From FrederickC: The Hobbits of the Fellowship (Noel's Comet) (36 points)

 

Well, I managed to use up most of my acceleration drugs on my race around the Outer Ring, and Vulcan could not supply me with anymore. They told me that they don't need them, since they use Inertial Dampers instead. On top of that, they only had dilithium crystals in stock, but no fuel pellets for my Epstein Drive. 

As a result I am going to head out on a Low-G burn down the gravity well from Vulcan to the passing Noel's Comet of the Middle Ring. The theme is Friendship described in miniature, along with a loquacious story. To illustrate the strong bond of friendship that survives the test of adversity I present the four hobbits of the Fellowship - Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.

"Go Back, Sam. I'm Going To Mordor Alone." "Of Course You Are. And I'm Coming With You."

As per usual, Samwise Gamgee refuses to leave the side of Frodo. He is a loyal gardener-friend-servant, what have you, through and through. In The Fellowship Of The Ring, Frodo attempts to break away from the group to pursue his mission to destroy the ring all on his own. He believes this is the best way to ensure his success. Paddling away from Sam, Frodo calls out to him to let him go alone. Sam, ever emotional, throws himself into the river and nearly drowns as he screams that he will not leave Frodo. Sam stuck to Frodo on the entire journey to Mount Doom. 

"Are You Going To Leave Me?" "No, Merry. I'm Going To Look After You."

And then we have Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took. Their friendship is the most jovial and fun. These two start out as immature, mischief-makers who are naive to the world. They are constantly engaged in shenanigans together. Whether stealing Gandalf's fireworks, or drinking and singing at 'The Green Dragon', the two are nearly inseparable. Only the most dire circumstances can divide them. They are cousins and best friends, and they care about one another a lot.

 “You can trust us to stick with you through thick and thin — to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours — closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.” 

— Merry, The Fellowship of the Ring

The four figures I painted for this Quadrant Challenge are from the Games Workshop "Attack at Weathertop" boxed set. When I bought the set many years ago I was primarily interested in the five Nazgûl, as I already had painted figures of the four hobbits. As a result these minis languished in the 'big box of unfinished projects' until now. Over the week between Christmas and New Year, my wife and I re-watched the extended edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is one of our holiday traditions. The reoccurring examples of the strong friendship between the four hobbits stuck in my mind as a worthy submission for this stop on the Quadrant Challenge. They are shown with the scratch-built model of the ruined tower of Amon Sûl, better known as Weathertop, that I built to play the scenario with members of our local gaming group.

 

The four hobbits at Weathertop

 

My Quadrant progress so far

The points being claimed are as follows:

4 x 20mm foot figures @ 4 points each = 16 points

(While they are '28mm scale, hobbits are rather short.)

Quadrant Challenge 'Noel's Comet' - 'Friendship' - 20 Points

 My tour of the Middle Ring begins.

Great work on the four Hobbits Frederick.  You've also clearly met the brief for Noel's Comet, a long story of Noel-like verbosity.  Well done.