I dug this kit up a few days ago, and finally finished him. I assembled it about a year and a half ago, but just now developed the skills to paint him. I’m aware of the mold lines in his legs and arms, and that his eyes are pointing two different directions (suggestions on how to fix this?), but the camera picks up every flaw doesn’t it? lol. My Praetorian guard.
I’m quite happy with the end result, this being my first 1/16 scale figure. The shield art is hand painted, as the decal shattered (any suggestions as to how to prevent this on the next one?) All comments welcome.
How to fix the eyes and mold lines? Unfortunately, both will require repainting. For the seams, you’ll need to use putty to fill the gaps then sand them smooth. For the eyes, test the alignment by looking at the face in a mirror. For a Roman soldier who would have spent a lot of time in the sun and who would have had a darker, Mediteranean complexion, I’d go with a darker flesh tone. Here’s a good article on ethnic skin tones.
To salvage old decals, get a bottle of Microscale Decal Saver. Apply it with a brush to old decals and let dry before dipping them in water. The super thin film works well with Microset/Sol and keeps decals from breaking up.
thanks for the comments and tips huxy and ajlafleche. Sadly, the decal is beyond repair, and some of it went down the drain I use to soak decals. The article is a great help, and I’m very close to that skin color now, the over head light I used washed away a lot of the skin variations.
There’s always room for improvement. I enjoyed this kit so much, I plan on ordering a few more.
Other than mentioned fixes it looks great, The paint work on the armor and sheild look very convincing! Maybe a little weathering would bring out a little more deatail and some wear. I have found that taking pictures really is the tale of the tape, it almost becomes an obbsession to photograph my 35 figs to see how they look…you just can’t see em as good with the unaided eye. Again, great looking figure![tup]
