Streets of Rome - A 28mm Roman world

[EarlsyD]

Day 4 of a 2 week holiday away with the family and I am chomping at the bit to get back into some. Still i took a photo before i left with everything i have done so far and the partially done bits.

[ithoriel]

Absolutely stunning stuff.

The attention to detail is amazing.

I love things like the gaggle of geese base.

[Pattus Magnus]

That is an amazing table, so many well done buildings, and then the figures as well!

[EarlsyD]

I could do with a bit of help actually. What with this being a font of knowledge . I have looked high and low for 2 things. First i would like some scaled chicken coops with or without chickens in them, to represent the sacred poultry. Second i would like a few dead dogs. I am struggling to find them anywhere, google has turned up dry! Any ideas?

[ithoriel]

Not aware of any 28mm Roman chicken coops (Gallinaria) but there are a couple of descriptions of how to design coops by Roman authors. They may help you find something suitable which was not designed as a Roman hen house.

This is from http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/09e03a11.pdf

Gallinaria - housing in Roman times

Let me quote Columnella:
“…… Poultry yards should be constructed in that part of the country estate which
faces the rising sun in winter; they should adjoin the bake-house or the kitchen
so that the birds may be reached by the smoke which is very good for them. The
structure, that is to say the henhouse, should consist of three adjacent
chambers, and the entire front, as I have just said, should face east. In this front
there should be only one narrow entrance to the middle chamber; and this
chamber, which is the smallest of the three, should be seven feet in height and
in each direction.
…. Birds should not be allowed to sleep on the floors, lest they be harmed by
their droppings, which are apt to cause gout if clogged under the arches of their
feet. In order not to incur this disease, smooth, round perches are fashioned that
do no harm to the birds that settle on them. The perches are fixed in holes in the
opposite walls in such a way that they are a foot above the platform and there
are two feet between them…..”

Varro stated as follows:
“…If you wish to rear two hundred fowls, you must prepare an enclosure containing two large connected
hutches facing east, each about 10 feet long by 5 feet broad, and rather less than 10 feet high.Each hutch should have a window three feet by one and these should be protected with osier twigsspaced in such a way that light may enter without, however, allowing any noxious beast to
gain access and harm the chickens…..”

[ithoriel]

The only "dead" dog I can think of is by Wargames Design Workshop. They have a prone dog, dead tired rather than dead I suppose. Suitably painted I think it might do?

It is available solo or as part of packs with other animals - cat, rat, fox.

https://wargamesdesignworkshop.co.uk/product/animal-pack-2-cat-2-prone-dogs-and-2-foxes/

[FifteensAway]

One option for the dead dog: find an upright dog and Very Carefully remove the base without damaging the paws any more than possible (some likely) and then give it a good solid whack or three with a sledge hammer, especially to 'flatten' the legs and, voila, a dead dog. 

Works a treat for lots of critters - started doing this for my African animal herds since very few, if any at all, 'dead' animals are out there - except for African Cape buffalo because I custom commissioned a dead animal for a herd (only currently available directly from me and in limited numbers in 15 mm; live herd without the dead but with a human rider is available from Highlander Studios.)

[anevilgiraffe]

I have to ask for pics of the end product using this method...

[cadbren]

I'd be more inclined to cut the legs across the top and push them down then infill the gap with scrap plastic (sprue) and shape. I've done this when repositioning arms and legs on plastic figures. Get a file or knife and flatten the underside too. A hammer could just shatter a miniature but at least use a thick piece of leather or similar over the miniature if you try this to avoid hammer marks on the surface.

[FifteensAway]

Never had issues with shattering - though I work in 15 mm by and large.  And no hammer marks because the head of the sledge hammer is smooth and larger than the figure and I place said figure on a hard, smooth surface like concrete.  I have used plastic figures, too, but decided the legs being off the ground was just rigamortis.

I will see if I can get a photo up soon, though.  edit:



From a posting here on LAF earlier this year - of dead zebra using above technique.

[EarlsyD]

I'm back. No progress yet but had a play around with the layout. Recon i need a few more buildings now i have "cluttered" the streetw a bit more. It so happens i have loads still to make so thats ok.

I love the idea of smashing them with a sledge hammer to make the "un-alive" very fitting, give a true meaning to the phrase "knackered".

[Rick]

I remember a few years ago the sculptor of a line of miniatures said he made his casualty figures by cutting the base off then placing the figure on an old tyre before hitting it with a hammer. The casualty figures made in this way are commercially available so, presumably, quite acceptable in appearance.
As to chicken coops - I saw cages containing sacrificial animals in the 'Rome' series out on the streets by the temples, would they be easier to do (albeit a bit more fiddly perhaps).

[Rabbitz]

Wargames Atlantic I believe have dead animals in the pipe line.  Not sure if it will include dogs.   Maybe chuck them an email?   Failing that, can you 3D print a sleeping dog?

[Rick]

There do appear to be quite a variety of 28mm sleeping dogs available - perhaps an acceptable compromise?

[ithoriel]

If you are still looking for a hen house, I saw this on Etsy. Only 1 left though.

£6.50 - Chickens & £20- Coop and fence
  Local taxes included (where applicable), plus postage     Chickens Coop and Chickens | 28mm Scale | Reconquer Designs       RansonsTabletop