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The elephant has attracted a lot of attention, which isn't doing my ego any harm, though I may need to get a builder in to have the doors widened to accommodate my swelling cranium!
Yesterday Wolfgang asked me how I make my Sassanid banners. To be honest, it hadn't even occurred to me that I was doing anything that might need explaining, but now that I think about it, it isn't all that simple unless you do a lot of model-making.
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Shahanshah (King of Kings)
Aventine Miniatures' Sassanid King's Elephant
Dead Roman from A&A Miniatures, shield transfers from Little Big Men Studios. More photos in the Sassanid Photo Album
A Vexillation from Legio XII Fulminata
Here is my latest Roman unit, a cohort from the Twelfth 'Thunderbolt' Legion. They are subtly different from my previous cohorts. The most obvious difference is in the shields, but the mix of armour and helmets is also different - I'm hoping that it gives the impression of a unit coming from a different area, with a different supply chain. …
Vexillationes
As I have alluded to before, the Roman army in the Third Century AD faced a whole new situation, and underwent a lot of change during our period, mostly forced on it by circumstances - see the links here and here for a bit more detail.
The army had always used 'vexillationes' - legionary detachments, named after the type of standard (a vexillum) they carried. …
Random Ramblings
Having reached 1,000 points for each of the two armies in this little project, it seems like a good time to take stock. Various thoughts have occurred to me at various times through the project, only some of which have found their way into the blog.
First I'd like to express my gratitude to my good friend Richard 'Tricks' Tyndall, of the Newark Irregulars. …
Sneaky Sassanids
Almost without realising I have done it, I have finished my 1,000 WAB point Sassanid force - yes, I have finished the unit of Savaran noble cavalry. As I said earlier, painting them hasn't been without its trials and tribulations. I am reasonably happy with them, and much more confident that when I do the next unit of the same troops, all will be relatively 'hitch-free'.
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Pulchritudinous Pachyderms!
Yesterday, whilst coping with a visit from my ageing, and now rather pathetic, parents (which is all very sad, and rather hard to cope with, but I won't go into it now), the postman dropped a packet through my letterbox.
I had neither the time nor the inclination to even open it until late last night. …
Which Elephant?
Okay, I have an elephantine problem...
I have painted up a Gripping Beast pachyderm, with one of my own, home-made, towers. It looks quite nice. There is one slight problem with it - the legs are rather far apart, when seen from the front or the back. Elephants tend to walk with their legs under their bodies, rather than out to the side. …
Painting Sassanid Spearmen
Kevin Nicholls asked me for the ‘recipe’ I used for painting the MDS Sassanid infantry, so here goes.
The figures were primed white, using Halfords Acrylic Car primer.
After that, I tend to work from the inside out, so I started with the flesh -
Foundry 55B Butter Fudge.
The hair was painted black, and then carefully dry-brushed Foundry 42B Bay Brown.
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Sagittarii
Here is my latest unit, painted on a whim rather than following my 'master plan': a unit of Roman archers. Two bigger photos can be found in the Third Century Roman Photo Album. They were painted by all my usual methods, using my usual Roman colours, so nothing remarkable at all.
The shield transfers are home-made - …
Progress
Well, I've had a busy day, so I haven't got much painting done - we're out tonight, and I've had to cook all sorts of stuff. Add to that having to get bloodstains out of one of the wife's skirts (don't ask - okay!) and you can see why I've been busy. The cohort of sagittarii and the three extra Roman cavalry are progressing, but slowly. …
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