InArt: The Lord of the Rings - Aragorn 1:6

[Sassafras]

Great thanks for the advice, I might just test out some small patches with hair powder and light hair spray and see how it goes, I'm definitely nitpicking, I think he looks great, its more that because my display has strong LEDs it can make the hair look a bit lighter but its not a big deal overall and I definitely don't want to risk destroying the look.

That makes sense, my area is dark so I didn't notice my uneven paint. It's not horrible it's just my bad luck since I had bad hair out of the box. Fixable stuff, thankfully. To me your looks great I would have been happy with that.

 

[Gipetto0812]

Looks good to me.

As you can see by that BTS photo posted earlier (and below), the stylist on set carried a water bottle with him, keeping Aragorn's hair damp most of the time. When he did have dry hair in the film, his hair was lighter.



View attachment 739822

Thanks! Good thing InArt uses some strong glue b/c there were a few times I really had to pull to get the comb through with all the product clumping up.

I’ve thought about trimming the bangs a bit more but don’t want to go too short and regret it.

I still may go in with some thinned Angelus dark brown paint to get it just a bit darker. But overall pretty happy with it.

IMO that looks great. Scene to scene he has "wet/sweat" waves, his hair is all over the place "style wise". At least with mine, the more I pull on the hair, the more it seems to loosen the curl, over time, which I guess can be expected when pulling on any natural fiber.

I like mine with some wave, not that I have hair that would ever be completely straight. And I've just been noticing under my right eye it looks pretty unpainted; in the wrong light it's like a "panda" effect - sigh. Am not a painter so it will be fun learning to touch that up.

This figure, tho I like it more or less, is the biggest pain in the *&^% of any fig I've ever owned. I wish the Topo cloak would show up so I could slap it on, get him on a shelf and distance myself from the trauma.

Yea, the more movie pics I see, the more I’m noticing some waves in the hair. I’m just glad I got most of the curls out aside from the few in front that I couldn’t really straighten out.

That’s aweful that there’s paint missing though! Much like the Superman headsculpts that’s been floating around of the paint missing on half the of the face for that one as well.

I’ve found Gandalf more of a pain for me than this one. But with QC varying between figures and batches, it makes sense that there would be a lot of variance in ppl’s experience unfortunately

 

[Lizard Lips]

I’ve thought about trimming the bangs a bit more but don’t want to go too short and regret it.

I still may go in with some thinned Angelus dark brown paint to get it just a bit darker. But overall pretty happy with it.

I think he looks great, you've done a good job straightening the hair. I'm too nervous to give him a haircut, not worth the risk IMO when his hair already looks fine. What will you use to thin out the paint?

 

[Sassafras]

Thanks! Good thing InArt uses some strong glue b/c there were a few times I really had to pull to get the comb through with all the product clumping up.

I’ve thought about trimming the bangs a bit more but don’t want to go too short and regret it.

I still may go in with some thinned Angelus dark brown paint to get it just a bit darker. But overall pretty happy with it.



Yea, the more movie pics I see, the more I’m noticing some waves in the hair. I’m just glad I got most of the curls out aside from the few in front that I couldn’t really straighten out.

That’s aweful that there’s paint missing though! Much like the Superman headsculpts that’s been floating around of the paint missing on half the of the face for that one as well.

I’ve found Gandalf more of a pain for me than this one. But with QC varying between figures and batches, it makes sense that there would be a lot of variance in ppl’s experience unfortunately

Yeah I wish I knew what glue that was; the stuff is amazing as much as I washed and messed with the hair. Even E6000 doesn't hold like that. I don't think it's super glue either.

Fortunately for me I hadn't even noticed the "panda eye" - but I've been meaning to learn to do minor paint fixes for a while. I can't match the painters on the forum, but I think a bit of weak brown wash will help under the eye. Like, well, dirt, sort of.

LOL am holding in ranting about InArt and their QC. It's like the hair variants ranging from stellar to absolute dreck at this price point.

 

[Chopper Face]

Imagine not if the price is reasonable once folks figure out that Aragorn will be recast for this Gollum movie. We'll get a Ranger Aragorn but not THIS Aragorn. Maybe they will cast someone who's face isn't so hard to get right.

If it ain’t Viggo, it ain’t Aragorn.

 

[Guillalite]

Just ordered from Kit, had another preorder done with a Spanish store, but the wait is killing me. Guess I'll be able to sell one of them and keep the head with the best hair of the two

 

[TonTon]

Yeah I had to bite on a second one now. Who knows how many more opportunities we are going to get. With these pics from the latest batch. It seems like the hair work is much better and maybe even the paint looks more on point too. Hoping my second one is just as good as these later batch pics. They all look great!

Buying a second one for this same reason crossed my mind too, but can't spend the money right now. Need to just work on the hair on the one I have.

 

[DEATHASYLUM]

Was walking by the table getting ready to leave town for the holidays and had to stop and take a quick pic….. great looking figure

 

[Rzeznikk]

Imagine not if the price is reasonable once folks figure out that Aragorn will be recast for this Gollum movie. We'll get a Ranger Aragorn but not THIS Aragorn. Maybe they will cast someone who's face isn't so hard to get right.

Last I heard Viggo was interested in returning. They have the tech to de-age now. I don't see them recasting as it takes place during Fellowship. A new actor would be jarring.

 

[Rzeznikk]

Buying a second one for this same reason crossed my mind too, but can't spend the money right now. Need to just work on the hair on the one I have.

Yeah with the holidays coming up I probably shouldn't have, but the plan always was eventually getting 2. But wasn't looking forward to paying crazy secondary market prices. So had to jump on the opportunity now

@Wor-Gar , Yes I will definitely do comparison pics

 

[skullboy]

It's really becoming nonsense...
They absolutely must do something about their quality control, all these problems are just unacceptable!
I've never seen this even with low cost brands!

I was lucky with my Harry Potter and Superman, but i'm a little nervous for my 2nd Aragorn that I should receive, fingers crossed (crazy to be worried about buying from a premium brand)

Yes been lucky myself with Gandalf and Aragorn. Hoping Michael jackson doesn't come without a nose or something, but then probably wouldn't make much difference

 

[skullboy]

I'm considering adding a bit more product to his hair mostly to darken it up slightly but not sure what to use. Obviously need something that won't damage the wool and has to be odorless, any suggestions?

View attachment 739693

Well considering wool is just hair but from a sheep and all hair products are made not to damage hair, I can't see why any hair product would damage it to be honest

 

[eighthsamurai]

This figure is a weird mix of extremes. Absolute joy and abject anxiety I opened him up yesterday and had great fun putting him together and trying to find a pose I liked. But the hair! Still not 100% happy with it and maybe shouldn't have used gloss wax but had no gel around.

And personally finding it hard to photograph (not that I'm very good at it anyway) because lighting seems to significantly change his face. He needs a darker corner of a display to look best IMO.

Feels like a totally different sculpt in that last pic. I'm also now wondering if the hair on mine is a little short especially towards the back.

 

[Scout Trooper]

Yeah it's full on gamble wit the hair, mine is way too short.

Guys I wanna buy another from Kit, my hair is just too short but idk if it's worth to waste more money, it just kills me the way my hair is

Should I get another? (

View attachment 739599

Perhaps putting on the elven cloak would help.

I actually came here to post this. I'm worried not being able to inspect my Aragorn. And even if I did... their policy of sending back a part at your own cost is ******.

 

[Scout Trooper]

Here’s a pic of my rooted Aragorn headsculpt. I think the hair is too light, but not bad after combing out so much of the product and then brushing the hair some. I tried to get as much of the curls out as possible and it’s worked for the most part. Still a little more wavy than I’d like but better than it was fresh out of the box.

Paintwork is pretty flawless, though, I must say

EDIT: just for clarification in case anyone was wondering, mine is from the second batch.
View attachment 739812

Looks good. But wouldn't removing the product cause it to look lighter?

 

[Sassafras]

Perhaps putting on the elven cloak would help.

I actually came here to post this. I'm worried not being able to inspect my Aragorn. And even if I did... their policy of sending back a part at your own cost is ******.

View attachment 739970

Great. Bet that was a "premium" unboxing experience. Guess the QC team and the production line collectively really needed that smoke break.

Not much comfort, but IMO - most of what I've seen is improve-able, and looks like there are a fair number of really nice Aragorns. Kit is backing his customers, worst case.

The real problem is InArt and their substandard need, apparently, to hold onto every penny and grudgingly assist customers as though they were doing their customers a favor.

 

[Luisenigma1]

Inart knows the more QC issues they have to fix or refund is going to be giving them a bad rep for future figures. And rightfully so because it's BS to try and sweep it under the rug and hide it. They need to try and actually help or people will start to lose interest in them fast.

 

[IAmIronMan]

Anecdotally, but that's exactly where I'm at. I should be their perfect customer. Lots of IPs I care about are WB and am OK with spending more for quality. But between the recent downgrades in production paint and QC issues, I'm at a point where I'll maybe let my pre orders come in and then steer clear

 

[Gipetto0812]

Looks good. But wouldn't removing the product cause it to look lighter?

Thanks!

It does, but only a little bit, at least on my copy. It's dark when wet, but lightens up considerably once it dries. I just wish the color/shade of the hair on the final product matched the prototype more closely. It was pretty dry in the proto, and still darker than what we got on the production pieces. Maybe it's just lighting

I think he looks great, you've done a good job straightening the hair. I'm too nervous to give him a haircut, not worth the risk IMO when his hair already looks fine. What will you use to thin out the paint?

Thank you!

It was very nerve racking to cut just the little bit that I did for sure. I was afraid of cutting too short.

To thin the paint, Angelus makes their own paint thinner additive, so I would use that if I do decide to continue down that road.