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.