November 2017 releases: Frodo and the mirror of Galadriel and Gildor Inglorion in robes.

Frodo and the mirror of Galadriel MZ641

This was January's winning idea and shows Frodo, during his visit to Lothlorien, looking into the mirror of Galadriel. Such a mirror has magically powers to show the past, present and future. He saw Aragorn battle the Corsairs and also saw Sauron's unceasing search for the One Ring.

Gildor Inglorion in robes.

This was December 2016's winning idea and shows Gildor, a Noldo Elf, at the court of Cirdan where he shortly departed Middle-earth for the west. Gildor was a bit of a wanderer and visited many places including Rivendell and the Grey Havens.

Both of these figures are 32mm scale and are metal miniatures. None are primed and some assembly is required so some superglue is recommended.

Originally MZ640 Aragorn at the Black Gate had been planned for November but that has been pushed back to December now due to some minor issues with its design.

September Mithril Fellowship Releases: Isengard Waymark Pillar and Elven Cartographer.

Mithril Miniatures has released two more 32mm scale metal miniatures that were winning ideas in our Fellowship club. These won September and November 2016 final voting rounds.

The Isengard Waymark pillar is an unusual architectural piece but has precedent as Mithril has released other pieces like the 'Doorway - The Chamber of Mazarbul' before. This pillar has a hand pointing towards the tower of Orthanc, the home of Saruman the turncoat wizard. This piece does require a little assembly as the base comes separate from the pillar. There is no primer.

Isengard Waymark pillar MZ635

The Elven Cartographer is not a named character figure or part of an army, that also shares a tradition among Fellowship releases, where the figure is not always part of the standard story-line in the books but exists in the larger world of Middle-earth. Other examples are, for example, 'Erebor Dwarven Merchant', 'Female Sylvan Elf' and 'Old woman with chickens'. These beautiful pieces adds that extra richness to the loved stories that J.R.R. Tolkien crafted with his writings allowing creative collectors to build dioramas that showcase elements of Middle-earth that are personal to themselves. This figure comes in three pieces and has no primer.

Elven Cartographer MZ639

New Mithril Releases: 'Elfhelm mounted' and 'Deadman of Dunharrow'

Mithril is moving ahead to release a stream of new miniatures to catch up on the Fellowship club backlog of winning ideas over the last few years. The delay is largely due to the teething problems of converting over to a new production and design method. The learning curve was steeper than we realised. However that is in the past and we are now able to release two figures per month.

The first figure is Elfhelm mounted, a Rohirrim Marshal of the Mark, that fought during the War of the Ring against the Easterlings and Orcs of Mordor.

The second figure is a Deadman of Dunharrow, an oathbreaker that had been summoned by Aragorn to aid in defeating the Corsairs of Umbar. This feat would fulfill the Dunharrow dead's promise to serve the true king and they were released from their curse.

These figures are 32mm scale, made in metal. They are unprimed and do require a little assembly.

Three new Mithril Miniatures LOTR Summer 2017 releases

MZ634 Easterling Shaman - May 2016 Winning idea

MZ636 Thror with the Arkenstone - July 2016 Winning idea.

MZ637 Bombur at The Battle of Five Armies - August 2016 Winning idea.

Mithril Miniatures has released three new 32mm scale metal figures in July 2017.  This is the third release this year. These are from the Fellowship club winners from about a year ago.
Bombur is a well known Dwarven character that followed Thorin Oakenshield on his quest to defeat Smaug, a Dragon, and reclaim their ancient treasure from the mountain lair.

Thror was the grandsire of Thorin Oakenshield, and is shown holding the great white gem, the Arkenstone. This gem was so cherished by Thorin that it drove him to madness.

Finally the Easterling shaman continues the tradition of adding unusual characters to the Mithril line. Easterlings were allied to Mordor and shamans practiced their spirituality using drums to invoke trances as part of their rituals.

All three figures are metal, and some, not all, are primed. All require a little assembly. There are only 100 available each at this time and there are duplicate discount offers available.

February Mithril releases | Tobold Hornblower, Snow-Troll and Orophin figures

MZ624 Tobold Hornblower

Mithril Miniatures released three more MZ figures at the end of February 2017. These are digitally designed minis that were cast in metal and primed or undercoated with grey primer paint. These figures are 32mm scale. The first one is MZ624, Tobold Hornblower, the Hobbit that was credited with cultivating pipeweed. This figure was the winning idea way back in May 2015 in the Fellowship club. It is a beautiful piece showing the tiny Hobbit smoking his creation and holding a pot of it for gift or sale to his Shire friends.

MZ629 Snow-Troll

 The fierce Snow-Troll is the northerly cousin of the Stone Trolls and while a little smaller in stature, they make up for that with more brutality, if such a thing was deemed possible. They harass any travellers brave enough to venture north during the night. They are still subject to immobilization during the daylight hours if caught outside. This was the winning idea from January 2016.

MZ633 Orophin of Lorien

Finally the last figure is the Silvan Elf Orophin of Lorien, brother of Rumil and Haldir. He is a skilled archer that guards the woodlands of Lothlorien, in the realm of Galadriel, the Elven queen. This was the winning idea from April 2016.

Mithril Miniature MZ630 Duinhir Painting Competition. Entries to be submitted by Feb 16th.

Mithril Miniatures wants to invite you to paint our latest MZ figure, Duinhir of Morthond, and tell us how you did it, and as a reward the best entry gets five free releases (figures that are released after closing date).
The conditions are pretty simple:

• No digital text of any kind including watermarks. 
• No digital backgrounds, if you put a background in, make it a real one.
• No other figures are to be in the photo.
• Figure cannot be altered physically in any way, or obscured in some fashion.
• Photo must be jpeg format, highest quality possible.  Over 1200 pixel size.
• MZ630 must be photographed clearly and in focus.
• Take at least six supportive photos to show progress in painting figure.
• Write some supportive text (in English) for each photo or overall to explain your thought process in approaching this figure.
• Video submission (via youtube link) is allowed but must supplement other requirements, not replace them.
• Final entry date is midnight February 15th 2017 GMT.
• Only one entry can win.
• Entries submitted by email, info at mithril dot ie, with subject line "MZ630 Painting Competition Entry".

The winning entry will be used in advertisements for Mithril. Credit will be given to the artist on the website. The homepage of Mithril will link to an article all about the winning entry and this competition, giving the title "master painter" to the artist. They will win the next consecutive five MZ figures released by Mithril Miniatures for free, postage included.

MZ630 Duinhir of Morthond - FIRST 3D designed Mithril Miniature released in 2017.

This is stage two of a two part transition from traditionally clay sculpting figures to fully 3D digitally designing and printing master figures. Finally, after a year of frustrating delays, we are able to start producing the new type of miniature. The figures available for sale are still cast in metal, but their master figures have been completely produced using the new techniques for the first time.

Duinhir is therefore the first to bear the letters MZ instead of the MS in its product code. All future miniatures, from the Fellowship range, will have that code for the foreseeable future.

This figure was the winning idea from February 2016, and was suggested by Fellowship member 'barliman'.

Duinhir was a Gondorian lord that lead his two sons and five hundreds skilled archers to aid Minas Tirith, Gondor's capital, during the siege by Mordor. His archers were particularly useful against the huge Mumakil and their war towers. Unfortunately Duinhir lost his two sons during that battle.

This metal figure is 32mm scale, primed in grey undercoat and does require a little assembly (bow with partial arm and sword are separate and need to be glued on).

As a special introductory offer, Mithril Miniatures has cut the normal price by 50% to allow everyone to see just how amazing the new figure is. The detail is crisp and clear and the figure will look astounding when skillfully painted.

Lord of the Rings December 2016 releases: Ohtar and Gollum miniatures.

Ohtar with the shards of Narsil

Mithril Miniatures has released two more long awaited Fellowship miniatures this week. The first one was 'Ohtar with the shards of Narsil' (MS626), the winning idea from August / September 2015. Ohtar was Isildur's squire, who carried the shards of Narsil, the broken sword that cut the One Ring off Sauron's finger, to the house of Elrond. Eventually the shards were reforged and renamed as Anduril and given to Aragorn to aid him in the War of the Ring.

The second figure was Gollum (MS631), who needs no introduction to any fan of Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit books. Here he is following the Fellowship as they leave Lorien by river, on small boats. He improvised and used an old log to float after them, forever keeping his huge eyes fixed on his ultimate goal, to reclaim the One Ring.

Both these figures are limited to only 100 and are primed with grey undercoat. These are 32mm scale metal figures sculpted by Chris Tubb. Originally they were to be made using the new 3D printing process but delays meant they were remade using the traditional methods instead.

Gollum - the log with eyes

Mithril Miniatures Christmas 2016 | Dunlending High-chief miniature - 2 versions available.

Mithril Miniatures has restored the long cherished tradition of manufacturing a special Christmas figure annually. 2015 did not have one, but 2016 does. The tradition also calls that the figure be a leader or king and this year it is the Dunlendings High-chief we honour. 

Dunlendings were driven into the hills by the Rohirrim and this seeded deep animosity between the two peoples. During the War of the Ring, Saruman profited from that anger and used them to bolster his armies as well as have raiding parties harrass Rohan villages.

A high-chief to such hardy folk needs to be both strong in leadership and skill in battle. They would never tolerate a weak man in such a role.

Mithril Miniatures produced 100 of these 32mm scale metal figures. 25 are primed in Mithril's grey undercoat and 75 are antique finished, which involves dipping the metal figure into a mix of black gloss and thinner and allowing it to soak into all the details, then wipe off the surfaces, resulting in better contrast.

Mithril Miniatures releases three new figures in October '16.

UPDATE Jan 1st 2017: These three figures have been redone using traditional methods and thus will not have the 'MZ' prefix but default to the 'MS' only.
The first figure is a toy peddler from the town of Dale, before Smaug redecorated it with flame. We have named it MS625 Erebor Dwarven Merchant with toys.

The next figure, November 2015 winning idea, is the Easterling Champion MS627. Easterlings are allied to Mordor but fight in the old fashioned but honorable style of Champion vs Champion.

The final figure for September is King Dain Ironfoot MS628, a warrior without peer that aided Thorin Oakenshield during the Battle of the Five Armies. 

There are 100 of each of these in production at present. Each are primed and MS627 does require a little assembly (shield and arm). They are all 32mm scale metal miniatures.

Mithril Miniatures moving its Lord of the Rings to a digital design in 2016.

A NEW ERA FOR LORD OF THE RINGS™ MITHRIL MINIATURES.

Finally Mithril Miniatures™ has moved from the traditional clay sculpting style to using a 3D modelling package when developing their miniatures. Chris Tubb has worked very hard to learn how to use Zbrush and even harder to make sure that his style is consistent with his earlier work. The offical press release is below:

Mithril is pleased to announce an important new era in its Middle-earth range. Many months of development, combining our traditional sculpting techniques with the newest 3D technology has enabled us to produce a series of Mithril figures which retain the well-loved Mithril “look” while producing greatly enhanced detail and accuracy in each miniature. These digitally enhanced figures will come into production very shortly and will have the designation Mz; and of course they will still be in white metal and at the same price. We will also be announcing news of a new Mithril diorama series shortly.

Here are seven of the upcoming releases, all approved of by Middle-earth Enterprises for production since the 21st of April 2016. These are currently digital images, and will be released between May and July as 32mm scale metal miniatures.

MZ625 Dwarf Merchant with toys,

MZ626 Ohtar™ with the shards of Narsil™,

MZ627 Easterling™ Champion,

MZ628 Dain Ironfoot™,

MZ629 Snow Troll,

MZ630 Duinhir™,

MZ631 Gollum™ - the log with eyes.

New Mithril Lord of the Rings releases | Rumil and Female Orc Archer metal miniatures.

Mithril Miniatures broke with their tradition a little today with their latest two releases of 32mm scale Lord of the Rings metal miniatures. These two great ideas were not winning ideas but were inspired by comments made during the voting process. Chris Tubb decided to make them and so left a space in the numbering of releases to allow them to have a place later on when he had time to sculpt them.

 

Rumil, brother of Haldir, was a guardian of the forest around Lothlorien and silently protected Galadriel's realm from all dangers during the war of the Ring. An Elven archer can kill you before you even know you are in danger. This figure was numbered Ms594.

 

Chris Tubb explains his reasons behind this unique sculpt of a Female Orc archer (Ms595):

The second piece was inspired by Luthien4tinuvielle’s entry Ishi-ul the female Orc shaman, which was the winner in February 2014. Her comment “not a single female Orc in the whole Mithril range” set me to thinking what else could be made to redress this lack. I have a penchant for bowmen (as you can see from Rumil above) so I decided on a female Orc archer. So now we have two female Orcs in the range!

Mithril has a bulk discount available for a limited time on both new releases.