Mithril Miniatures Balrog.

Carrying on with the Mithril Miniatures May theme, I have painted their Balrog miniature.

As per the rest of my Mithril collection I have based the Balrog up according to the Midgard rules set, on a larger base as per a 'Monstrosity (Flying Beast). Assembly was quite straightforward, and surprisingly I didn't need to drill and pin anything. It's quite a large miniature. The sculpting is lovely, with a nice musculature to the body. The face is almost bat-like, and its horns almost look like antlers, which I think gives a different aesthetic to it.  The mane is lovely and flowing, almost like the fiery mane mentioned in the Lord of the Rings.

My only criticisms are the weapons. In the book it describes the Balrog as having "In its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of many thongs" (The Fellowship of the Ring, page 348). Now for a start the weapons are in the wrong hands, a basic detail I would have thought Mithril Miniatures would have paid attention to! Secondly, lovely as the sword is, it's more of a scimitar than "stabbing tongue of fire". Finally, the whip has only one thong rather than the "many" which was mentioned. I could have converted it, but I wanted to leave the miniature as it was.

Painting was easy. It's a Balrog, so paint it black, highlight a little, add some flame bits, and it's done, although admittedly, the highlighting was done a little different. In the same manner as my Nazgul, I undercoated the body black, then dry-brush highlighted with white. Then instead of the green for the Nazgul, I washed the Balrog with red, Citadel's Blood Angels Red contrast. I did this to suggest fiery heat in its body and spirit. Also, with the basing I didn't add any grass tufts as to suggest the floor of Moria. If I use the Balrog 'outside' it will not really matter there are no tufts. Overall I'm pleased with it how the Balrog turned out, despite any inaccuracies.   

Enjoy ;) 

The box. 

'Ai! ai!', wailed Legolas,'. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come!'
(The Fellowship of the Ring, page 348). 

The right side of the Balrog showing the mono-thong whip! 

The left side with the sword. 

Rear view. 

A closer view of the mane. 

A scale comparison.
 The Mithril Orc is their usual 32mm size, and being a character model, he is mounted on 40mm round base. The Balrog itself is on a 125mm by 50mm base. It's also made of metal (pewter) and so is quite a weight, especially with the milliput and stones on the base as well.

The next update might be anything as I have been painting and basing all sorts of things. 

Mithril Miniatures: The Nazgul.

 Finally, after a few years of collecting and waiting, I have nine Nazgul from Mithril Miniatures. I was stuck on five for a while, then bagged three all at once in an e-bay auction earlier this year. That left one, which e-bay gratefully presented a fortnight ago. So now the Nine can ride out spreading terror, and failing to catch Hobbits. 

Anyway, they are based, like the rest of my Mithril Miniatures Evil Army, according to the Midgard rules. I did cheat a little bit. Both bases are meant to represent Heavy Riders (Knight), but I only used four models per base rather than the more usually recommended. I did this so I could have two bases of Nazgul, not have to squeeze eight or nine on one base, and because it looked better. It also fits with the Lord of the Rings in that some Nazgul went off failing to catch the Hobbits, whilst the others went off doing Nazgul things. I kept the Witch King separate as a Hero to be able to command them, and my orc army as well. 

Painting was easy. Undercoat black, dry-brush white, wash with Citadel Tesseract Glow, and then paint the horses and the Witch Kings eyes red. I chose this to emulate Ralph Bakshi's Nazgul in his version of Lord of the Rings. I'm happy with how they look, and glad to achieved getting the Nine. 

Enjoy :) 

The Nine ride. 

The Witch King. 
This is the M3 Witch-King of Angmar miniature. I purchased him without his mace, but I prefer him without it as it looks like he is beckoning the other eight to follow him. I slight bent to palm of his hand flatter to extenuate this.  I also painted his red eyes large that they really should so that at a  distance they stand out more. It looks wrong close up, but better on the table. 

The first of the nine.
 The first three are the M146 Mounted Nazgul miniature. The fourth, in the top right hand corner, is the MM349 Ringwraith in the Shire miniature.

Side view.

The second base. 
This base again has three of the M146 Mounted Nazgul miniature. In addition there is another MM349 Ringwraith in the Shire miniature in the centre. However I had the wrong horse (one of the M146 ones), which didn't matter as it gives all the bases that great sense of movement, something which these miniatures do very well. To add a little variety, and differentiate from the other MM349, I cut off his head and re-positioned it to face in the same direction as his pointing hand. 

Rear view. 

The next update might be more Mithril Miniatures, or some more 1980's Citadel Lord of the Rings Ent's, as I have painted both of these. I promise I'll will photograph the Regiments of Renown at some point. I've been re-basing the 1980s slotta-based Slann as well, but that is a whole other thing entirely!