"McBride's Tolkien Orcs (Part II)" Topic

Please look at the Orcs in these Angus McBride Tolkien plates:

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QUESTIONS:

Honestly, TO YOU, what makes these Orcs different from what is in the market these days? Is it just the facial characteristics and body shape of the Orcs? Is it just their skin and eye colors? Is it just their lorica armor and Nazi-like helmets? Is it all the above, or something else?

Or, again, TO YOU, are they just the same thing you see in every Orc range out there?

CC
PS. Part I was actually "Angus McBride: Tolkien":
TMP link

In case anyone is wondering, this time I'm trying to focus solely on his Orcs.

Thanks again.

CC

Hey CC,
I see what you're trying to get at,
I have the same love for the Hildebrant Orcs.
I'd say definetly the helmets and armor.
The Rebel minis 20mm Orcs are close, and the
tower orcs from the old Black Tree range.
Mike

I'm a fan of Angus's work. His Middle-Earth pieces match up ideally to the way I imagine Tolkien's works.

I think the Orcs have a fairly consistent facial structure, but it's not hugely different from the standard Orc image. They are generic enough, but they are also fairly realistic (with just a dash of exaggeration here and there).

I personally prefer the skin tone of the McBride Orcs too, more gray than green. Their armor and weapons are impressively ragged but still look plenty effective.

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Check out Mithril's orcs. I always thought they had to be inspired by Mr McBride.

Love the McBride orcs, I was actually looking for some sculpts like this in 15mm or 25mm, those 20mm Rebel Minis are spot-on. Just wish there was more of them.

Reaper has a troll that is a splitting image of the one shown about to kill the last King of Cardolan.

Any other alternatives out there? 15mm maybe? ANy chance that the Rebel range expands? I know the sculptor passed (RIP), so I imagine that complicates things.

Thunderbolt Mountain orcs are pretty close.

The older Ral Partha orcs that Tom Meier did, are in the ballpark, as well.

For me the Mithril orcs match McBride the closest, I have been buying them from here – you can bulk up your forces for a nice price: TimeMachine miniatures

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Color of the skin makes a huge difference. Tolkien describes his orcs as "Black skined" not the GW standard green. Painting them that way makes them both more dramatic and less exaggerated.
Same goes for anatomy. GW and their emulators go for the very exaggerated latern jaw and spina bifida. Mcbride and Tubbs orcs just look more beleivable and (at least to me) that makes them a lot cooler and more frightning.

Those paintings are terrific. I agree with FABET01; the McBride orcs' facial structure is more realistic than GW's. The tusks are there, but in believable proportions, unlike with GW, whose orcs would skewer their own eyes every time they chewed a bite.

Here's a link to the Thunderbolt orcs:

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Well I don't know what's out there but it seems to me what's unusual about them is they have ape-like anatomy in the upper body with rather spindly human anatomy legs. My goblins are all more-or-less hairless apes with some details of human and monstrous anatomy. The other common depiction is human-in-a-rubber-suit, where the posture and proportions are basically human or dwarfish but with an ugly mask, a few monster details and some overdeveloped muscles.

The pickle hob helmets are unusual and, I think, a bit discordant in this genera but not the segmented armor or other equipment.

My favourite Orc imsges sr the ones done fr the SPI War of the engs and the Thunderbolt Mountain stuff is close to theose

I had forgot all about the SPI game and the art work. Who did that?

"I had forgot all about the SPI game and the art work. Who did that?"

Tim Kirk is credited as the illustrator although the style of one image (my favorite of the group) is distinctly different from the rest.

Hasslefree Miniatures is working on a pack of three orcs a bit like these.

Though I think they are different from McBride's orcs, Thunderbolt Mountain's Orcs come close and are highly realistic (as anyone would expect) and have a consistent and interesting background.

For 15mm I like the old Grenadier Orcs for ME. Some of them have an interesting mix of kit. Some have what looks like hoplons while wearing chain shirts with pteruges.

I would say Tim Meier's goblins remind me more of Tim Kirk's illustrations. Very nice. I just need to save some dollars so I can afford them. :)

I really like the GW LOTR Orcs. I paint mine in all the same greenish skin tone, as I don't like all the color variations. Makes them look like they belong to dfiffernet tribes otherwise. You can do a lot of conversions with the plastic Orcs also.

Always thought the Mithril Orcs were fairly true to the descriptions in Tolkien's books, but the actual sculpting (Chris Tubbs?) never appealed to me at all.

I think the main point of difference between Tolien's Orc and the prevalent GW/GW-clones is size. If you want to recreate the look of the McBride artwork – which is just beautiful – you would get a closer match by looking at most manufacturer's Goblins rather than their Orcs.

I am a big fan of these renegade orcs as a nice mix between the old school style orcs, and the more modern ones.

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Oninotaki, those are quite nice. They seem a little more cartoony and lighthearted than the McBride ones though, maybe.

I really like GW's old old orcs, back when they were still skinny. Same problem though, too happy and cartoony, and also, not enough details to match the McBride art.

I'm sure Kev Adams could do them justice. This page I just found link has a lot of nice old-looking orcs & goblins by him.

Those 'Risen' orcs from Renegade ARE sculpted by Kev Adams!
Some of the nicest around, and well-priced, too.

I liked the Formori Orcs for 'Celtos'… the humanoid proportions looked, IMHO, way better than the GW template. Lovely sculpts, too.

Black Tree have gone back to sinewy, humanoid Orcs, after a long time following GW's lead.
Their latest offerings, Orc crossbowmen (FAO258-FAO260) and Orcs of the Crimson Wave (FAO255-FAO257) are VERY similar to the old Citadel LotR Orcs, from when they held the Tolkien licence back in the early '80s.

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Norman,

Don't know how I could have missed those. I'm glad they are moving away from the GW WHF look.

Very nice.

Thanks.

CC