Gandalf casting spell - Mithril M289 (1993)

There's not much to say about this miniature. It's simply great. Great, great, great. Plus, it's Gandalf, one of the coolest characters in fiction.

 

This is the second Gandalf miniature I paint, at least from Mithril. The first one is lost in the mists of time. See for yourself, if you think my skills have improved:

 

2021 vs 1997-ish

I am actually pretty happy with this one. Definitely one of my ten best so far. I am learning to play with that grey.

Gamling the Old - Mithril LT5 (2002)

This is a nice little miniature, which has only one fault: it lacks a shield. The rest is both beautiful and fun to paint. Chris Tubb deserves a good praise for this 2002 sculpt.

Gamling is an interesting character in LotR: he is an old man, leader of the warriors Erkenbrand left as a garrison of Helm's Deep. He seems to be a veteran of considerable age, but if his body is weakened by senility, his mind and heart are still strong, as he shows in many occasions when he leads the defenders against the forces of Isengard. He survives the battle and nothing is said about his again, so we must assume he dies of old age. He is a minor character, but one of those memorable enough to deserve remembering.

Not many depictions exists of him. By far the best I know is from Angus McBride:

"If they come to bargain for our goods at Helm's Gate, they will pay a high price,"

Bakshi's animated movie ignores him as a character, and PJ's movies have him as a generic warrior guy:

"I'm actually fourty-five."

I liked the idea of Gamling being a sort of Castellan of Helm's Deep, a vicecomes to Erkenbrand, so he would have a nice uniform even though he would not be heavily armed. I painted him in green and red, with a black leather jerkin and a white cloak. Incidentally his cloak came out really nice, and it might well be the second coat I paint that I don't hate. Good stuff.

I think my Rohan force is coming up well. I might even be able to play a mini-skirmish sometimes.

"Forth, Helmingas!"

Mithril M511 Rohir warrior with quilted armour and sword (2009)

Too long I have been painting static Mithril miniatures representing book characters or travellers, and I needed a diversion: a proper armed hero that could be used in any tabletop game. I rummaged through my two cartons of unpainted, still blistered Mithril miniatures (my source of shame) to find this: the 2009 Rohir warrior with quilted armour, sword and shield.

Boy, I needed this. The detail isn't extreme - it doesn't reach the glory of 1980s-90s issues - but it's still ok. The pose is also likeable: it certainly has character. It represents well a warrior inciting his companions to fight.

The sculpt is part of the Helm's Deep Part 1 series, called Gamling's Rally. I enjoyed painting it, although if I could go back I would change the red of the tunic (Vallejo Model Color Burnst Cad. Red), which is too glossy for my taste. On the other hand, I'm very happy with the glaze transition of the shield: that's the green I was looking for.

Citadel ME34 Merry Brandibuck (1986)

Between 1985 and 1987 Citadel developed a Lord of the Rings range, and this little fellow is Merry Brandybuck from the ME-34 Hobbits of The Shire blister. I am not sure about the sculptor - could be Perrys by the looks.

It's really a nice figure and I enjoyed very much painting it, until the last steps. After doing the eyes and the metal highlights, for some reason I started to hate it. It kind of lost its charm. Can't tell why - perhaps the bolts on the jerkin are too bright, perhaps the sword, which I tried to faithfully represent (metal sword with red and golden snakes damasqued on the blade), is not so great, perhaps the eyes look a bit dull. I just don't like it anymore - any suggestion to fix it is welcome. Maybe with just a little bit of detail I can improve him dramatically.

Theoden, King of the Mark - Mithril M27 (1988)

 

Theoden, King of the Mark is one of the earliest miniatures of the Mithril range, from 1988. It has a nice, fixed pose that is typical of that period when casting was not so advanced and miniatures were simple and solid. It's a nice sculpt - albeit the one I have is second hand and a bit worn out.

Theoden is one of the most popular characters in the Lord of the Rings. He plays a clear archetype, the King: he represents authority, and is often used to display how power can be used for good, when wisdom helps to wield it, or how power can be a burden and ultimately be useless, when justice abandons it in favour of fear.

The story of Theoden is simple, yet great: as a King, he finds himself to rule in a time of great challenges that wear out his spirit, until he becomes the shadow of himself. Because of the dangers, the defeats and the lack of support from his councillors, Theoden grows old and enters a "Winter of the Spirit", from which he is stirred by the unexpected visit of Gandalf. Realizing his mistakes, Theoden casts aside his fears and rides to war against the enemies of his people. He will lead his warriors in a great battle where he will die bravely, after defeating the enemy general. His sacrifice and example will help shape the future world.

If this story seems to touch some special strings in your soul, its' probably because this is the same story as the one of another archetypical King, King Arthur, who is stirred from his Winter by Percival carrying the Holy Grail and rides one last time with his knights against Mordred, to kill him and be killed in turn.
 

And yet once again, Boorman's Excalibur proves to be the best Middle-earth adaptation of all. Not looking at anyone in particular...

Let's look at the other adaptations of Theoden, shall we?

Bakshi's LotR (1978)

The Brothers Hildebrant (1978)

"Theoden Espies the Serpent Banner" by Michael Kaluta (1994)

Angus McBride (mid 1990s)

"Theoden's charge at Helm's Deep" by Timothy Ide (1997)

Ivan Cavini (2006)

"The Ride of the Rohirrim" by Abe Papakhian (2010)

Helena Starostina (2012)

Theoden is described as having a flowing white beard reaching down to his knees (when he is seated and bent), long white hair gathered in great braids and blue, glinting eyes. Although he may look "almost like a dwarf" when he is presented, after he is freed by his fears he appears to be tall and proud.

Now, I am not 100% satisfied with my painting this time - I have tried to portray Theoden as a bright figure, dressed in colourful clothes as befitted an early medieval Saxon king. They are perhaps too bright... especially the green of the robes: what do you think? I am quite happy with the hair and the crown, though, and I am definitely imrpoving in painting yellow, one of the most difficult colours for me.

Berengar de Stil - Citadel ME25 Ithilien Ranger (1985)

Here's a later addition to the Coldwood Smugglers: Berengar de Stil, boar hunter and poacher. Armed with bow, spear and a hunting horn, lying in ambush for his prey.

I am in love with the Ithilien rangers from the original Lord of the Rings release of the '80s: this is the second one I find, and I hope I can complete the collection with the third one.

Captive Gollum conversion (from Mithril M383 Anborn & Gollum)

I have long planned a conversion of the Mithril 383 Anborn & Gollum miniature, released in 1996:

It's a great figure but extremely specific of a certain moment of the story, so I planned to substitute Gollum with a free arm. What to do with the unused bit? Well, here it is: a free-standing captive Gollum, to be used as a token in a scenario based on the capture of a prisoner.

Considering it had to be cut and filed a bit, it's not too bad. It's a shame to waste bits left from a conversion :)

Lone Wolf or Strider - Citadel Strider from BME1

This is a fairly common miniature on eBay, but a nice one: it's the Aragorn - or, as the tag on the miniature says, Strider - from the Fellowship of the Ring set made by Citadel in 1986.

Image courtesy of Solegends

The sculptor seems to be unknown but it looks to me as something made by Aly or Trish Morrison. Does anybody have better information?

Strider represents an archetype - just like the Evil Warrior and the Necromancer, the Ranger appears in countless stories. Strider is possibly the first of its kind, the one who established the stereotype separating it from the Hunter: the Ranger is something more, a true hero of good with supernatural powers linked to his harmony with nature and the world. D&D classified the Ranger as a class, and so many other RPGs. In Dragonlance Tanis Half-elven was a ranger and in the Forgotten Realms Drizzt Do'Urden was. But one of the most famous, and personally my favourite, is Lone Wolf.

Lone Wolf is in many ways similar to Strider: he belongs to a small, secretive and selected group of individuals, the Kai Lords and the Rangers of the North. He is special and unique even among them: he is either the last survivor of a purge or the last heir to a line of Kings. He has a mission: defeat the Dark Lord or the Dark Lords. He has supernatural powers derived part from training and part from his predestination to be a hero, but he is not a spellcaster. He has a magic sword that flames with golden light and burns evil creatures. 

The two are in fact so similar that this miniature can represent both of them, and it will in my games. About this miniature, I really like the dynamic pose: the character is advancing, possibly running, and he holds his sword forward: his back is covered in a flowing cloak and it looks like he has just unsheathed his weapon and he is holding it like a talisman, both as protection and challenge against his enemies. The sword is clearly the focus of the whole miniature and the source of power of the character - call it Andúril or Sommerswerd, that is an archetype, too, and a very good one.

Wormtongue - Mithril M181 (1990)

The early '90s are my favourite period in Mithril production and this piece clearly confirms the rule: it is just lovely. Sculpted of course by C. Tubb, it is part of the Isengard range. The figure conveys perfectly the characteristics of the character from the book, Gríma Wormtongue:

"At his feet upon the steps sat a wizened figure of a man, with a pale wise face and heavy-lidded eyes."

"He looked at them with half-closed eyes. Last of all he scanned Théoden's face and opened his mouth as if to speak. Then suddenly he drew himself up. His hands worked. His eyes glittered. Such malice was in them that men stepped back from him. He bared his teeth; and then with a hissing breath he spat before the king's feet, and darting to one side, he fled down the stair."

TT, The King of the Golden Hall

 Wormtongue is short, slightly hunched, working his hands and looking with half-closed eyes in front of him, ever calculating, ever playing his words like cards in a game. Dressed in rich garb, he looks far from noble - quite the opposite.

To do the miniature justice, I painted it in pastel colours drawing inspiration from High Middle Ages miniatures. His robe of sea green is trimmed in silver and he wears a shirt of dark purple, light purple trousers and gaiters of nice yellow leather. He is, of course, pale and blonde, like most of the Rohirrim.

Yes, blonde. It doesn't say anywhere that he was dark haired. People just picture him dark haired because he's evil.

Ralph Bakshi's version

Brothers Hildebrandt

John Howe

Peter Jackson's version

 

Seriously, what's up with him? If he's the only raven-haired person, dressed all in black, among a golden-haired people dressing in green and white, how did they not figure out he was evil? So much for subtlety XD