dimanche 24 novembre 2019

Back to Ancients... Ancient Greeks !

I'm a bit fed up with Fantasy these days, and it is always as difficult as before to paint more than once the same uniform, but on the other hand I like to take pictures of nice units, so... I decided to return to ancients :)

This time, I try to expand my small classical Greek army. Basically, you need a few psiloi and a lot of hoplites. For some variants, you can add one or two elements of cavalry, but that's not the main force, so, let's paint some bronze shields and armors.

My hoplites so far:


For those who visit this blog regularly, you will certainly recognize some old Atlantic hoplites painted a few years ago. As you can see, they fit rather well with the Zvezda figures.

I also painted a Greek officer and a musician playing an aulos, an ancient double-reeded instrument.
 

The ancient Greeks used to deploy psiloi (light infantryman) before the hoplites. They were used to harass and desorganize the enemy battleline.



The latest painted figures are pictured below, all from Zvezda set 8005  Greek Infantry.


Of course, it is a pleasure to paint these shields, not free hand painting because I followed the patterns sculpted on the figures.

Some close-ups:




















As always, hope you like them :)

34 commentaires:

  1. Seeing you return to historicals is a real pleasure although I LOVE your page header with the Egyptian mummies. Who makes the mummy figures?

    For your Greeks, your skin tones are superb as always. Nice shieldwork too!

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    1. Thank you Jonathan. The mummies are made by Dark Alliance - you can find a link here: https://www.michtoy.com/item-RBXA-ALL72045-Mummies.html

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  2. Tu n'as pas perdu la main en antique, belle peinture.

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  3. Beautiful Greeks, Good selection for the shield colout patterns,
    I see you cheated with the Atlantic when you say they fit with the rest: you changed their shields to zvezda!!
    Indeed they fit after that: it is just kind of "inducted" fitting :)

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    1. Or maybe I'm wrong? I watched Cres fully again.. you painted the original Atlantic shield!?? Then I was quite wrong and the result is awesome!!!

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    2. Thank you Sceavus. Yes you're wrong, the Atlantic figures are not converted, and it is free hand on their shields, which are larger than those of the Zvezda figures.

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    3. I see, I apologize myself!! As written, great work..some achemenids now with fancy colourful pijamas in your agenda?? :)

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    4. The Achaemenid Persians are painted for a long time, have a look here: https://philotepsfigures.blogspot.com/2016/12/dba-persian-achaemenid-army.html
      But you're right, they are Late Achaemenids, I need some early, like the Zvezda or, even better, Linear A figures.

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  4. Awesome work! Incidentally those Zvezda Ancient Greeks were the first figures in 1/72 that I painted. Or rather started painting. Never finished them and to be quite honest didn't even paint them properly. Perhaps one day I will go back and paint them up. They certainly have a lot of friends now.

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    1. Thanks! I never dared to paint before this year - more generally, Zvezda figures are a real challenge, the sculpting is so good.

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  5. Y a pas à dire, une armée grecque c'est vraiment superbe, et quand en plus le travail de peinture est de cette qualité, chapeau (casque?) bas!

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    1. Merci. Un hoplite, ça prend quand même pas mal de temps, il faut aussi peindre des figurines plus simples entre 2 séries.

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    1. Lovely work Phil, the shields came out very well indeed. I do love the officer figure, very imposing. I know you are having a break from fantasy but I can picture him summoning skeletons!.

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    2. Thank you! Not too far from Fantasy, in the form of greek mythology, since I'm waiting for the centaurs, to miw with Amazons and hoplites :)

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  7. Beautiful! I have been looking at my stack of Zvezda Greeks and Persians, and every drop of inspiration is helpful...

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    1. Thank you Rob! Let me know when you begin to paint them, I'll check on your blog(s) to find some more inspiration myself :)

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  8. I like how you mixed the old Atlantic figures with the Zvezda. Looks great!

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    1. Thank you Bruce. Yeah, I really like to mix the old and the newer ones.

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  9. Great work
    28mm detail on 20mm figures
    Not easy to achieve
    Great brush work

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    1. Thank you Geordie. I've always been fascinated by their shields.

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  10. Wow brilliant Phil! Top quality painting and ancients!

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    1. Thank you Tony! I must come back to Ancients one day or another, everything started with them.

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  11. Hey mate,

    I've seen these minis ages ago and I've come back for pictorial references. How did you paint these? Was it just layering? Only the Spartan Officer seems to have a wash on the cloak, was it just building up from a basecoat?

    What's your skin recipe? Great minis!

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  12. Also your bronze has such a lustre! Are they highlighted or is it just the light catching on them? What paints do you use?

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