Monday 5 December 2011

The Romans - A Hail Caesar Project - Part 5


Time for a roman update; I've not actually been too lax on this subject, with the first two legionary cohorts of 16 models a piece finished I decided to do my auxiliary bases next. There are 5 of these, each with 4 models on, and once I've bought a couple of command groups and a spare sprue of troops will expand into 8 bases, split into two cohorts of 4 bases and 16 models each, the same size as the legionaries.

I started with the same intent of quick and basic paint, then dip, flock and spray. However I found the auxiliary models (Warlord Games troops) had a few more details than the legionaries (trousers for a start!), and needed a couple of extra colours, the tunics for starters needed a better look. Having consulted the oracle (and been told I wasn't The One) I settled on a lighter brown for the tunics and a blue for the shields. I kept with the silver for the helmets, deciding bronze wouldn't look good enough to justify the extra time needed to paint it.

Having done the main colours (brown, silver, flesh then shield) which i expected to take a while, I moved onto the smaller bits. These took far longer than I had hoped, partly due to constant bio-Titan interruption (surely children need sleep prior to 10:30pm at night?!?) and partly because I fell back into an old habit. It wasn't until I was starting to curse the word auxiliary and was trying to get the line of leg vs sandal right that I realised I was trying to be perfect. This, as the more astute will try and forget, is where I've always gone wrong in the past - higher quality finish in v low quantities - very German.

Having had this moment of clarity I swiftly stopped prattling about and refocused, finishing them quickly. They still need the dip, flock and spray, but I'm going to do that en-masse when I've another cohort painted.

The 2 command groups and extra men are some of the bits I'm looking to get post-Christmas (waiting to ensure no possible duplication). On the good news front I think I need almost exactly £100 to complete (yes I said COMPLETE!) the army, and I have already obtained £62 in finance from chaos space marine sales. The cockerels have been sacrificed and the gods are clearly favouring me. Hopefully re-enforcements will be close at hand in January and with my Tuesday nights now freed up I can get the rest of my legionaries (and some ECW pikemen for variety) done before the 31st.

The Auxiliaries

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