Thursday 23 May 2013

It's all looking a bit Spartan!





Part of one of those little bundles of joy the ‘Provost Marshal’ happily deposits on his visits to ‘Awdry Towers’, these Spartan Hoplites from ‘Wargames Foundry’ proved an interesting distraction from the norm.  They were originally destined to be part of my entry to the ‘Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge’, but as the deadline elapsed there they stood just on the periphery of the painting table, with only the shroud of black primer as evidence of any industry on my behalf.  Rather than banish them to the ‘Dark Side’ of the lead pile, I’ve decided to get them painted up as a test miniatures for a little vignette I hope to have completed shortly.
 


They were actually relatively simple to do, being all bronze and white leather, but my confidence was dented when it came to the iconic lambda, emblazoned on the shield.  I had previously spied some rather splendid examples of adhesive decals from ‘Little Big Men Studios’ complete with battle damage no less!



Once safely arrived at the homestead, I noticed that they were designed to fit a shield a tad larger than the one with which my fellows were equipped and I had to resort to trimming the edges a little; not a problem per se, but as a result they didn’t lie as well as I had hoped – I should stress that this is down to my ham-fistedness as opposed to any design flaw with the decal!

Still on the whole a pleasing result and they have certainly given me the confidence to finish of the others lying around despondently. 




60 comments:

  1. Great for as always Michael , i like the shields effect .
    Cheers

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    1. Thank you Vincent, the designs are great and go on really well.

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  2. Great looking Spartan. Best, Dean

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  3. yup, they look really cool

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  4. They are really nice. It's another thing to avoid getting side tracked onto once you see some really nicely painted figures.

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    1. Thank you Clint, in my defence I didn't buy these, but that's not to say that I might add to them in the future.

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  5. Lovely work. Spartans hold a special mythos in Castle PZ. I felt that I could never do them justice on the painting table. With these you'll be coming home 'carrying your shield!'

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    1. Than you sir, that is really kind of you to say so.

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  6. Superb Spartans sir! your paint job is just great.

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  7. Lovely figures Michael :)

    if you want a good chance of winning 40 to add to them, you'll need to crack on with out-spamming Seb ;)

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    1. Thank you Tamsin, I'll see if I can't add to your spam folder! ;)

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  8. Very nice! You're getting a motley collection of projects now, good to see

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    1. Thank you and yes discipline seems to dissolve when lead is in the equation.

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  9. Great looking Spartans, with amazing shields!
    Phil.

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  10. Oooh, Spartans! Perfect timing Michael ;)

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    1. I have to confess, I was thinking of you when painting these up.

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  11. Very very nice work Michael!

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  12. Stunning paint work !!!

    Best regards Michael

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  13. "THIS is where WE fight, THIS is where THEY die!"
    Lovely poses and as always, a blinding bit of brushwork.

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    1. Thank you Paul, they were good fun to do for a change.

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  14. If you hadn't mentioned your problems with the shield transfers no would have known; they look so good!

    Is there nothing you can't turn your hands to?!

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    1. That is incredibly kind, I must have caught their best side. I'm not sure I've painted any cavemen yet!

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  15. Time for one of your vignettes? I'm already rubbing my hands in anticipation! 298 more of these chaps lurking somewhere nearby is there?

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    1. 298! Unlikely my good man, but there will be another 3!

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  16. looking great, nice change of period from you.
    Peace James

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    1. Thank you James, not sure I could manage a whole army of them.

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  17. The decals and figures look great.

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  18. And very nice they are too!!!!

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  19. Very classical, see what I did there.....very nice Michael!

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  20. Some great looking figures you have there.

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  21. good job!
    very nice effect on the cloak and on the bronze parts.
    bye

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  22. Great looking figures, Michael!

    Especially the shields turbed out very, very well!

    Cheers
    Stefan

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    1. Thank you Stefan, the shields are still a bit of a sore point, but I'll concede that they look ok in these photographs.

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  23. Hi Michael,
    When it comes to shields, I think decals are the way to go and they have finished these couple of superbly painted figures off nicely.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

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    1. Thank you Pat, I certainly would continue with decal, I just need to perhaps do a bit more research as to which ones fit my miniatures first.

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  24. See, all those evening in the local when I've been muttering "hoplites, hoplites" in your general direction - they've paid off!

    Pip pip

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    1. Mmm! I'm pleased to have got them off the painting table and at an acceptable standard, but not sure they are my thing! Still, dashed sporting of you to donate them to the cause.

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  25. Hola
    Muy buenos esos espartanos
    un saludo

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  26. I think they look outstanding!

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  27. Excellent work Michael...its amazing how many different time periods you have worked on and everyone of them shows excellent quality .

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    1. Thank you Captain, It would appear that I can be distracted by the merest hint of shiny metal, regardless of era - it's a curse I tell you!

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  28. Lovely paintjobs on them Michael and I love the use of those rich red colours.

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    1. Thank you Pete, lots of layers of red needed though.

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  29. Brilliant figures and brilliant work, Michael!

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  30. Very nice work, as usual sir! I've always loved the look of the Ancient Greek hoplites and so forth. I'm straying into the mythical side though (largely to avoid having to collect whole phalanxes!)

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