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#1 Tue, Mar29 2011 6:31pm
- ddaines
- Skilled Artisan
- Registered: Tue, Jan29 2008
- Posts: 1958
The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
The Watcher in the Water is the ‘Missing Link’ for many of us, but as Mithril Miniatures are in no hurry to make it happen I thought do it meself 
.
To recreate the Watcher is actually a relatively simple process as I used a Shelob’s Lair that I got cheap on EvilBay, and by utilising the abdomen part of Shelob it still leaves a bit of mystique as to how the Watcher may have looked without being too definate as nobody knows for sure– the fact you can see the body heaving itself out of the water, but any ‘head’ is still hidden appealed to me.
The hardest part to recreate are the tentacles which I created out of Super Sculpey (a heat curing synthetic clay a bit like Fimo I guess); and to do this I simply rolled out long strips and ran a ribbed plastic bottle lid along one side to give the ribbed effect, stuck a small metal rod in so that I could stick it in the base, twisted the tentacles to shape and baked them.
If you follow this idea and have more patience that I do I would suggest adding bumps and bobbles to give the tentacles some texture 
.
For the observant among you, you may notice that the doorway is a little low – this is due to building the groundwork up too high 
.
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#2 Tue, Mar29 2011 7:22pm
- ddaines
- Skilled Artisan
- Registered: Tue, Jan29 2008
- Posts: 1958
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Gate sounded better than Door 
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#3 Tue, Mar29 2011 8:07pm
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Dear David.... what could I say.... once again awesome piece of diorama. Bloody great ! Watcher in the water is wonderful. Who is manufacturer of this beast... thanks for this pictures... you must send all yours new diorama picture to Gildor for your part of the gallery.... once again WOW !
.... Farewell to Middle-earth at last. I see the Star above my mast!
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#4 Tue, Mar29 2011 8:11pm
- ddaines
- Skilled Artisan
- Registered: Tue, Jan29 2008
- Posts: 1958
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Thingol wrote:
Dear David.... what could I say.... once again awesome piece of diorama. Bloody great ! Watcher in the water is wonderful. Who is manufacturer of this beast... thanks for this pictures... you must send all yours new diorama picture to Gildor for your part of the gallery.... once again WOW !
Master Thingol - the manufacturer of this beast is Mithril Miniatures (Shelob) and Me (tentacles - glad I spelt that correct)
Glad you like it and thanks for comments.
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#5 Tue, Mar29 2011 8:30pm
- Barliman
- The famous Innkeeper
- From: Bree
- Registered: Tue, Jan29 2008
- Posts: 4331
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Very impressive indeed, Master D. The Watcher looks way more impressive than the GW tentacles and the version that was briefly available from Thomarillion. Top marks!
"A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber-room: thing wanted always buried."
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#6 Tue, Mar29 2011 9:01pm
- ddaines
- Skilled Artisan
- Registered: Tue, Jan29 2008
- Posts: 1958
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Thank you kind Sir, I have kept it 99% Mithril, 1% me Mithril might get a run on folk buying Shelob box sets
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#7 Tue, Mar29 2011 10:24pm
- Turambar
- Archer of Mirkwood
- From: Germany
- Registered: Sun, Apr27 2008
- Posts: 2724
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Ahhhhhhhh!
All the gentlemen before (included Master Barliman! Wow!) said everything.
So is there something to add? Yes. The rocks! Absolutely awesome, David.
A brilliant diorama!
Last edited by Turambar (Tue, Mar29 2011 10:24pm)
Maybe the magic was the most powerful force in the world. But that was long ago.
The dragons are gone, the giants are dead and the children of the woods are forgotten.
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#8 Wed, Mar30 2011 6:38am
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
ddaines wrote:
Master Thingol - the manufacturer of this beast is Mithril Miniatures (Shelob) and Me (tentacles - glad I spelt that correct)
Glad you like it and thanks for comments.
Shelob.... I did not recognize it.... There is no need to give thanks for this comments. They are 100% fully deserved....
I did not look and read the introduction to this magnificent exhibition.....
Last edited by Thingol (Wed, Mar30 2011 9:38am)
.... Farewell to Middle-earth at last. I see the Star above my mast!
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#9 Wed, Mar30 2011 8:33am
- Milo
- The Attic Warden
- From: Toulouse, France
- Registered: Tue, Mar30 2010
- Posts: 4454
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Turambar wrote:
Ahhhhhhhh!
All the gentlemen before (included Master Barliman! Wow!) said everything.
So is there something to add? Yes. The rocks! Absolutely awesome, David.
A brilliant diorama!
One word about the trees. Magnifique !
I love the water moves also
Bravo David. 
How long did it take you to make everyhting ?
Milo Gamgee-Took of Bywater
________________________
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
J.R.R.Tolkien
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#10 Wed, Mar30 2011 9:27am
- imisel
- Collector
- From: A Corunna - Spain
- Registered: Thu, Nov18 2010
- Posts: 578
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
ohmygosh daines... absolutely amazing. Great transformation of Shelob, no doubt!
Ilsa:A franc for your thoughts.
Rick: In America they'd bring only a penny, and, huh, I guess that's about all they're worth.
CASABLANCA (1942)
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#11 Wed, Mar30 2011 1:39pm
- hsf62
- Master Caster
- From: Australia
- Registered: Tue, Jan29 2008
- Posts: 2930
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Very Very nice Master ddaines! I got this beast with a couple of broken legs and was thinking what to do with it? Well, I like your solution very much! Fantastic job!
Where there is a will there is a way, just as there are no problems, only solutions! Guess it depends on ones own perspective of the matter at that time
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#13 Wed, Mar30 2011 4:55pm
- ddaines
- Skilled Artisan
- Registered: Tue, Jan29 2008
- Posts: 1958
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Milo wrote:
Turambar wrote:
Ahhhhhhhh!
All the gentlemen before (included Master Barliman! Wow!) said everything.
So is there something to add? Yes. The rocks! Absolutely awesome, David.
A brilliant diorama!One word about the trees. Magnifique !
I love the water moves also
Bravo David.
How long did it take you to make everyhting ?
This has been on the go now for a long time mainly because I have had other things to get on with, plus the original trees were plastic ones which looked ok, but were obviously plastic and this bugged me. I have only recently found some suitable real bits with roots which I was far happier with.
I didn't add an avenue of rotting trees as I felt it would get in the way of the Watcher.
The rocks Master Archer are plaster cast from Woodland Scenics molds - I don't know if they are available to you, but they are good and come in a variety of styles. Well worth the investment and they are much lighter than the real thing depending on what you cast them out of.
Go for it Holger - you know it makes sense
Once again many thanks for the comments, Swan boat of Galadriel next!
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#14 Wed, Mar30 2011 5:02pm
Re: The Watcher in the Water - The West Gate of Moria
Huoom ... I forgot to praise your presentation of trees, Master Ddaines. Sorry. Obviously the left one is female, as the right one is male. - Great.
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