House of Oscarus...humble beginnings. (Pontus fight, last page!)

[Elbows]

The 10th and final gladiator joins the fray - the Brigade Games Provocator.  This was the most detailed of the minis, and quite a nice figure.  I made one colossal mess-up, which I'm sure someone can spot immediately...

(too lazy to fix it)

IMAGES MOVED TO FIRST POST

I'm not stoked on the paintjob on the shield, but I went through a couple plastic shields with even worse designs...I need to plan these out ahead of time for the next batch (waiting on the next Brigade set).  The box of plastic Romans from Warlord was a saving grace with an abundance of nice plastic scutums (used on the Brigade Minis pictured in the thread).  

[Furt]

Great looking figure and nice paint job.

He certainly is an imposing figure. 

Is the "mistake" the fact that his subligaculum is red in the front and white in the rear?

I suppose it could happen...

[Elbows]

Nope, more huge and obvious than that (and I'm assuming that the front section of that is tassled so it might be a separate piece, and was painted as such...eeek? )

[Mister Rab]

Looks good!

(Is it the inside of his shield? On my monitor it looks a little unpainted  )

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Nice mini!

I'm with Rab - looks like grey plastic on the inside of the scutum, although could also be painted metallic, and the sheen is just hidden since it's a shaded area.  Can't tell for sure.

[Elbows]

Nope, the inside of the shield is painted, but the matte finish tends to "grey" some of the metal and some of the browns.  The mistake is that he's holding his scutum at the wrong angle, 90-degree wrong in fact.

I was just rushing when I superglued it on, and I don't want to break it off to fix it. 

[Mister Rab]

The mistake is that he's holding his scutum at the wrong angle, 90-degree wrong in fact.

Well, now you mention it, that is pretty obvious - I guess this is why I'm not a police detective 

[Whitwort Stormbringer]

Face -> palm 

[Furt]

The mistake is that he's holding his scutum at the wrong angle, 90-degree wrong in fact.

Personally I don't think it looks wrong at all. From the rear image I believe it looks quite normal for him to hold the shield like that. Don't get the problem... 

[Elbows]

Well my understanding of a scutum is that the bearer holds the shield in a kind of pistol-grip, shield length up and down....but a quick glance makes me think otherwise.  I suppose it could be held that way...



I assumed since most figures show them held vertically that the grip was vertical, not horizontal to the body of the shield. Hmmm...excellent.  Trick question! 

[Ray Rivers]

Holding the shield at a diagonal depends on the positioning of the arm, so it is doable.

I think Legionaries held it vertically because that places all the weight on the lower palm and first part of the fingers, making it fairly easy to carry for long periods of time.

As for horizontally, as in the testudo formation, I have no idea, but I bet they rested the shield on the top of their helmets.

[Dr Mathias]

I've been reading a lot of books about gladiators recently, and they seem to agree that the grip was held horizontally, as in the picture Elbows showed.

[Furt]

I've been reading a lot of books about gladiators recently, and they seem to agree that the grip was held horizontally, as in the picture Elbows showed.

Agreed - but by bending the elbow, as in the miniature, wouldn't that turn the shield to the angle shown? It wouldn't be the typical stance, but still a believable one.

[Dr Mathias]

I don't have a problem with the way the miniature is posed. I suspect the balance of the shield would make it want to remain vertical, but there's nothing stopping a guy from rotating his wrist.

When Elbows said he'd made an error, I certainly didn't note that the shield was improperly posed I should have been more clear that I wasn't arguing for anything in particular other than the shield grip.

Now I need to check the position of all my gladiator's hands!

[Elbows]

I had never looked at a scutum before, and assumed that since everyone held them vertically that the grip would be pistol-grip...oriented up and down.  Now I see that it makes sense to have the grip horizontal, which would allow a more comfortable up and down, but you'd be able to hold it just as the Provocator is.  I guess it's a matter of preference. He could be performing a swipe of his shield.

Works for me.