A little more progress on this project:
Here is another comparison picture between various manufacturers of Trojan War figures, with a Victrix hoplite included for scale.
This project has been through the wringer in my mind for a long time. My initial enthusiasm was tempered by the long delivery times for both my Redoubt and Foundry orders, with both companies taking about 12 weeks for delivery. My Newline order did not take quite as long, however. Plus, many iterations of rules ideas were considered. I think that I am on the right course now, and the first unit will be primed soon.
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Minor progress to be certain, but the wheels are still turning for this project on my hobby table...
Here is my brilliant (?) idea - pictured above is a Redoubt spearman with his weapon. Lead/pewter spears can be a pain to straighten (and keep straight), so I thought that it might be nice to replace the shaft with brass tube. The tube is nearly the same diameter as the spear, and would stay straight, while the interesting spear tip and butt would be added to the tube. This would require a hole to be drilled into the spear tip so a length of brass rod could be glued in, and the assembly could then be glued into the tube:
Here is the procedure party of the way through. This is the easy part.
The result! The first two spears were made without a problem, but on the third I encountered the defining issue - the spear tip is not much bigger than the drill bit used to bore it out, and with one slip I put the drill bit into my finger. So, further thought is required.
Also shown above is the inside of the huge Redoubt Figure-8 shields; lovely. The Eureka shields have no detail on the inside.
The pic above shows the options I have come up with so far - my brass composite; a spear purchased from Footsore; a piece of plastic rod that I shaped into a crude likeness of the original Redoubt spear; and a piece of steel rod that could have a spear tip added.
The thickness of the original spear, brass tube, and plastic rod seem to be a bit thick for my tastes. However, the Footsore spear is too plain in my eyes. Decisions, decisions.
One last pic:
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I ordered a few more of the new Eureka Bronze Age Greeks. As always, terrific service from Rob at Eureka USA.
This pack is Greek Armoured Infantry. Four poses, all different, armed with axes. One shield is included. I do like these figures!
This set is Greek Infantry at Rest. 10 figures, all different, with an assortment of shields and spears. It should be noted that Eureka is selling these as sets, not singles.
Greek Infantry in Action. Eight figures, assorted shields and spears. I am not certain if the shield variety changes with each individual pack, but there is a difference between the two infantry sets.
Rail Chariot with 2 crew. The rail for this set is shipped flat - one will need to carefully bend the rail to fit the floor of the chariot during assembly, and in the pic above I have already started to work with the rail.
I have placed another order with Redoubt, and hopefully it will arrive soon.
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Let's take a closer look at some of the new Trojan War Greeks from Eureka:
This first pic is a comparison between some of the 28mm Greek figures out there. Hoplites, not in period of course, are book-ending the Trojan War fellows. The Redoubt spearman is a bit more slim and short compared to the Black Tree Trojan, while the Eureka Greek is a bit more stocky. The Redoubt figure does have the thinnest base amongst the figures above - a shim would help him up somewhat. In their own units, I think that all of them would look just fine. It is my understanding that the Foundry Trojan War figures match well with Redoubt, and they are on my shopping list.
With the exception of the Redoubt spearman on the right, all of these figures are from Eureka. Wonderful figures.
These are some heavy infantry, three with Dendra armor including an amazing commander type with a lion skin draped over his head and back.
And a few civilians - a priest, a Helen look-alike, and some ladies-in-waiting.
This last pic is the most surprising to me at least:
The pic is not perfect, but one can see the big difference in the Figure-8 shields between Redoubt (left) and Eureka (right). The redoubt shield has a well-done interior (not pictured) but it is much larger than the Eureka version. I am not completely certain if that is historical in scale or not.
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Many things have conspired to limit my painting progress over the last few months:
Work - The company I work for was hanging by a slim financial thread throughout spring and summer. That seems to be past now thankfully, but not quite out of the woods yet.
Life - When my lovely wife passed away eighteen months ago, my step-children and I had the vast majority of her cremated remains spread in a location that is as lovely as it is remote. Also, only a few people were on hand for the ceremony that my step-daughter led for her mother. So, I have been planning another ceremony so my family can pay their respects and say one last good-bye later this month.
Hobbies - To paraphrase a more famous person - "I can come up with six new gaming projects before breakfast." Add one-click shopping to that lack of mental focus and one can really create hobby havoc. For instance, I decided that I should have a more portable computing device besides the desktop PC. And that led to weeks of comparing systems and styles - Android? Windows-based? Chromebook? Tablet? Laptop? Miniatures were no different, as I hit the Kickstarter trail and purchased some stuff that, maybe, I did not really need...
But, I am getting better. In my archaeological expeditions into my closet, I found many things, including some projects that were started about the time that my lovely wife fell ill. One project in particular has energized me like no other, and the keen-eyed might have noticed the beginnings of it in my previous post. Here is a close-up:
About two years ago or so, I was able to get these samples of Eureka's new 28mm Trojan War Greeks range. They must have arrived while I was otherwise occupied and thrown into the closet, along with some similar figures from Redoubt and Black Tree (not pictured above). Yes, a new project, but one that is starting to re-energize my hobby batteries as the rest of my issues come to a close...
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