So I'm thinking of having a Malbeth the seer to lead some warriors of Arnor along Glonfindal in my third age good force, and as the prices on ebay are scary I'm thinking of converting myself one and was wonderng if people had any idea for a good base model.
The idea I have atm is to take the elrond on foot model you get with the mounted version and do head swap with the super mounted faramir and then swap the elven blade for a staff of some kind, thoughts?

I'd recommend a Gandalf the white over Elrond. The wizard looks closer to begin with

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Gandalf the white

If you're not tied to GW models, you have tons of choices. You can always use the Reaper figure finder to look for wizards, although many of those choices might be a little too flashy for LOTR.

Another option would be to look among the historicals offered by the likes of Warlord, Gripping Beast, and Foundry. In the ancients ranges, druids, advisers, and the like might make good substitutes for a seer.

If you do want to stick to GW models, I think there are still several options at your disposal.

I wouldn't go with the Elrond from the mounted/foot set, because he's wearing armor. but here's a list of others that I think might be suitable, with a head swap and staff (where necessary):

Lindir (he would be my first choice)
Elrond or Saruman from "The White Council"
Alfrid the Councilor
Elven Stormcaller
Gandalf the White

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Well, that's my 2 cents.

I'd proberbly go for that, at the moment I'm thinking of using the bottom half of the finecast Gandalf as I bought it to use the top half to make a Grey Pilgrim on horse, I'm thinking of using the head off the super Faramir if I can find the one I have kicking about, not sure what to use for the body and arms though.

When reading Hirumith's reply, I also thought that Lindir would make a good model. You could take Lindir and move his arm like I did viewtopic.php?f=50&t=28793 and replace the sword and scabbard with a staff. Might have to buy another Lindir and replace the head and give it a go myself. Redo the other arm and you might have a elven stormcaller or add a beard and have one of the blue wizards.

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