Gladiators a second set of figures
Pegaso and De tara metal kits
Painted in 2014
Quite a while ago I did an article on some of the Gladiator models that could be acquired, all of those being in 54mm scale.
This time I thought I'd do a follow-on article with a few more models, and not solely in the same scale.
Again, there is an offering taken from the Ridley Scott film "Gladiator", and that I suppose is as good a place to start as any.
De Tara, Tiger Vs Maximus
This is an 80mm kit, and features a duel that takes place in the latter half of the film.
Maximus is forced to fight a well established gladiator champion, and at the same time avoid several tigers that are on long leash-like chains, held in check ( dubiously ) by several ineffective slaves.
The kit came from a company called De Tara, who's output of kits was done very quietly but efficiently from their base in Santander in Spain. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, this company has ceased to operate, although occasionally second hand kits come available.
The quality of De Tara kits is very high indeed, the metal used is quite soft and easy to work with, so not only clean-up, but any possible wish to convert one of their models is relatively easy.
On the box lid is a photograph of a painted example, the parts arriving undamaged and all in good order.
Having done a couple of De Tara's kits now, I must admit to being impressed with their product. This model re-enforced that feeling, and although the likeness to Russell Crowe ( the actor who plays Maximus in the film ) may to some, seem to be not quite as "dead on" as the Lattore Maximus, I feel that it's a very good likeness indeed.
The parts are shown for each figure in photo's #1 and #2 before painting began, and there's quite a few bits to each model.
It's the painting that will bring this face to life, because the sculpting is good enough for a competent painted to bring out a credible likeness.
The multi part bodies of both models are easy enough to deal with, and the only thing that didn't really work ( in my opinion at least ) was the way in which Maximus's adversary's - tiger - skirt was joined together.
The legs and armour areas of the model are jointed vertically through the groin, and then triangular pieced for the cloth are added at the front and rear. These two pieces have a complex joint line, one that is going to be difficult to get to fit just right and will require a wipe of filler.
I'm not sure what the sculptor was thinking here, probably simply a thought that the legs can be painted more easily, but I feel that it might have been simpler for both the sculptor, the mould maker and the modeller had the legs been separated from the skirt where they join to it, or had each leg / hip been one part, and the lower torso been joined along the line of the armour addition on one side.
Either way, it causes no huge problem as it is, simply that an excellent product, one that certainly matches others of theirs that I've made, into one that has a small blip.
O.K. I've laboured a point there, but the only filler I needed was around the leg / lower torso joints on both kits.
Otherwise a pair of good figures, for reference I used the film and also went "online" and visited several film / movie sites. Typing "Ridley Scott Gladiator" in came up with a whole load of hits, some of which were very useful indeed.
I used a printout of the scene from the film that is modelled here, and using that as a backdrop took a couple of shots, which turned out a lot better than I'd thought they would. Steve Zaloga and his scenic shots in Military Modelling magazine at the time have a lot to answer for !!!
One of the more difficult bits was getting a convincing fight between the two figures. Getting them positioned on a small base, and each having eye contact caused me to position Tiger as best I could in one corner and then ( because Maximus is only fastened down with one pin ) drilling several holes for Maximus to be slotted in to. I changed his position half a dozen times or more, trying for the best possible fit.
The real problem was my faulty in this, simply because I wanted the figures to be as close together as possible, and so picked a base that was probably erring on the small side.
The other option was to go to a base that was nearly double the size, and that I felt was much to big and would lose the urgency of the duel. Eventually I got things to a point where I felt that the positioning was convincing, and then could add the arena sand.
For this I used a skim of Milliput on a wooden plinth, tearing and prising away the Milliput with a cocktail stick to get the rough edge and then coating this with some fine sand and grit. The models were then pushed into position in the soft Milliput and then removed to allow the putty to cure. it was then painted with sand coloured acrylic, a wash of Raw and Burnt Sienna stippled randomly over it to pick out the detail and the figures glued into place.
Overall, this is a nice ready-made vignette, the figures are not only well sculpted, but can be given the urgency of a three dimensional film still with next to no effort.
A nice addition to any display of gladiators, and one that even the non-modeller will recognise.
Pegaso 54mm Secutor
OK, I like Pegaso’s offerings and the Gladiator range are certainly no exception. This little fellow was the beginning of what should have been a second wave of gladiators that I started back in 2005 to follow on from those featured above. However, it’s the only one I got finished that year, other projects taking precedence.
The parts split is logical – components being shown in this shot, and the rest of the pictures showing the model finished and painted.
Figures cast in White Metal and posed balanced on one foot can always cause a problem if they’re transported to shows – or anywhere else that matter – on a regular basis, and in this case it’s not too difficult to drill through the foot and up into the leg to add a long steel pin to give the connection point a good strong support.
The picture on the shield of the stylised seahorses was taken from part of a design thought to be off a shield and depicted on a wall mural.
I took a small part of the design – the Seahorse – and painted one freehand on the shield, then painted a second mirror-image on the other half.
Writing this small section of text nearly twenty years after the model was painted, I wonder why I’ve only painted one gladiator – the 75mm Pegaso figure that I named “Rage” – in all that time since…… That means I should probably go to the kit stash and dig out another Gladiator, I know there’s several in there.
