ROMAN CENTURION 180AD
A bit of history…
The centurion (centurio) was a professional officer of the Roman army. Centurions commanded a centuria (century) of between 60 and 160 men, depending on force strength and whether or not the unit was part of the First Cohort. The centurions ranked above the Optios and below the Tribuni Angusticlavii - the aristocratic senior. In comparison to a modern military organization, they would be roughly equivalent the army rank of Captain, with senior centurions roughly equivalent to Majors. Each legion had a primus pilus, the senior centurion who led the First Cohort. The Roman centurion was distinguished by his uniform: his armour was silvered, he wore his sword on his left side rather than his right, he wore greaves on his legs, and the crest of his helmet was turned perpendicular to the front. He also carried a short staff - usually a vine stave - as a symbol of his authority. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_%28Roman_army%29"
The kit
The kit comes in resin in one of the best packing I have ever seen. It consists of 11 pieces, a photo etched sheet and a black color brass template with gold engravings for the title. The pieces come free of any moulding lines but with the horrible (for me) resin blocks. They are easy though to be removed with a sharp knife and sandpaper. The quality of the resin and the moulding are at very high standards and one of the best I have seen so far.
The only problem with this kit is the historical accuracy. Based on my bibliography, research and several discussions with fellow modellers in the internet I concluded that the specific bust does not represent an actual centurion of the 1st century AD because:
Firstly the centurions never wear a muscle cuirass unless they were of the highest senior centurions. If they were they should be wearing their medals as well.
Secondly the broad fabric band on the waist. This was used to indicate the rank of a tribune or a legatus or a senior officer.
And finally the centurions had the crest transversally on their helmets.
Although historically inaccurate the bust is a fantastic one and it will be a really gem in anyone’s collection.
Let’s start then…
All the resin blocks were removed and the pieces with the aid of paper clips were put on wooden blocks ready for primer. I used Plastic-Kote Super Primer (1148 grey) as a primer, and set the pieces aside to dry.
A larger hole (4mm) was drilled on the bottom of the bust and on the wooden plinth for a brass rod which will act as a stand as I was intending to use the resin one provided with the kit.
Paint shop…
As the head comes as a separate piece it is easier to start with as it will give you a great boost if it turns out ok!!!
As always oils were used on top of two thin layers of an acrylic undercoat. The dot method was used for the highlights and shadows. This is simply applying the lighter or darker colors with a fine brush in small dots and then blending in the colors. The first highlights and shadows were ‘wet on wet’, whilst the second highlights and shadows were applied ‘wet on dry’ the next day.
The eyes were blocked using an off white color (white and a touch of vermilion) with the iris painted black. Then light blue was added on the iris leaving a black circle around. Highlights were added with more white added to the blue mixture. A final white dot was applied on the top right corner of the iris to represent the light caught by the eye. Two thin layers of gloss varnish were added to give the shine to the eyes.
Hair salon….
For the hair and beard the same base color as the face was applied. This was followed by several washes and dry brushing of oils until I was satisfied with the result. The color chart shows the colors used.
Armour
For the armour and helmet I was aiming for old and used ones. I wanted to depict items that have seen battles and fights and damages… and I hope I achieved that.
The technique I followed is a well known one (more to the modellers that build tanks) and it is called chipping. I started with two thin layers of Mithrill Silver (Games Workshop (GW)) acrylic color which it was allowed to dry for a couple of hours under a 50 watt lamp. After it was dry I mixed a small amount of Chaos Black with Mithrill Silver and applied it with a use of a small brush on areas that are more easily to be damaged. The chipping was conducted in three layers by keep adding more and more black in the base mixture. After it was set to dry for a day Humbrol 113 was used sparingly as evidence of rust in some areas. A coat of Ivory Black and Prussian Blue oil (ratio 4:1) colors mixed straight from the tube was applied the following day. After it was settled for a couple of hours I stippled it until the silver of the base color could be seen. More of the oil mixture followed by stippling was added in areas with more shadows (under the arms, back). This technique leaves the dark color only in the recesses and makes the silver color to look used and old.
The bronze decorations were painted using a mixture of Vallejo Gold and GW Dwarf Bronze over a base coat of GW Vandyke Brown, followed by washes with oils.
In the same way the helmet was painted. The crest was painted with several red color mixes followed by washes and dry brushing.
The fabric board was painted white as the box photo indicated. Again the color chart at the end shows the colors used.
Tunic and scarf
For the tunic, scarf and pteruges the color chart at the end is enough to show the colors used. Again oils were used as washes over acrylics.
Wolf Skin
For the wolf skin I used acrylics for the base color as well as shadows and highlights. All the colors are based on several shades of grey which are difficult to put down in words or amounts of paints mixed together. I think that the eyes and a good reference can give you the correct amounts used. Just to say that the colors I used were Light Grey, Black and White. At the end a final wash of Paynes Grey oil brought all the colors together. If it looks all right it is correct (my theory).
The eyes were painted yellow with black iris and a layer of gloss varnish.
