More Romans: 35-40mm Flats

Been working on the Romans of late. The photo at the top of the post and the next are from the old Heinrichsen late 1800's set, Kämpfe aus der Römerzeit.

And these next legionaries are Spenkuch, about 35mm but they match up quite well with Heinrichsen.  Really like these figures, very natural poses and relatively simple to paint because of the bold engraving (supposedly done by the master, Ludwig Frank).  My guess is the designs probably date to the 1920's.  Like the Heinrichsens, they have a few inaccuracies but still make fine Romans.

This set, available from Berliner Zinnfiguren, comes with two main varieties of legionaries, five of these guys with the rectangular shields, several more swordsmen with oval shields plus four command figures.

Roman Scale Comparisons - "40mm"

First, apologies to my fellow bloggers for lack of reciprocal blog comments of late.  I got laid off from my job last week, my company eliminated Northern California R&D production.  And a rather unexpected short-term effect is in play here.  That is, I find myself spending less time on the Internet, not more.  Now today when I logged into the Reading List to catch up on things, Google thinks I no longer have a Reading List.  Probably a short term glitch, I'll try it again later.

So far as the layoff goes, disappointing. I had hoped to continue with the company until retirement at 66, now dropped off a few years short of the finish line but ultimately not surprised to become another casualty of cost cutting measures.  I don't blame the company, sign of the times and I did get a good package which will buy time to find something else and relocate.  For now, it's a tantalizing foretaste of retirement, with more time to paint and ride the bikes (road and mountain), as well as support my wife through the exhausting travails of chemotherapy.  Of course, I'll need to be a lot tighter with the figure and book purchases, no doubt a good thing. And atone for 25 years of undisciplined hobby clutter with eBay selling, something I dislike but no longer have the excuse of insufficient time to manage it, and of course the extra cash will come in handy.

On to the infantry:

From left to right:
* Helen of Toy, comic book ad flats
* Kinder Surprise
* Spenkuch, 35mm flats
* Heinrichsen, 40mm flats
* Irregular
* Elastolin
* Ideal, home cast semi-flats
* Ideal (other side of the mold from the limbo dance pose guy)

The comic book Romans don't fare well posed next to the traditional flats but at the very least the archers and oddball slingers will come in handy. On the other end of the spectrum we have Ideal.  The figure on the right just looks oversized relative to the rest, but the variance between figures could possibly be mitigated by means of thicker and thinner basing as the case may be.

And cavalry:

From left to right:
* Comic book flat
* Heinrichsen
* Spenkuch
* Elastolin

Clearly the undersized comic book cavalry won't do.  It's interesting that the scales of Spenkuch and Heinrichsen reverse with the cavalry, but they are stylistically compatible so long as kept in their own formations.

So far as maintaining a consistent aesthetic goes, it will be in the flat and semi-flat style. Meaning Irregular and Elastolin (despite their undeniable appeal) are out, although it remains to be seen whether flat ballista/scorpion crews could ever be found in 40mm.  The Spenkuch figures don't show to advantage here as unpainted castings but they are superb, to my eyes the best thing Spenkuch ever did.  I'm painting some now, so should have a post up soon about them.

Ideal Home Cast Romans

I was intrigued when I saw this mold pop up on the Berliner Zinnfiguren Flea Market. Ancient Romans in the 1900 era romantic style, could not resist the temptation. Actually there were two molds up at the same time, this resin copy and the other of metal. I opted for resin at half the price.

I don't know much about Ideal except that it was one of a number of German companies selling casting molds to hobbyists ca.1900. As you can see, the design is rather a novel one with four figures crammed into one compact triangular mold. Looks like the idea was to pour the lead into the semi-circular pockets at the two angles and let it run down into the figure cavities. I tried this at first but found it easier to drop directly into the figure cavities, scraping the excess metal from the bases with a chisel before it cooled, thus saving myself a lot of tedious filing later on.   

How do they look painted ?  Let's take a look at the first two figures.

Old-fashioned, of course. The guy on the left is problematic on account of his spear seldom casting fully. I also think he'll look better fully armored in old-school leather instead of painting on the lorica segmentata.  The soldier on the right also casts with the leather pteruges hanging from the waist, but rather lightly engraved so I tried filing them off and just painting the tunic in full. Strange that they have no scabbards for the gladius.  These two figures are somewhat the largest, measuring ~ 40mm from the bottom of the feet to the eyes.

And the other two legionaries. 

Oddly posed, no doubt a function of making all the soldiers fit into one mold.  You'd think that the standing figure could as well have been sculpted leaning forward in a more aggressive posture, but such was the decision of the designer.  Despite the quirkiness, I like him the best of the four figures. The squatting guy is less useful, but I think he'll do okay in the first rank, filling in the ranks to the rear with the standing figure (which measures ~ 36mm from feet to eyes).

I'm pleased with this mold.  Except for the spear problems the rest cast reliably.   The figures may not impress when viewed singly, but I think that ranged in their cohorts, they'll look good.  And, they're easy to paint.  I wonder if Ideal ever produced any other complimentary Ancients and if so, do these other molds ever come to light ?   One of those tantalizing facets of collecting I suppose, something else could turn up next week, then again maybe never.

In a subsequent post, I will photograph some of these various 35-45mm Romans posed together for scale comparison purposes.  In this same shipment I got a set each of Spenkuch flat Roman infantry and cavalry, very appealing figures and they match up quite well with the Heinrichsens.

Romans vs. Germans, Part I - 40mm Flats

 

Introducing a nice old-fashioned set of flats, Kämpfe aus der Römerzeit, by Heinrichsen.  Originally issued in 1882, the set was re-cast in limited numbers in the 1990's.  Recently, I was fortunate to obtain them at a very reasonable price from a collector in New York.

The designs are obviously a product of their times, reflecting what people in the latter 1800's knew about antiquity, probably drawing from contemporary illustrations as well as Roman sculpture and reliefs such as Trajan's Column.  But what they lack in historical accuracy, they make up for with appealing animation and high quality engraving.  The set has 45 pieces altogether although not all of them contain figures, being scenic items in the form of small stands with vegetation and the debris of battle as well as a few casualties.  A characteristic of the Heinrichsen style were figures grouped together on one casting and this set contains some fine examples.

These are the first I've finished, painted in acrylics as usual.

From a wargaming standpoint, there isn't too much that can be done with these on their own, but it makes for a most enjoyable painting interlude.  However, I do have some ideas about augmenting them with 35-40mm Romans from a couple other sources, continuing in the flat and semi-flat style.