Spanish Scutarius

 

This is the Spanish Scutarius that first appeared in the Miniature Figurines 72/73 catalogue as PB 51s and subsequently in the 75 catalogue as PB 51.

Both PB ranges were based on Phil Barker's books Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars and Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome. This figure is taken from illustration 51 in AMPW.

The 's' designation was used to distinguish the newer 25mm style of models from the preceding, smaller 1/72nd range. The transition was soon complete and the 's' - special - was dropped from the figure codes thereafter. 

The base is stamped PB 51 on the upper surface in the usual manner.

The weapon carried by this figure is the Spanish version of the pilum - the top section is metal, although often seen painted as a spear. 

Otherwise, this is a very simple figure, and one that appeared in many Carthaginian armies when current. 

More on the to do list

A few more samples figures completed this week including this rather nice Southern Gaulish warrior from the Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars '72 PB range. Unusually dynamic for a Minifigs model and sporting a haircut that would not look out of place on a woodwork teacher circa 1976. 

I have a smallish unit of these that needs a strip and repaint. One for the back burner I feel. As you see, I'm not terribly hot on stripes and checks and tartan all that guff when it comes to Celts. I've stuck to a plain colour in a shade that suggests a natural dye. It may be a little boring but at least they are saved the indignity of looking like a touring Rugby team. 

This fellow is from the Mythical Earth (ME) range - an Ithilien Ranger in fact. I've been collecting the ME range alongside the various ancients ranges for a good few years. 

The ME range is covered pretty well on the Lost Minis Wiki website along with the other Minifigs fantasy and SF ranges from the 70s, so I won't worry about doing any bare metal photography for these.

You can still buy many of the models from this range as part of the Minfigs Classic Fantasy re-issues, and more are being added every so often. 

This is his friend - there are only two Ithilien Ranger models in the range the archer and this spearman. As usual I have given them a coat of gloss varnish - I might try photographing before varnishing next time as I think that would show the highlights off better. 

The Wood Elf archer figure from the ME range is a wee chap even by the standards of mid-70's 25mm figures - I make him a tad under 24mm tall. Note the pixie boots - nice. 

I took a few shots of this model because it was hard to find an angle that showed him off properly. 

I've based all of these Minifigs onto what would have been 'light medium infantry' bases - 20mm frontage and 30mm depth - according to the WRG rules that were current at the time. They also had 'light heavy' infantry. I kid you not. 

While we're at it, this was the first advert for the ME range from the November 1973 Military Modelling. 

Note that the code numbers for the Dragon, Nazgul and Eagle are not as they ended up. If interested, check the 'pages' section to the right, where you'll find a scan of the 1975 catalogue, which includes the full range. 

And the review of the first releases. This is as good as you got when it came to knowing what is was you were buying at the time. I feel the 'Three Yorkshiremen Sketch' coming on, so I'll stop now and spare you that.... and you tell that to kids today... arghh... Nurse! 

Carthaginian Cavalry

 

Back in January I painted a few samples of work in progress including a Carthaginian cavalry figure. Here is the unit finished at last and ready to join my growing Minifgs 72 range (PB) Carthaginians. 

I do like the first PBH horses that were made to go with this range. These were soon replaced by the larger A and H series horses, which I don't think suit the riders anywhere near as well. Whenever I can I like to use the PBH horses for the 72 range riders.

As you can see I've gone for simple toy soldier style basing onto card, a nod to the style of the day. The same goes for the gloss varnish, which was of course standard at the time. I like the way the varnish enhances the colours, even if the primary reason is to make the figures handleable. 

I have parted company with tradition by using transfers for the shields - these are part of the Hoplite set from Warlord Games. It's a very useful set of transfers - or decals if you prefer - even if you do have to get a dozen or so sheets if you want all your shields the same like me. 

These took me a fair while to finish - it's all those horses! - and I'm looking forward to getting on with something a bit quicker next time.

Interesting observation. I scraped the riders together from several ebay purchases and it was only once I started to mount them that I discovered some are slightly smaller and more slender than others. Presumably, these come from different moulds, but the result is that the spears on some are at slightly different angles - not so much as you would notice at first glance but definitely there. Some of the spears are also slightly thicker - just goes to show how much variation you can get off a mould even with the same model.