Thursday, 6 August 2009

Saleh Persian from Gorgon Miniatures

Hank at Gorgon Miniatures ( http://www.gorgon-studios.com/?page_id=2 ) in the US was kind enough to send me some samples from their range of Steve Saleh-designed Spartans that were formerly sold through Amazon, and a Saleh Persian miniature that I believe is a giveaway with orders (rather than a precursor to a new range).

Now I've previously seen images of the excellent Spartans (I may do a size comparison shot, later) and one of the painted Persian, but not a size comparison photo of the Persian, so here he is sandwiched between an OOP Foundry Persian and a Polemarch Successor phalangite, also both sculpted by Saleh. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about Persian equipment so I won't comment on that; but the hand is designed to be drilled out for a spear, which marks a major improvement over the previous Persian, whose spear appears far too thick!

The Persian is a delightful figure, full of character. The detail is really crisp and, anatomically, it is superior to the previous Persian, IMHO. The height matches his other, larger 28mm ranges.

There were rumours, a year or so ago, that Steve was going to do a Persian range to complement the Spartans. Having seen this mini, it would be really great if he did! But I hope to see the Polemarch Successor range and the Gorgon early Etruscans finished first, especially the latter as I'm becoming very interested in the early Italina armies.

Saturday, 1 August 2009

Linky to the Zama Paintathon

Mon ami Greg yesterday, in one day, painted no less than 80 Carthaginian levy spearmen for the Zama project. Vive la France!

http://gloarmy.blogspot.com/2009/08/rattrapage.html

It has occurred to me that at this rate, he could finish all the minis we need for next April, by around Thursday lunchtime. ;-)

Aventines Day 14

Just as one unit approaches completion...

Another 5 arrive!

Life just works like that, sometimes.

I'm really delighted with the new Aventine minis Keith has sent (the principes and equites for my Italian legion, and a bunch of Volscian hillmen), which are of the same high quality (nary a hint of flash) as the last bunch, and even as neatly packed as I've ever seen! He even chucked in the newest Volscian command pack, which looks brilliant. The Volcians have a real sense of movement that one rarely sees in a 28mm mini and I'm itching to paint them; dare I squeeze a unit into my schedule?

Wednesday, 29 July 2009

Aventine; Day 10

Four days since my last post and I feel have suffered for my art. It took me no less than 3 evenings (7-8 hours!) to paint the leather edging on the lammellar armour and the bands that hold the greaves in place! With the advantage of hindsight I may have been a bit anal about it, but I want this unit to be splendid.

On the other hand, last night I managed to block in the linen pteurges relatively quickly, and they are starting to look like painted minis at last. Tonight it's the red tunics, and after that it is just the shields and snagging. I have splashed out on the LBMS shield designs for these minis; morover, I have even bought the white battle-worn transfers; paying for white shield covers, utter madness!

I've also ordered most of the rest of the Italian Legion (32 Hastati, 32 Principes), and enough cavalry to finish a squadron. I couldn't resist buying a couple of units worth of the Volscians, including the splendid command pack. This is not going to help with my New Years Resolutions...

Sunday, 26 July 2009

Palace of Tyresias

On Friday last, my boys + friends AD&D adventuring party stumbled back in time to 1984 and discovered my multilevel-dungeon.

This is a scanned and retouched image from the 1984 frontspiece. Whilst there are elements of "Tyresias" that I'm not entirely happy with (the Kobolds of the Golden parrot, for example!), much of it seems to have borne the passage of time really well and I'm refurbing (and even extending!) the place.

I wonder whether anyone else out there is writing for AD&D?

Saturday, 25 July 2009

Onwards with Aventines

I'm going to post occasional updates on the progress of my Aventine Etruscans. This (unfortunately slightly blurry) image shows progress after the 6th painting session. The first 4 were on flesh tones, the fifth tidied up edges with black and painted steel/iron, and the sixth sorted out the bronze. I guess I've spent about 12 hours in total on them, so far.

The minis are a pleasure to paint. There is quite a lot of detail, but it is in good relief. They remind me somewhat of the Saleh WotGs, which suits me nicely. I think it's going to take me the best part of 3 weeks to finish and base them (but hopefully the more simply equipped Hastati and Velites will be faster to paint).

Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Honest, I have been painting stuff...

I've regrouped after my brief holiday refurbing 1980's D&D Minis, and am back in the saddle with the ancients painting.

Above are the Tegeans, that have long been lurking on the painting table; they are all retouched and ready for varnishing. Unfortunately I have been waiting 2 weeks for the Testors Dullcoat that I need for the next step, so they are in a holding pattern! Grrr.

I'm very excited about these minis; my first unit of the excellent Aventine minis ( http://www.aventineminiatures.co.uk ), and at the same time the first unit I'm specifically painting for the SOA Zama game. They are going to be a long job, but I'll make sure that I work on them every day until they are finished.

They represent the Triarii of an allied legion; this will ultimately include 16 Triarii, 32 Hastati, 32 Principes and 32 Velites. Keith at Aventine is painting a matching allied legion; we'll need 2 Roman legions, later on. There's more information about the Zama project here: http://bigredbat.blogspot.com/search/label/Operation%20Zama