Friday, January 29, 2016

MCMLXVII Legion "Airfixus"

A new year has seen me digging out some old figures to paint/base and organise for games.  And when I say old, I mean old.  The Airfix Romans were released in 1967 and I would have bought these figures around then.  I've long had a project to make a DBA army using them, but the recent game of Impetus with the ANF inspired me to do up a unit for a future game,




For my future reference, this was the paints I used:

Tamiya Matt Black undercoat
Atelier Raw Sienna Dark - leather
VJ Medium Flesh
Citadel Shade Reikland Fleshshade 
Jo Sonja Olive Green - pants
VJ Oily Steel - metal
Jo Sonja Green Oxide - pant highlights
Jo Sonja Burnt Umber - sandals (impressionist)
Tamiya Flat Earth - base
Jo Sonja Yellow Deep - shield

Working within the limitations of the figures I was lucky they had not gone brittle.  That allowed me to reposition the shield arm.  The flesh shade worked really well which was a surprise as I didn't think the figures had much detail to be accentuated.

I'm not totally happy how the shields turned out, but they will do for now.  I like the yellow and black signifying "danger" as a colour scheme.

The next thing for these guys is a Impetus size movement tray and maybe some markers for opportunity, disorder and casualties.  I'm thinking green (for go), light brown (for dust) and red brown (for blood).  Could just go with green, yellow and red.

Amazing - these figures are almost 50 years old.



20 comments:

  1. You've done a great job with these. I also acquired some in 1967 but sadly no longer have them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. The paint went on easily. The real challenge was the sandals.

      Delete
  2. That brings back the memories. They look great by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice work! It is amazing that you have held onto them for 50 years!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I'm a dreadful hoarder, of things as well as ambitions/projects.

      Delete
  4. Great - yes, brings back memories. I think most of us old enough to have been around had this very set. I did - loved the centurion and standard bearer, as well as the chariot and archers. Boy, that set had everything!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I have a chariot half painted and some archers being rebased. I'm toying with doing a standard bearer as a marker.

      Delete
  5. Replies
    1. Thanks. I used thin plastic that I recycled from a CD/DVD case and then built up using plaster to hide the bases. My current standard technique.

      Delete
  6. I reckon those guys look great. The shield pattern is striking - I've always liked bold shield patterns. I'm impressed by the 'oily metal' colour. It comes out very similar in appearance to my own trick for burnished metal: Humbrol gloss black and Humbrol silver mixed. Seems to work with gloss enamels better than with acrylics.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. I like how they peer over the top of their shields, something I was trying to capture with that last photo. I suppose for real nostalgia I should have used enamels. I had thought about it for the shields, but the patchy effect that I ended up with (accidentally I should add) is possibly more realistic.

      As to the metal effect, I was concerned given the lack of detail that it would come out plain but it does have a look of chain mail about it (another accident or rather happy outcome).

      Delete
  7. Replies
    1. Thanks. I've been blown away with the positive responses this post has received.

      Delete
  8. ...so I'll post a negative one!



    Cant think of one, sorry. Your figures are older than me!
    does that make them antique?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I might have to get a couple boxes of these guys off amazon along with maybe some romans from Hät. Either that or start a hundred years war army using airfix Robin hood and sherif of Nottingham sets

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cool. Just be careful of brittleness. My old Sheriff of Nottingham figures shattered.

      Delete
  10. I might have to get a couple boxes of these guys off amazon along with maybe some romans from Hät. Either that or start a hundred years war army using airfix Robin hood and sherif of Nottingham sets

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are some excellent 1/72nd figures around.

      Delete