.

 

[Bucky Underbelly]

(Gandalf hunched over a laptop, furiously searching WebMD for "discoloration of the sclera")

Seriously, though. Why would they do that? I would honestly really like to know how they ended up at this decision. Because that is NOT why they call him Gandalf the Grey.

I'm definitely planning on picking up an extra head for my earlier version of the figure - I've got both the Crown and Hobbit versions - but I'm wondering if they're going to fix this problem on this next batch of heads ...

 

[Asmus]

of course the color of the eyeballs were a result of series of tests.
I have attached photos of the samples we tested.
You can see the pantone numbers were written in different plastic bags as it was tested then.

 

[TheRiddler32?]

Is the head still goin up for sale this week?