This is what i’ve been workin’ on as my next project, a beautiful little figure by El Viejo Dragon in 54mm. This guy was part of a garrison force that was left to defend Britain from the Saxon invaders.
I had to change the shield hand 'cos I think it was miscast, and looked to only have three fingers, so with the help of Michael Roberts and El Greco Miniatures I solved this with a resin hand. I cut the other one off, and applied this one.
The white metal base I raided from Seil’s 75mm Medieval Knight, of which I made a mould and got my boss to recast another one in its place, prior to usin’ it here, hee hee. I then carved out a slot to accommodate a tree stump, and Milliput filled the slot for his foot, basically makin’ it a smaller and tighter fit.
He’s carryin’ a plumbatae or matiobarbulus, its quite an interestin’ weapon as it says here…
The plumbatae or mattiobarbuli had iron, lead-weighted heads averaging 10-20cm long, with a wooden flighted shaft of about the same length, this weighed about 100-200g. Being light and easy to carry, these weapons would have given a heavily armed foot soldier the ability to engage a more mobile target. They would have outranged common javelins, and would have been easier to throw while standing still in a tight formation. On the other hand they would have been fairly complicated and expensive to produce.
I’ve made a start on paintin’ this dude up. I know the ‘segmentata’ top greave on his left shoulder is wider than the right, but what the hell, i’m still paintin’ this dude up with heart and soul, yeah thats right!!
As always, the use of alc-based Vallejo metallics has been used. For the ‘segmentata’ I used Vallejo ‘Silver’ straight from the pot, no messin’ around, then washed this with Tamiya X-19 Smoke, it was then shaded with Lamp Black oil paint tight under the greaves to give some more definition. Vallejo Green Gold was also used for the chasin’ of the armour and his belt.
Wow Eddie, you definately dont hang about. I like this figure a lot. The pose, the face, the action. Its all sweet. Thx for going over, what to you must seem trivial, all the minutae of the painting. This stuff is a goldmine to us wannabe figure painters.
I’ve done his gaiter wrappings, and for this I jus’ used Vallejo 921 English Uniform, then shaded 'em, and then lightly drybrushed ‘em with oil paint. I may jus’ go back over ‘em with a little bit more shadin’, but these’ll be weathered anyway.
The plumbata was a unique weapon and as far as I know the Romans had only 2 or 3 legions skilled with this weapon but the darts were terrifying when a couple thousand guy let loose, capable of inflicting wounds on both men and horses. The advantage of the plumbata compared to the pilum is that more plumbata could be carried. One legionary could only have one or two heavy pila but half a dozen plumbata. Also, plumbata had longer throwing range. The pilum was thrown at 10 meters or so which is almost point blank range by missile warfare standards.
I’m posting a screen from Rome Total War, one of my favorite strategy games. It shows plumbatarii unleashing their darts.
Fingers, in the time it takes me to scrap all the seams from a figure, you could paint two. Speed is one thing, but to be such a fantastic painter as well is just not fair.
I’m very curious about how you have been getting into such tight spots, like the insides of shields. To get paint in there, ok I can see. But to get such meticulous shading going on in there… that just baffles me.
I still think the modeling world would benefit greatly from a book on painting by you. From figures to auto and armor. Your work exceeds the skills of the authors of my tech ref books. No smoke blowin’, just MHO.
“The exercise of the loaded javelins, called martiobarbuli, must not be omitted. We formerly had two legions in lllyricum, consisting of six thousand men each, which from their extraordinary dexterity and skill in the use of these weapons were distinguished by the same appellation. They supported for a long time the weight of all the wars and distinguished themselves so remarkably that the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian on their accession honored them with the titles of Jovian and Herculean and preferred them before all the other legions. Every soldier carries five of these javelins in the hollow of his shield. And thus the legionary soldiers seem to supply the place of archers, for they wound both the men and horses of the enemy before they come within reach of the common missile weapons.”
Thanks Steve, but it goes without sayin’ that there are many other painters out there who are much better than me. I guess they’re doin’ it all for me already, as far as a book goes.
I’d like to formally, and respectfully, disagree [;)]
But, I’m hearin’ ya. Plus, I suppose that it’s better to get to pick yer brian here, than to send a letter to a publishing house, so that I can receive my form letter.
