"You or Me?!" - Squasher From Britain, 5th Century A. D.

[tigrazor]

Well well... Havent I got enough projects on the bench? Indeed. Some people say that this figure isnt correct and gathers old and "new" armor parts etc. I have to admit that Roman Empire isnt my kind of thing and I dont have the knowledge to remodel it - so it stays how it is for pure painting fun.

The Squasher will duel with a wolf I found in the local modelling club stash by chance - and for just 1€ it was mine.

[kaytermarram]

What figure is this??? Looks a bit like some kind of toysoldier or Elastolin figure? The Wolf with Base rocks a lot, very well done, very cool. The Wolf is a kit, too?? There are tons of figures available and I thought I know some of them. Well, I guess, I know not soooo much after seeing the two Dudes here...

Frank

[tigrazor]

Thats a El Viejo Dragon tin figure, 54mm (no. CG134). The wolf is a resine kit, but I dont know what the manufacturer is, just grabbed it from the spare parts box.

[TRM]

Great little scene there buddy!! Seom nice work on the figure and the base if off the hook! Keep it going!

[tigrazor]

Sure! Wasnt too happy with the wolf, so I did some additional work here:

[moramarth]

I have to admit that Roman Empire isnt my kind of thing and I dont have the knowledge to remodel it - so it stays how it is for pure painting fun.

Can't argue with that: it's your model.  However, I do think you have the skills (and opportunity) to turn this one into something really special.  Actually the green tunic is O.K. - I understand there was a figure wearing a green tunic amongst others wearing the standard white on a Roman Fresco in the Egyptian temple at Luxor - unfortunately only a small watercolour of the scene survives (the fresco was destroyed, without recording, by Egyptologists  wanting to get at the reliefs underneath) and I can't find it on-line.  However, a fragment green tunic of the right date actually survives:
www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/48922/Green_Tunic_-_Front_with_Decorated_Bands
It had to be the section that can't be seen on your model, but areas of matching decoration are located as shown on these sites:
www.durolitum.co.uk/articles/tunics.html
www.comitatus.net/romantunics.html
I would suggest repainting the trousers a darkish brown, though.
Consider replacing the right hand with one holding a thrusting spear such as a Lancea - the Martobarbuli was a long-range weapon unsuitable to your scene.  However, if you want to retain some sort of link, two legions, the Iovianii and the Herculianii, wee particularly associated with the weapon.  These are their shield patterns:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legio_VI_Herculia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legio_V_Iovia
This is the source:

Actually, it might be well worth replacing the shield with a scratch-built item, nearly round and with a stitched rawhide rather than metal edging.  I can look out some additional information if you want to go down that route.  In the meantime here is a photo of a really outstanding reconstruction of a highly decorated shield of that type being used by some re-enactors I encountered a few years ago.
s25.postimg.cc/ide5o3e8v/Scutum.jpg
I've also included a shot of some of the Auxilia:
s25.postimg.cc/8u4gumqqn/Auxila.jpg

Regards,

M

[kiwibelg]

I like what you have done with the wolf, the fur has a lot more depth to it now!
Your groundwork is top notch and the charging wolf is very animated!
I also have little or no knowledge of anything from this time period but if this is just a fun project I would keep it like this too. It's nice to have a go at something else inbetween a lot of other projects, I know the feeling lol
Cheers mate

[kaytermarram]

Hehe, one of the reasons why I stay in the Fantasy and horror area, muharr! But great on the other hand to have some experts like M ready at hand, providing some historical background. To have a figure as acurate as possible should or could be the way to go of cause! To have a bit of artistic freedom is another choice one should have. Look at my Alien sculpts. No of them is like the movie version of the Beast but I love them the way they are.

The Wolf looks better now, Lucas. MAYBE some more lighter colours here and there.

Frank

[tigrazor]

Very true! So please dont feel offended if I behold a little artistic freedom here and there, M. Ill appreciate that input very much btw, you can never learn enough!

I tried to copy the colors of the wolf from the Fw 190 crashed in the ice sea from the ModellFan Modellbaujahrbuch 2015 (made by Aitor Azkue), if you know what I mean. And I looked up some pictures of "real" ones. By chance I grabbed the very same from the spare parts box. Unfortunately I couldnt find a large picture of that mindblowing diorama.

[kaytermarram]

Will see what my bookist will say, I can order the mag through him. Is still on the market I guess!

Frank

[tigrazor]

Yep, still on the market.

[deafpanzer]

That wolf looks great! I think I have followed you long enough... you like to include civilians, animals, and children to your builds. Right? LOL I always enjoy your stuff!

[tigrazor]

I like to include everything that fits the scene.

[moramarth]

So please dont feel offended if I behold a little artistic freedom here and there, M.

None taken - I'm sorry I haven't responded as quickly as I'd hoped, I wasn't sulking, I've just had a bad couple of days.
I hear what you’re saying, and respect your choice.  I too am now more inclined towards the non-historical, as it allows one to be more creative and what is created is more “yours”.  Although I lack the talent to create from scratch and have always been more a “kit assembler” than a modeller I’ve always liked it when I could produce something a bit different from the standard and more uniquely “mine”.  Usually this was pretty limited, usually just a set of after-market decals for an aircraft, or the like.  Essentially, I was just trying to offer you the chance of doing something similar.  The only two things that are really wrong with the figure as sold is the misidentification of the “Exculcatores” as a Legion and the use of a metal rimmed elliptical Clipeus as the shield, both of which could be simply cured; the figure is a decent representation of a later Legionary (I can’t date it accurately as the equipment remained in use for a long time and you can only differentiate by “fashion” items – in this case it’s only the belt, and I can’t make out the details sufficiently to say anything other than it’s probably late third century or later) rather than an Auxiliary – these are usually depicted as unarmoured in sculpture.  Sculpture also often depicts the large shields as round rather than oval, and frequently flat.  That was sufficient excuse for me when I was building a New Hope Design 3rd Century A.D. Cavalry Officer in Parade (sports) Armour some thirty-odd years ago.  They had a set up with Osprey whereby they got an advanced took at the artwork for forthcoming publications and would have several figures ready sculpted to match for when the book came out.

Unfortunately “The Roman Army from Hadrian to Constantine” contained several glaring errors which have never been corrected in its many reprints since.  (I was doubly unlucky in that I got one of the first batch of models, they later re-sculpted the horse…)  The figure had a shield with a raised metal rim, and was a bit small for my tastes as I wanted to show the figure with a shield based on one of the preserved shields from Dura-Europos for which I had a colour source. All I did was to give him a simple disc of thin styrene sheet instead (the shield has thin leather covering it back and front, so there's no problem abut scribing plank detail).  I’ve dug the old fellow out and got most of the dust off him so you can see what I mean, although he’s really not up to the standards of the models seen on this group. I never sorted him completely, the back of the shield is wrong (a different colour, with a simple pattern, although I – along with most people – was unaware of it at the time), but the thing I couldn't do anything about was the head. It's not that the helmet is wrong, it's just less right than it could be. All the decoration on the horse equipment has a common theme, and they were found (at Straubing) with a different helmet (or at least the masks for three of them) that was more of a match.



But to get back to your figure, if you were so inclined all you'd need to fix it is a disc of plastic or metal about 36mm in diameter and a pattern to paint on it. The figure is wearing a plaid over-tunic which most people associate with Celts, so you'd want a Legion (of any grade) that either originated in one of the British or Gallic provinces, or was serving there or along the Rhine frontier. Which one? Obviously I have my favourites (the ones in my old wargames army), but it would be wrong to say which – I've already butted in enough on your creative process, and choosing an appropriate design would be a way of making the figure more “yours”. Fortunately there is the equivalent of browsing the aircraft decal sheets on the Hannants' website (although it looks a bit off-putting at first glance):
lukeuedasarson.com/NotitiaPatterns.html

That's enough from me, I just wish I could paint as well as you...

Cheers,

M