Norwegian Elkhound (Minifigure Monday)

Today is a different sort of Minifigure Monday in that I am not actually looking at a Minifigure per se. I am sharing a customized LEGO® dog figurine. What was once a husky is now a Norwegian Elkhound. Why you ask? I have two reasons. Firstly, I wanted my sig fig to have a dog. I have a Norwegian Elkhound in real life, so it makes sense that my sig fig would have one too. Secondly, it builds on my Viking theme.

Me and my Norwegian Elkhound, Finn. — Finn (my Norwegian Elkhound) and I.

While my LEGO® elkhound will join my sig fig in certain photo ops, he will permanently reside in the MOC Viking settlement I am creating. Norwegian Elkhounds are actually a very old breed of dog descended from an extinct species of Eurasian wolf. There is evidence to suggest the breed has been around since 5000 BC. Subsequently, they became the favoured breed of Vikings. Several excavations found Elkhounds buried with their Viking masters.

I have very limited experience with painting toys. Previously, I painted a fake LEGO® Spinosaurus. For this project, I decided to try a different set of paints. I cannot say for sure that they are any different from other acrylic paints. But, I bought some Vallejo model paints meant for gaming miniatures. I figured those figurines are close-ish to LEGO®… closer than painting on canvas anyway. Here’s how I went about it.

Paint selection used for this project. — The paints and brushes I purchased for this Norwegian Elkhound project,

STEP 01: Primer

Turning a LEGO husky into a Norwegian Elkhound involved first priming the figurine. — I covered the LEGO® husky with two coats of light ghost grey primer.

STEP 02: Bone White

I painted over the primer coats with two coats of bone white.

STEP 03: More primer…

The Norwegian Elkhound starts to take shape. — Truthfully, I bought a neutral grey paint… but it wasn’t as light as the primer I used. I didn’t want to go back to the store or start mixing colours. So I just reapplied the primer in areas that needed grey.

STEP 04: Bring on the charcoal

I darkened some areas using charcoal coloured paint.

STEP 05: It’s all in the details

My custom painted LEGO Norwegian Elkhound. — I touched up a few areas, changed up colouring around the face a little, and voila.

I painted two of these Norwegian Elkhounds. The first was a trial run that looked a little rough around the edges. It has a lot of paint on it since I kept re-coating it as I worked out the details. I will probably paint a few more… the order for more huskies has already gone out on Bricklink. Incidentally, you can find the LEGO® husky cheaper on Bricklink than through the official LEGO® Pick-a-Brick in case you are interested in trying. What do you think of my custom LEGO® Norwegian Elkhound? Let me know in the comments or reach out on social media.

Until next time,

-Tom

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