Showing posts with label Rioters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rioters. Show all posts

Sunday, 20 May 2012

Imbellis Populus...

...or "Un-warlike (i.e. untrained) civilians"

 

Today I completed my Roman Rioters project, huzzah! I now have 4 “units” of rioters: two of javelin/ brick chucking skirmishers (rear, above), and two of poorly armed plebeians medium infantry (front, above).  The concept is that these are poorly-armed civilians and vigiles, perhaps raised to defend their city as by Vitellius in 69AD, or rioters from some racing faction, depicted in the act of rioting through a marketplace.  All the photos are clickable.





Just over half of the minis were very nicely painted by my mate Greg Privat, and I painted most of the remainder.  The figures are mostly Foundry, but include quite a few Aventine, a couple each of Gorgon and Gripping Beast and some odd old minis from the bits box (spot the caetrati).  The pottery is from Baeuda and the foodstuffs GB, and the cart is from Irregular.  Most of the tables are scratch built.  The potsherds are painted eggshell (very cheap!), and I'm going to highlight them tonight to match the completed pots.  The flat Roman bricks are plastic strip. 

So next... I want to make some tenement buildings for them to riot past, and this will be the subject of a future post.  I'm also planning a post for GregPrivat's big parade event on July 14th.  Last year I posted my Roman Legion, http://bigredbat.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/simons-big-parade.html , and this year I want to post their associated auxiliaries, who will be rather more numerous, and just possibly even the legionary fortress.  Luckily I have quite a lot of painted Black Tree Roman Auxiliaries who just need finishing and basing, and who I'll try to get on the table during the next few weeks. 

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Mob-handed WIP

I've just arranged all 47 minis on their bases, and thought I'd snatch a quick photo.  26 were painted by Figgybloggy Greg, and most of the rest and the market by me


There are going to be 4 units; the two in the front will be relatively dense mobs, with some vigiles mixed in, and the two at the rear dispersed skirmishers armed with bricks and javelins.  The next stage will be to disguise the mini's bases with cobbles, then I need to add a little more base dressing and take some proper snaps.

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Cobblers

Or more accurately, cobbles.  I've decided to base my rioters on cobbled streets, as per the test element below.


The core of the bases are 60mm square galvanized steel sheet which I bought them off Renaissance Ink some years ago.  I've cut and fixed the ubiquitous Magnetic sheet on the back, and primed the top with Halford's Grey to disguise the shine on the edges (see below, I've turned one over to show the rear, you can see the shiny steel).  I joined a couple of the bases together to take the cart, which was too big for a single base.


The Roman cobbles (below) are actually from Antenocitii and are printed into a soft-ish styrofoam, and supplied pre-painted; a great product.  This is what I'm going to use for my Roman streets, so the rioters should blend right in. Below are the 11 bases I'll need for the units.


As per the test piece at the top, I will need to cut a hole in the foam for each mini's base, and stick them to the metal, then lay cobbles around the feet to disguise the base.  This worked more or less OK with the test base in the top figure, not as hard as one might think, albeit fiddly; but with 46 minis plus furniture, I clearly have a few days basing duties ahead of me!

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Street-fighting man

These are some market stalls as base dressing for the Roman  rioter stands I'm currently modelling.


The plan is that the fighting has spilled into a market area.  The table and most of the foodstuffs are from the Gripping Beast "Trade and Tribute" set.  The javelin-man is a Gorgon psiloi.


This is a wine merchant's stall.  The excellent pottery is from Baeuda, and is really very nicely executed, on a scratch-built stall.  The  merchant's cart (below) is from Irregular, a very handy and very cheap piece.



Above are some more Baeuda pots on another scratch-built table.  Finally, below, is a broken table with some Roman bread I've knocked up.


The miniatures are now all painted, and most of the rest of the material is prepared... I'm now just awaiting an order from Antenociti with a few final bits I need before I can start basing up.  As you can see, I'm very much enjoying playing with my Romans again!

Monday, 7 May 2012

Aventine Roman Rioters

I've added some Aventine miniatures to my slowly massing crowd, which is now up to 46 miniatures.


I'm pleased with how they have come out, although I've not cracked the Devlan Mud quite yet (tunics are OK; eyes, not so much).  The half-bricks work nicely...

Thursday, 3 May 2012

Pwodigy II; I predict a riot!

This is a second WIP shot of my Roman rioters.  I've added another 20 miniatures, some of whom are shown at the front, partially blocked in (a mixture of Aventine, a senator from Foundry and Steve Saleh's Caesar).  You might be able to make out some furniture at the back- I now have some promising ideas for base dressing.


I'm now planning to build 3 (or just possibly 4) units with a total of around 48 minis.  I'm trying to copy the style that Greg used (a big brush, and lots of Devlan Mud), this is proving very much quicker than my usual way of working.  And I now appreciate that ancients are a helluvalot quicker to paint than Naps!