Tag Archives: Ancient Greek

Painting December: Talos Completed!

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Probably should have waited and called this post “Day of the Talos”. Ah well. Done now.

Mierce Miniatures Talos, Colossus of Bronze

Mierce Miniatures Talos, Colossus of Bronze

Aside from my agonising over how to get the verdigris done, the model was quite an easy and low-stress paintjob. Certainly the painting was much more pleasant than the assembly, which destroyed 2 drill bits.

Mierce Miniatures Talos, Colossus of Bronze

In the end I went for a direct inspiration from Ray Harryhausen’s Talos from Jason and the Argonauts (1963) regarding the dead, dark eye sockets as well as (and more importantly) the weathering and verdigris, though mine is more “gold-brass” than the “copper-brass” of the film.

freehand Greek shield

The colourful shield adds a spot of interest to the base, as do the flowers and the reddish wood of the spear. The freehand dolphin design is based on images of Greek shields, and provided me with something fun to add to the model, since it’s the sort of thing I really enjoy doing. I considered adding some damage to the paintwork, but decided against it. Naturally, I didn’t notice the errant hair when I took these photos. Luckily, it’s not stuck to anything. I’ll have to fix the small tide mark on the bronze shield, though.

freehand Greek shield, Mierce Talos

freehand Greek shield, Mierce Talos

The discarded helmet, shields and spear were chosen to add a sense of scale to the figure without being too specific in the same way that a crushed orc or Greek would have been. The wargear could have been left by friendlies, opponents or might even be a messy offering to the gods. This model might end up being used as scenery occasionally, what with being a gigantic bronze statue…

Mierce Miniatures Talos, Colossus of Bronze

Finally, a scale shot. This model is easily the largest miniature I’ve ever painted. I really need to get more of my impressive centrepiece models done in the coming years. When used in KoW which uses square bases, I found that the giant 100mm round base fits neatly into a movement tray, so I’ll just park it in there when I need to.

…and yes. I just ordered a bunch of Argonauts from Foundry this evening!

77256: Brass Bull (Reaper Bones)

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The moment I saw this model in the Bones II list, I knew I wanted to buy it. Marouda likes Bulls, as she’s a Taurus (not into astrology, but likes the animal and imagery). As I’ve written before, the Brass/Bronze Bull is a thing with a strong Ancient Greek heritage. As much as I like the Foundry Model, this one is a good bit bigger, and as such, more impressive. Incidentally, this model is a Bob Olley sculpt, and a nice one at that. I started this a little over a month ago, after starting a brief survey on how to base it.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Reaper’s Brass Bull. You can sort of see the glowing eyes I gave this one.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Now, I know that most Reaper Miniatures are essentially “counts-as” models for various Dungeons and Dragons beasties. What was interesting to me was when one of my friends was over for Friday Night Zombicide, and saw the part-painted model on my paint desk, and remarked that he recognised it as a “Gorgon” and talked about it turning enemies to stone (ok) via a breath attack (huh?) Now, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge D&D guy, and to me “Gorgon” always meant a snake-woman of Medusa’s Ilk. Medusa being the name of a specific Gorgon, rather than the name of the snake-haired woman’s race. Because, you know, that’s what they are.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

This shot shows off the freehand Hoplon shield. I’m quite proud of it.

So I did a bit of Googling the next day. I found that, yes indeedy, a Brass (or Bronze) Bull is a proper D&D Monster that petrifies its foes via a breath attack. Huh. Still, it required a bit more reading to figure out. Eventually, I found this blog post by F.Wesley Schneider (of D&D and Pathfinder fame) who explains it all in a way that makes it all make sense. It’ll still never make it a Gorgon to me, but I can absolutely understand and respect the reasoning behind it, as well as the many years of legacy to those who play and are familiar with D&D. It’s much the same kind of acceptance as my own to bright green Orcs, which was not something I’d ever considered or pictured before my introduction to and immersion into Warhammer in my early teens.

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Showing the discarded Kopis sword.

A couple of flank shots. When I saw the photographs of these I noticed a small amount of wear (already!) on some of the scales. I’ve gone back to retouch those bits and will be giving them a bloody decent shot of varnish tonight and tomorrow.

Wargames Foundry Bronze Bull, Reaper Bones 77256: Brass Bull

Sizing comparison.

Finally, a size comparison shot. We have Stabby McStab, the Chronopia model, the Reaper Bull and finally, the Wargames Foundry Bronze Bull. While the basing does make a difference, the Wargames Foundry bull is significantly smaller. I’ll still manage to work out a use for both in the eventual Mythical Greek Army. I’ve got some ideas, and both bulls would remain very nasty opponents. I might add some flower tufts to the base of the Reaper model, though. I like the contrasting effect that flowers have with such a terrifying monster of Brass and Steel!