Hi all, I'm currently reading the books of "Lord of the Rings" once again. There were a lot of details I simply had forgotten. And sometimes I remembered the pictures from the movies and not the descriptions in the books.

Here are some examples of descriptions from Tolkien, which I was surprised to read, having the GW models or the movies before my eyes and in mind:

>>> Gimli got a helmet from the Rohirrim, together with a round shield. This happened yet in the second book at Edoras, so he started the journey without helmet.

>>> The Haradrim had shields as was watched by Frodo, Sam and Gollum before the Black Gate ("... and they have round shields, yellow and black with big spikes").

>>> Mordor trolls coming out of Morannon to charge king Elessar's army had round bucklers.

There are more such differences. It is certainly not relevant for the SBG, but the GW models are in so many points exactly following the books, that I was surprised of these deviations from the original.

If you like, tell me, if these difference have any importance for you. Would you prefer to make conversion like giving Gimli a shield, or do you like the GW models better as they are?

By the way, there is one models which really disturbs me (and I plan to make a conversion to get a correct figure): It is Ori with catapult. Never in the medieval world of Middle Earth is a remark about rubber, which is a necessary part of such a weapon. If GW had depicted Ori with a sling, this would have been much more realistic and fitting. Slings were used even in Roman times. Just wanted to tell this somebody.

I converted my Legolas to have Rohirric armor and a shield. I don't even remember if he had that in the books, but that is what I wanted. I now want to give a Gimli mini a Rohan helm and shield! I am fond of making minis my own, and equally fond of making them more closely resemble Tolkien's vision if we can guess it. Thanks for the idea!

The main reason for this disparity is that the SBG is based on the movie, not the books. As painful as it is for me to admit this.

This is true... the most striking difference i've noticed is that Gollum is often described as 'black like a spider' with 'luminous eyes'? I love the books & the films but I would guess that some decisions (such as making Gollum pale) had a lot to do with cinematic effect...

On the bright side, it does give people a lot of scope for conversions! Anyone up for a painting a black gollum? I might haveta give that a go meself