Mithril M132 Bard of Esgaroth (1990)

Bard of Esgaroth. First sculpt of this character by Mithril, in 1990. Solid figure, in quite a theatrical pose: not really suited to be used as a playing piece, but easily associated with the topical moment of Bard's life - when he shoots the Dragon.

I always liked Bard, since my first reading of the Hobbit. There is something fresh with him, that being essentially an anti-hero, a stern man with a coarse voice, whose grim advice goes unheeded by the people until the moment of need, when he turns into a real hero, a Dragonslayer and then a true king, not only by blood but also by merit. Like Bilbo, he was underestimated by all, and possibly by the reader too, which makes his rise even more surprising.

He's been variously portrayed in graphic arts: 

A perpetually angry archer by M. Belomlinsky (1976)

A scruffy looking man from the animated Rankin/Bass animated movie (1977)

A determined warrior in the Dixon graphic novel (1998)

 

A bewildered vagrant by Denis Gordeev (200?)

 

A handsome single father in PJ's movie trilogy (2012-2014)

 

Say what you want, Belomlinsky's Bard is my absolute favourite, by far. Here's mine, a sand-blonde fellow with yellow, black and brown clothing, aiming his longbow high to shoot the Dragon.

Mithril M15 Northman Scout (1988)

 

This is a nice miniature, even by Mithril's excellent standards. It belongs to what I consider the height of Mithril Miniatures and of Chris Tubb's sculpting skills. It was nice to paint, too - to be honest, the pictures don't do justice to the paintjob, which is better than my average.

I experimented a bit with trimming on clothes, and I think it came out nicely. For the inspiration I have to thank the many historical re-enactors that create awareness about High Middle Ages on Instagram.

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.

Mithril Hithaeglir Northman Adventurer - M305 (1993)

This is a piece deriving directly from ICE's setting and meant to be used with MERP. It represents and adventurer, from the people of the Northmen - possibly an inhabitant of the upper Anduin valley - climbing the cliffs of the Misty Mountains.

The figure is quite complex, requiring the assembling of three pieces together. It's quite well done, possibly a bit dull to paint since he's only wearing hides, but suitably realistic. The pose is good and well balanced, a fine job from Chris Tubb.

I really like how he's laden with baggage, and seems to struggle upwards, pushing himself with the staff and holding the rope on his right shoulder.

I've been experimenting a bit again with the style I used with Boromir, but pushing it a bit more far with the highlights. What do you think? Yay or nay? I'm still not quite sure.