After my first foray into figure modelling, I started a second Roman Legionnaire. He's still around somewhere, waiting for a day when I feel like completing him. I have, however, got the bug, bit the bullet and went out and purchased this fellow for a mere £12.00;
The box art is quite impressive and the model offers a couple of decent challenges for the newcomer. The helmet plume is a two-part item requiring a little fettling to get it to look realistic. I used a pair of dividers to mark out the separations for the red and white, then added a 5/0 brush stroke thickness of matt black. I haven't fathomed out how to do the chequered pattern on the helmet crown, so have given it an undercoat of chocolate brown followed by a coat of bronze. Vallejo Bronze is probably one of the best "true" bronzes I've used. It blends well, dries with a satin sheen and looks like bronze!
The Athenian model is one of a three-part set which includes a Greek Hoplite and a Spartan Hoplite. There are interchangeable parts, mainly the weapons, the hair and the shield decals. It is quite useful to get a grip on the instruction sheet to ensure you use the correct part for the warrior you wish to build.
The instructions are quite basic, but easy enough to understand. As shown above, they are in colour and come complete with a paints list for Model Master, Tamiya, Humbrol and Revell paints. Most parts fit together well with little cleaning up required. I did find that a little filler was needed for the legs as a moulding seam had indented into the left leg, making it look like our chap was wearing seamed stockings!
Following advice from an expert, I undercoated the head in Vallejo Sky Grey. Once this was dry, I did the eyes by adding a touch of grey to matt white. The pupils were done in gloss Earth with irises picked out in gloss Black using a pin! A thin line of Red Beige was brushed above the eye, with the same in Salmon on the power eye. The face was given it's first coat of Matt Flesh, followed by a light colouring of Dark Flesh. Beige Red was used on the lips and nostrils and then Chocolate Brown applied in the eyebrows, beard and moustache. A dark grey wash was used for the "hair" lowlights, followed by a dry-brushing of Sky-Grey to pick out highlights.
(the line under the chin is a register mark for later)
The rest of the body parts, uniform and equipment have all been undercoated in preparation for the next step, which will be assembly followed by final painting. The shield decal in the kit looks good but I have done a bit of research to find some other examples that I could use. Several examples have been converted to decals using an inkjet printer with decal paper and Rustin's Crystal Clear and will be shown later on in this thread.
The Athenian model is one of a three-part set which includes a Greek Hoplite and a Spartan Hoplite. There are interchangeable parts, mainly the weapons, the hair and the shield decals. It is quite useful to get a grip on the instruction sheet to ensure you use the correct part for the warrior you wish to build.
Following advice from an expert, I undercoated the head in Vallejo Sky Grey. Once this was dry, I did the eyes by adding a touch of grey to matt white. The pupils were done in gloss Earth with irises picked out in gloss Black using a pin! A thin line of Red Beige was brushed above the eye, with the same in Salmon on the power eye. The face was given it's first coat of Matt Flesh, followed by a light colouring of Dark Flesh. Beige Red was used on the lips and nostrils and then Chocolate Brown applied in the eyebrows, beard and moustache. A dark grey wash was used for the "hair" lowlights, followed by a dry-brushing of Sky-Grey to pick out highlights.
(the line under the chin is a register mark for later)
The rest of the body parts, uniform and equipment have all been undercoated in preparation for the next step, which will be assembly followed by final painting. The shield decal in the kit looks good but I have done a bit of research to find some other examples that I could use. Several examples have been converted to decals using an inkjet printer with decal paper and Rustin's Crystal Clear and will be shown later on in this thread.
