alea iacta est (Update - 14/05/2015) - retiarius

[Hawkeye]

Good point about the shield. It's a lovely deep red, which I like, and it's picked up by the crest on the helmet and by the belt, which is some really nice detailing. Great stuff. 54mm makes sense - at least it would for me - as it would be an entirely standalone project, and it's great to see what can be done with 54mm gladiators, which is what's great about this project. I'm used to 28mm, of course, but the 54mm work you're doing here is great, which is fantastic incentive for anyone thinking of taking the 54mm plunge. Looking forward to more.

[Mister Rab]

Another one (finally) - this time the iconic retiarius. These lightly armoured gladiators didn't even get a helmet but did have that unique weapon combination of a net and trident. With equipment like that, it's not surprising that they were considered to be the fisherman striving against the sea as represented by the murmillo. Attacking from beyond sword-stab distance, and relying on skill and cunning to disarm or entrap their opponent in the net before finishing them off, set them apart from other gladiators and they seem to have been considered at a slight unfair advantage or even effeminate in their behaviour!

As far as this project is concerned, though, I now have three gladiators from which I can from two historical pairings (murmillo vs thraex, and murmillo vs retiarius), leaving me one more to do from my initial pledge (a secutor) who fought against the retiarius and probably the other two as well to take me up to five pairings. His arm needs redrilling and filling to get the forearm to attach properly which has been the cause of the delay.

Enough waffle, here he is: