Victrix EIR Legionaries WIP & Battle Flag Review

Worked on the shields as they are, for me, the most difficult/challenging part of the project. Great looking transfers, but sort of nerve racking to apply.

They come in sheets of 24 scuta, 2 small rounds (for musicians/standard bearers) and flags as well. About $10 including shipping; so a pretty good deal.  The issue is they are a little flimsy and tend to curl over at the ends. I ended up floating them in water to seat them properly. Also, you have to precut the opening for the shield bosses.

I prefer traditional decals like the ones that come with Warlord Games sets. They're thicker and as I use a decal softener can get them to seat well.

So much for now, thanks for stopping by and wishing you all good health and hobby pursuits.

60mm Expeditionary Force Celtic Chariot Ready for Romans

Finished the remaining 60mm Expeditionary Force toy soldiers today. Very cool diversion, but ready to get back on track with the Hail Caesar project.

Fun to paint up, and may get them into a skirmish game someday. 

I glue gunned the driver directly onto the chariot, but the warriors can dismount and swap turns on the ride.

Also, the Victrix EIR Legionaries arrived today.  Took about a month and a half. Strangely, the LBMS Gallic shield transfers shield transfers which were supposedly mailed a few weeks before then still haven't arrived.

I think I'll start on the Romans and get back to finishing up the Celtic chariots. Thanks again for stopping by and wishing you all good health and hobby pursuits.

60mm Expeditionary Force Celtic Chariot and Crew - WIP

Just a quick update of the Expeditionary Force Celts I'm working on along with the Victrix chariots.

Minwax stain over sloppy block painting.

Thanks for visiting, and wishing you all good health and hobby pursuits.

60mm Expeditionary Force Roman "Toy Soldiers"

Finished them up today - added some dry brushing and ink washed after the Minwax staining. Didn't spend too much effort with little details.

The shields had engraved designs, which really helped painting them, but I rushed and botched the stars a bit. The laurel wasn't too bad and an ink wash helped the finished look.

The detail and sculpting are pretty good considering they're basically toy soldiers that are pretty much unbreakable - i.e. kids could have a good time with them.

I used a glue gun to affix the shields to the arms - worked out nicely.

Below is a scale comparison shot with the 60mm Centurion along with a Verlinden resin 120mm Centurion, a Verlinden resin 200mm Signifer, an old metal 54mm Legionary (forgot the maker) and a Victrix 28mm figure.

Amazingly, I'm still awaiting the arrival of LBMS transfers for the long ago painted Victrix Armoured Gauls - and the Victrix EIR Legionaries. It's been over a month for the transfers - and just about a month for the Legionaries. I'll probably start on the Expeditionary Force Celt Chariot and Crew - or maybe glue together the Victrix Celt Chariots. Until next time, wishing you all good health and hobby endeavors!

60mm Expeditionary Force Roman and Celt "Toy Soldiers" - WIP

I really should have started on the Victrix Celtic Chariots, but felt a little diversion was needed. Here are the Expeditionary Force Romans with a Minwax stain over a very basic block paint job applied with a fairly large brush.

For "toy soldiers," these are very impressive. Not only are the heads and arms interchangeable and poseable, but the weapons are made with harder plastic and don't have the bendy issue with softer plastics. The detailing is quite good too - most of the expected items are nicely sculpted. A Victrix 28mm Roman in front for scale comparison.

Prior to the staining; with the Celts and shields in the background. I used rattle can spray paint for the base coating. The rest of the areas were mostly painted with Apple Barrel craft paint which I picked up for .50 cents a bottle.

Thanks for allowing this indulgence and wishing you all the best in hobby and health.

Victrix EIR Mounted Officers

Been out of sorts, painting wise, for a week or so. Managed to paint these three guys today - the horses were done earlier. The set is actually called EIR Mounted Generals, but one of them is clearly a Centurion - and I'm not sure he'd be classed as a general. Anyway, my buddy gave me two sprues (6 mounted figures total) of this set on his way to far off lands. He's also the one who gave me the 16 EIR Legionaries. Amazingly the Victrix EIR Legionaries I ordered back in April  (mailed after restocking on 22 May) still haven't arrived.

Plan to add another figure or two prior to basing them on command stands.

Really nicely sculpted and detailed figures; and best of all they're plastic so you can easily interchange arms and heads, etc.

I might use spare shields from the EIR Cavalry set for the some of the other three remaining figures on the other sprue.

During a bout of impulse buying, I ordered a set of Victrix Celtic Chariots and a box each of Expeditionary Force Romans Legionaries and Celtic Chariot from Hobby Bunker. The box says 1/32 scale, but the web lists them 60mm - and they are larger than 1/32 - 54mm. I plan to paint them up as traditional toy soldiers - maybe even gloss coated.

Thanks again for dropping by and wishing you all good health and hobby pursuits!

Warlord Games Celts and Britons

Finished basing the box of Warlord Games Celts. One of the stands (with the standard bearer with the Battersea shield) was from the earlier Britons set.

Trying to have them in less lunging poses, these ranked up a little better than the Britons.

They're based 3 figures per 40mm Litko squares and six bases on movement trays, also from Litko.

Along with the earlier Britons, they're in four 18-figure warbands.

Although 18 figure units aren't that big, the Romans will be in smaller sized units, so should work out okay. Also, the table size will only be about 8x5 feet (3 folding Costco table).

Still waiting on the order of LBMS shield transfers for the Victrix Armoured Gauls. They'll be in two smaller warbands, but given Elite status. Hopefully, the transfers and EIR Legionaries will show up soon.

Thanks for stopping by and wishing you all good health and happy hobby endeavors.

Warlord Games Celts - WIP +1

Figures are done and just have to add their shields and base them. I really like these figures, particularly with the Victrix Gallic heads. Although hard to rank up due to their poses, they certainly have that warband look.

Thank you all very much for visiting, and wishing you all good health and happiness in the hobby.

Warlord Games Celts - WIP

As with the previous Britons set, these have  Victrix Gallic head swaps, along with a few metal ones from the Britons set.

Minwax stain over basic block painting. Highlights and touching up after they're dried and Dullcote'd. I noticed after painting the carnyx guy that his tunic is in Rastafarian colors.

Thanks for visiting and stay safe and healthy!

Victrix EIR Legionaries Attacking- The First 16

Finished these 16 today. They paint up quite nicely without any fuss.

They're based on 20mm rounds that come with the movement trays - two ranks of three. Plan to have them in units of 12.

They'll be plussed up with a box each of Advancing and Attacking sets.

I was worried they might not rank up, but they fit onto the trays very well.

Until the Victrix EIR Legionaries arrive, l have a box of Warlord Games Celts to work on. Thanks for stopping by and best wishes to you all. 

Victrix EIR Legionaries Attacking - WIP

Although I'm still awaiting the arrival of my own Victrix EIR Legionaries order, thanks to my buddy James (who just left for an overseas deployment), I got to start work on 16 Victrix EIR Legionaries Attacking figures he donated to me.

I decided to start with a black undercoat as there are a lot of metal areas on these figures. I gave the flesh, trousers and pilum shafts a wash of Vallejo ink/stain - black mixed with flesh wash. These areas will be given highlights. I also discovered during the staining that I had forgotten to paint their scarves.

Besides the metallic colors, these are the ones used for the rest of the figures - I tried to keep colors to a minimum. Leather Brown used for sandals and straps; Beasty Brown for trousers and sword pommels and hand guards; Stone Grey for tunics and sword hand grips; Burnt Red for tunics and sword scabbards (actually with a little Flat Red mixed in); Bronze Flesh mixed 50:50 with Dark Sand for the pilum shafts.

Over the black base coat, I dry-brushed Vallejo Gunmetal mixed with Silver for the lorica and helmets. Some of the helmets were painted bronze - which I actually use a 50:50 mix of Vallejo Bronze and Copper for. The shield transfers are from Battle Flag. Great price, but they are a bit thin and delicate. I managed to only destroy two of them during the application process. A word of caution when using these - be sure not to get the backing wet prior to being ready to apply, and don't soak the decals for more than a minute or so - in fact, 30 seconds might be long enough; any longer and it gets very soft. The ends can flip over easily too - and very hard, if not impossible to correct.

Thanks for visiting and best wishes to you all in your hobby endeavors and elsewhere.

Victrix Armoured Gallic Warriors - WIP

Touched up and highlights added after a Minwax staining over a basic block paint job. Awaiting an order of LBMS shield transfers to complete them. I picked up this set from a US ebay seller and ordered the transfers direct from Victrix.

After spraying the Minwax staining with Testors Dullcote, the flesh and metal areas were given a wash of Vallejo inks. The flesh was then given highlights to areas like the noses and hands. The mail coats and helmets were dry brushed with silver and bronze.

I used an old medium sized brush when brushing on the Minwax stain (Tudor Satin). I also have a jar of thinner handy to thin down and blot excess pooled areas - mostly the legs/feet and edges of tunics/capes.

I opted for more muted colors than the previous Warlord Britons - figuring the larger shields with colorful transfers would brighten them up enough.

After these guys are done, I hope to start on the Victrix EIR Legionaries when they arrive - I received an email from Victrix a couple of days ago indicating they were finally shipped. They had run out of the Attacking set and it took a while for them to get resupplied due to the current condition. Until next time, stay healthy and enjoy your hobby the best you can.