Geek Crafts

Allow me to introduce you to Noel Cruz, re-painter of dolls. He takes dolls that are mass-produced to look like celebrities/characters and refashions them to look more realistic and lifelike.

While he has (re)created literally hundreds of dolls, from Bette Davis to Robert Pattinson, of particular interest to us geeks is his work on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s characters from Lord of the Rings. Behold Aragorn and Arwen, as recreated by his very precise brushstrokes.

The Before and After shots are very impressive – the Before’s look so flat, and the After’s look like they belong in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Which beloved characters would you pay big money to have recreated in doll-form like this?

Links of Interest:

• Noel Cruz’s homepage
• Aragorn doll on DeviantArt
• Arwen doll on DeviantArt
• More Lord of the Rings crafts on GeekCrafts
• More Tolkien crafts on GeekCrafts

Continue Reading

… But one can crochet Smaug, the Golden, the Dragon of Erebor, or as Bilbo refers to him, Smaug the Tremendous.  I have to say “tremendous” is appropriate for this crocheted version by ChrysN found on Instructables for it is truly a tremendous crocheted version of the famous character from The Hobbit.

Crocheted using yarn of the 3 and 4 weight categories, you could adjust the size using different weight yarn and needles.  Crocheted Smaug is indeed a faithful rendition of the depiction found in Tolkein’s watercolor entitled Conversations with Smaug.

• Smaug, the Golden, the Dragon of Erebor on Instructables

Continue Reading

As the sister of a “Legomaniac” growing up, and now wife and mother to some modular block-building aficionados, I am quick to recognize the imagination and talent required for the more epic Lego projects. I have posted about some I have seen, such as the Sandcrawler made of Legos.

Enter now the Ents. Or the last march, thereof.

OneLug, a “fellowship of builders consisting of Brandon Griffith, Alyse & Remi Gagne, and Bruce Lowell”, has recreated The Last March of the Ents – in Lego form. This is how they describe the project:

“Taken from the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, this Lego model displays the epic battle as depicted in the film version of the timeless book. The base of the model is 305 Lego studs(8ft.) in diameter and the tower Orthanc stands 228 Lego Bricks (7ft. 2in.) tall. The battle consist of 23 Ents and 100+ Orcs.”

The Flickr gallery includes 75 photos and two videos, with some crazy-awesome close-ups to show the creators’ imagination and attention to detail. Definitely worth a click-through.

Links of Interest:

• The Last March of the Ents Flickr gallery
• More Legos crafts on GeekCrafts
• More Tolkein crafts on GeekCrafts

Continue Reading

Craftster user artoo1121 and her boyfriend made this incredible set of Lord of the Rings amigurumi characters. The bodies are crocheted, the clothes are sewn from felt and the accessories are made from polymer clay. The details are amazing!

• The Fellowship of the Ring Amigurumi
• artoo1121′s Flickr – lots more pictures!

Continue Reading