DAREN PARRWOOD'S LIGHT UP BALROG
We see many fantastic model conversions each year, but few have caught our attention quite like this amazing illuminated Balrog, made by our own Daren Parrwood. You may remember Daren's previous The Lord of The Rings dioramas from issue 274 of White Dwarf Magazine.
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Daren Parrwood |
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Daren Parrwood's Balrog in all its illuminated glory. |
"It was essentially put together using clear resin cast from the original moulds. It was then coloured with orange to provide the basis for the flame effect. The bulk of the Balrog's body was blacked out to stop the light from escaping out of the entire model, and limiting it to areas of the model, such as the neck and facial features, that appeared to be on fire on the Balrog's body in the film.
"The only part of the model that was built from scratch was the whip, and that was a simple piece of clear resin, coloured in exactly the same manner as the main body of the Balrog.
"All in all, it didn't take that long to do, around 2 or 3 days. The only really difficult part was the hollowing of the model to get the lighting fitted. I was really pleased with the reaction to it in the Studio. People were really impressed and asked how I got it to light up so well.
"Right now I'm working on several different things in the Mould Room. I'm doing the moulds for a couple of things for Forge World at the moment, but I'm finding time to work on my next The Lord of The Rings project, which is going to be a diorama featuring the Riders of Rohan. I'm not going to be doing any illuminated parts though, so I think that this one's going to be pretty straight forward to be honest!"
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"To fit the lighting system into the body, parts of the model were hollowed out, not only to provide the space to house the light bulb and wires, but also to allow extra light to shine through the model. The largest amount of hollowing was in the neck, where the light needed to be at its most prominent. The arms also had some hollowing done to them. The lighting system simply consists of a small, single light bulb, positioned in the Balrog's neck, attached to a battery housed in the base of the model. The wires were fed down from the light bulb, through a hollowed-out part of the Balrog's legs, to the base." |
"The mouth served a very important purpose on the model. The biggest concern that I had was that if the light was left on for a prolonged period, it would cause the clear resin to melt, distort, or slowly-but-surely warp out of shape. The mouth needed to act as a kind of exhaust vent for any excess heat that would build up in the body of the model. It required quite a bit of extra hollowing out, but it does the job perfectly. When I came to paint it, I blackened out everything but the eyes and nose, so that the light shining out of these points would look more dramatic." |
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"The base was actually quite time-consuming to do. The flames were initially sculpted using Green Stuff, leaving a gap for the Balrog model to stand in. Once they had set sufficiently they were then cast up and turned into a mould. A clear resin version was then produced and coloured in an identical manner to the rest of the model. I then put a small modelling light bulb underneath the flames, so that when the light was turned on, you would get a nice, warm firelight effect on the Balrog model. Finally, I used a nice, simple wooden base to house the batteries and switch of the lighting system, and to stand the model on." |
Related Articles:
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Matthew Ward has designed rules for recreating the final confrontation between Gandalf the Grey and the Balrog on the peak of the mountain of Zirak-zigil. |
The guys of Warhammer World work long and hard to produce scenery for you to play on. Check out their Zirak-zigil gaming board, constructed especially for the The Lord of The Rings 2003 Open Day . |
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