Victrix 28mm elephant shelter in place blues ointment

[Jjonas]

A while ago I finished two versions on the Victrix 28mm plastic elephant kit.

The Carthaginian version I posted here:
http://www.ancientbattles.com/Carthage/Carthage_AncientBattles.html

The Ptolemaic version I posted here:
http://www.ancientbattles.com/ptolemaic_elephants/Ptolemaic_elephants_AncientBattles_2019.html

I have over the weekend added a few work in progress photos and blather here:
http://www.ancientbattles.com/ptolemaic_elephants/Ptolemaic_elephants_AncientBattles_2019_WIP.html

Just a bit of cheer for those shut in blues!

[Burnin Coal]

  lovely work and great photos - most inspirational.....and yes....a lot of free time for the foreseeable future

[Orctrader]

That's brilliant.   

[WuZhuiQiu]

Great stuff, Jeff! What do the Victrix Roman crew look like?

[Jjonas]

Excellent feedback! I updated with an image of the crew sprue:

http://www.ancientbattles.com/ptolemaic_elephants/Ptolemaic_elephants_AncientBattles_2019_WIP.html

The Romans in armor look very cool and could probably be in an Rebellion army such as Juba's less than successful forces, or mixed with Numidian crews as part of the the elephants that were used in Iberia.

Numidians offered elephants to the Romans to battle the Macedonians, and Seleucids. It is always odd that the Roman used their elephants much more successfully than their adversaries. Their elephants stomped the Macedonians twice, but at Magnesia the smaller North African beast were held in reserve. I bet they had a hand in turning back Antiochus' cataphracts.

[WuZhuiQiu]

Excellent feedback! I updated with an image of the crew sprue:

http://www.ancientbattles.com/ptolemaic_elephants/Ptolemaic_elephants_AncientBattles_2019_WIP.html

The Romans in armor look very cool and could probably be in an Rebellion army such as Juba's less than successful forces, or mixed with Numidian crews as part of the the elephants that were used in Iberia.

Numidians offered elephants to the Romans to battle the Macedonians, and Seleucids. It is always odd that the Roman used their elephants much more successfully than their adversaries. Their elephants stomped the Macedonians twice, but at Magnesia the smaller North African beast were held in reserve. I bet they had a hand in turning back Antiochus' cataphracts.

Thank you, Jeff! And any spare crew could also be used on command bases as bodyguards, as garrison troops, or in vignettes.

I am curious about the elephant's ear coloration, though - do elephant ears flush with aggression?

[Jjonas]

Sometimes elephant ears were painted red to enhance the terror factor.
This painting by Giuseppe Rava illustrates this practice in the Carthaginian army.

[Happy Wanderer]

Lovely painting Jeff.

Question - when you secure the elephant to the base do you just press in the model to the surface paste and let it dry...or do you use a glue to secure the model?

Also, what surface paste do you use?

Cheers

Happy W

[Jjonas]

Question - when you secure the elephant to the base do you just press in the model to the surface paste and let it dry...or do you use a glue to secure the model?

Also, what surface paste do you use?

The surface putty I use is by Light Modeling Paste by Liquitex. It is fairly fast drying. I also use Light Weight Interior Spackle for thicker areas, it dries even faster.

I spread out the paste onto the base then I press the feet of the elephant into it. If I have  a pin in the foot then I often aligne where I want the model - push the pin in, then quickly drill a hole with a finger drill. I then push the feet into the hole and make indentations in the paste once it is set for a short while (5 minutes) or so. Then leave it for a few then I pull the model out which leaves footprints. I then can add sand and grit and rocks to areas that are not where the actual feet land. Once this is primed with some dark sand color then I drybrush the whole (sometimes before- sometimes after final gluing).

I do wait till the base putty is dry and the top coat has set, then I actually glue the elephant in. Usually simple GEL super glue works with resin and plastic elephants now. For the Aventine and other solid metal beast in the past, I would mix up epoxy.

Thank you for the ask, I can see another area now where I should flesh out the how-to details better for the basing. So stay tuned.

[Dr. Kevin Moon III esq.]

Great work.

[Happy Wanderer]

Thanks Jeff,

Much appreciated.