Ral Partha Personalities 01-003 Balrog v3 (rescued)

Bit of a gap between postings, but that's what a new job and Christmas does for you :) I've hardly had time to paint in the last month, but I thought I would post the latest extract/rescue from the Lead Mountain. I got this figure as part of a job lot, and it was in a sorry state - it was missing its wings, and the original right hand had been hacked off. Now, I am a big fan of Ral Partha sculpts - they are light years away from the Asgard and Grenadier sculpts of the same era - and I thought this was too good to bin. So, out with the bits box... in particular, the plastic Gargoyle from HeroQuest. I had a spare one lying around, and the wings from it were a surprisingly good fit for the back of the Balrog - a bit of superglue and Milliput sorted out any annoying gaps. The missing right hand was also sorted by snipping off the wrist of the same Gargoyle and pinning it in place - the hand is a bit out of scale for the rest of the figure, but I can live with that. After that, white primer, a bit more filling, and then out with the paints. As with all early sculpts - the trick is to keep it simple, so a base red, then a dark red wash, then dry brush to bring out the detail... including the rather obvious dangly bits (!). Maybe the Balrog and the Citadel Troll discipline master should get a room... The base of the figure is just shards of rock, painted light gray, then a dark wash, and then dry brush with red to suggest heat from the Balrog. The wrist band and the sword were painted in gold to suggest polished bronze (and also to reflect well with the red), whilst the whip was done is various light shades of orange, yellow and white to suggest heat. I'm pleased with the way this turned out - especially as it is a rescue piece - and considering it is nearly 30 years old, I think it holds up really well. Certainly the latest recruit to my Amazon/Shadowforge army looks worried by it!