YOU SHALL NOT PASS

We've spent the last few weekends, the boys and I, watching The Lord of the Rings films on Netflix. They both loved them (and the moment I felt like I'd done a good job Dadding was when they both literally cheered when the Eagles arrived in Return of the King) but the Eldest - who has more Middle Earth miniatures than I do, probably - was particularly taken with the Balrog.

So much so, in fact, that he wanted to buy one. Bear in mind this is a significant investment for a 6yo. He had to use all the money he had saved for a significant period of time and then do a few odd jobs round the house for the rest.

In any case, he ordered one and it arrived. He then spent a happy evening putting it together.

It's quite a big thing to paint, so we cracked out the airbrush. He's been using the airbrush since he was 4 when I got him a cheap Spitfire to paint, so all I really had to do here was mix paints for him and tell him what colours to use.

Once he'd basecoated it, I painted in the black of the wing phalanges and the back plates. I also added the lighting effects on the base and tidied up the face.

It's a model with a lot of presence and he seems happy with it. I live in fear that he's going to want to play the Middle Earth SBG and field it - in the new rules, the Balrog is an unstoppable beast.