Thoughts on painting Epic 3 rank Romans

[Norm]

I have been looking at the 3 rank Roman units and note that others are reporting that AFTER painting, the 3 rank combo is not making such a tight fit. I have put a base together on a dry fitting and they fit perfectly.

So I think 2 things are going on here. Firstly the primer and paint add a thin layer to make the dry fit tighter and secondly, the primer on the plastic is preventing the plastic cement from making a good plastic to plastic weld.

My approach will be, to dry fit and clamp the three ranks together between my fingers and then run 'brush on' primer over the top and around the sides, so that where each of the three ranks touch each other is coated, but the paint does not penetrate to the internal structure of the three rank system. Then separate and let dry, then prime the rest of the front and back of the unit - totally avoiding any innards, which after painting will then still be able to work with plastic cement.

I generally use a dark primer dry brushed with white. I am looking at using 6 colours after that to complete the unit.

Flesh - faces, hands, bare arms and bare legs

Red - shields, knee length tunic, use a second shade of red for tonal variation if you have to

Brass - helmet, back plate.

Mid Brown - wooden shaft to Pilum (spears), sandals, Hair if you have to, belt if you have to.

Lead - shield boss and rim, Pilum metal tips

White - feathers on the helmet.

Put a black wash, thinned to 50 / 50 over everything and make sure pooling is removed.

I will also try one base with a rattle can, just to see whether there is really any practical difference in the two approaches.

[vodkafan]

I am having a slightly different problem Norm. When the block is assembled I am finding it difficult to paint the face highlights on the middle and back ranks.
My painting method has always been to paint from dark to light so I don't use washes.
I have decided for the future to paint all the faces on the sprue before assembly.

[Norm]

James, it is odd that the painting guide recommends building, spraying and then painting, but I feel they are best kept separate while the middle rank and the  faces / shoulders of the rear rank are done.

The painting guide is clearly going for an easy path of overall look and perhaps that will be fine with the three foot rule. I think I will try both ways . I want to be able to look down from above and see some shape of the soldiers bodies and to me that does mean that some of the negative space between the ranks needs to be black, which I will get from the primer.

[Chris Abbey]

I've painted quiet a few of these blocks now.

What I do is to spray prime them as a block. I hold the three ranks together using a piece of masking tape. That way everything that needs to get primed, get's primed but you don't get any paint in the joints to affect fit or to prevent plastic glue from welding them together when you've finished painting them.
 It is definitely far, far easier painting the three ranks separately and then gluing them together.

I have written a detailed, step by step guide to painting these epic 3 rank Romans on my hobby blog: You can read the article @ https://wargamesbuildings.co.uk/warlord-games-epic-punic-wars-roman-infantry-painting-guide/

Here's them at the spray primed stage:


The same miniatures painted using my technique with Speed Paints:


Hope this helps!

[Norm]

Chris, thanks for the reminder of that link, I am going to follow that going forward.

I have just completed a test base and it strikes me that it is essential to paint these before assembly. I think I took too long on them, so hopefully following your method will see a faster churn.

I still can’t decide whether to base on MDF 55mm to kill the gap between the blocks, or whether just to go with the 60mm supplied bases and just go with the look.