Sunday 30 June 2019

Aroo - The guardian of the City of the Ancients

Only appearing in the episode "Masks of Power", Aroo is a giant demonic blue gorilla-like beast, who was in charge of guarding the said masks in the lost City of the Ancients. He-Man and Man-At-Arms barely escaped with their lives when they encountered him and while the masks were taken, Aroo was just too strong to defeat, even for He-Man.

The giant, apelike Aroo

My version of Aroo is not full size, he'd need to be about 2,5 times the size, which would just make  him look out of place on the table and impossible to work into a scenario where you could fight him and win. So, I settled for a more practical size, which still puts hem at around 115mm tall, on an 80mm base. As he's based on an Eaglemoss figure of Grudd, skillfully converted by the talented John Pickford, he's also made of lead, so weighs a heavy 700g. Painting him was not so easy due to the added weight.


Aroo in the original episode

For size with Skeletor, who's hoping to control him, but may have bitten off more than those weathered teeth can chew



A comparison with the original figure. The Grudd figure is actually pretty close already if you don't care for an exact match. The only really required changes would be replacing the hair with a skullcap with horns and pointy ears poking out, adding a devilish tail and filling in the G to be a circle. As I wanted to get as close as possible, John also changed the mouth, necklace, armbands and wrist guards, belt, loincloth, and added claws to the fingers and feet, as well as turning the oversized skull into a rock.


8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks! All credit to John Pickford for capturing him so well from an unrelated base model. Almost seemed a shame to paint this one of a kind figure, but then it would also be a shame not to.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks. He makes for a very colourful addition.

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  3. That is excellent, both in terms of the adaptation and the painting. John has done a fantastic conversion for you!

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    1. I agree! He's a much underrated sculptor who can do some very characterful sculpts.

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  4. Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm pleased with how he came out. Looks even better in real life.

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