The "old Gauls" in question are another lot of painted Celts from eBay in a bit of a sad state - "preloved" is the modern term I believe...
They were in a bit of a state with broken weapons and the infantry having a figure broken at the ankles on each stand, with the odd figure a bit wobbly when re-bent upright. Out came the super glue gel and baking soda.
Some work in progress shots, cavalry first.
You can see the red broom bristles flattened at the end to make spears.
A broom bristle was also used to make the top part of a Carnyx horn, bent into an "L" shape and when the glue had dried liquid greenstuff was applied and roughly shaped to look like a Carnyx - it came out much better than I expected.
Some spears and one man waving half a sword were repaired with broom bristles, the sword blade being flattened and cut to shape.
Again liquid green stuff was applied, including providing a new hand. Here's the group shot after paint touch ups and a few tufts of static grass added.
Some close ups, the Carnyx horn came out very well.
The cavalry were repaired, loose figures stuck to bases and the odd touch up of paint. Since then, they have had base texture added and the light cavalry have had a black AP wash.
While hunting for something else, I found these (not where I expected them to be)....
Designed for 20mm, they are perfect for 15mm. The hillfort will make an excellent Oppidum and the Roman fort either a variation of Oppidum or large Roman camp.
Saturday started clear and sunny, despite the forecast, so I took advantage of the weather to undercoat some of the back-log with spray can - mostly Seleucids but a few Romans and Celts. Today I have cleaned up more Roman command stands, finished the Gallic infantry and made a start on basing the Gallic cavalry. A productive weekend!
You do have a lot of Gaul in tackling this batch of repair work. Good job! Now, did the figures look in this state during the auction or was their condition only discovered upon receipt? Neat hillfort.
ReplyDeleteJonathan, thanks. They were "as seen" with broken figures and weapons. I put in an offer, got a counter offer which I accepted. The paint jobs were better in the flesh than pictures, especially the cavalry. At the cost of the figure again, the time saving is worth the expense.
ReplyDeleteThe old Bellona range were excellent, the hillfort is especially nice.
Neil
Good to see Gauls reworked and repaired, ready for your games. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. It's nice to give them a new lease of life.
DeleteNeil
You've done a great job refurbishing those. I also enjoy fixing up second hand stuff, it is much quicker to repair and touch up paint than than start from scratch.
ReplyDeleteI have some old Bellona 6mm vacuform terrain, it didn't realise they did more grandiose things as well.
Thanks Martin. I decided that while I don't mind painting, repairing some already painted stuff is a quicker fix to get stuff on the table.
DeleteBellona did a whole range - rivers, bridges, gabion emplacements as well as various "diorama" bases. There was a range of fortifications - in addition to these, an ACW fort, various WW2 and WW1 trenches, ECW star fort and one I have been after for a while - Bunker Hill. See:
https://vintagewargaming.blogspot.com/2009/10/bellona-landscape-and-battlefield.html
Neil
Goodness , gracious me great Gauls on fire!
ReplyDeleteHere’s a wee link to what a carnyx sounded like -
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=auR-lJfzTeY
Just noticed or am half asleep , are you basing on square bases (40mm ? ) rather than DBA sized ones or am I imagining it?
I am excited to see how the Bellona paints up. Their big ( 2 foot square?) battlefields joined together were fought over avidly back in the day by me.
Alan Tradgardland
Thanks Alan. Saw Time Team on the recent discovery of a whole one preserved featuring a replica being played - quite a noise!
DeleteThe figures came on the 40mm square and some previous on 50mm square bases - I don't do rebasing, especially if nice like these. I don't intend playing in competitions, so non-standard bases don't bother me. They will just count as double bases- unsure if they will both be removed if destroyed - probably as it makes Gauls more fragile morale wise.
Neil
Sounds a plan!
DeleteAlan Tradgardland
Definitely preferable to rebasing!
DeleteNeil
Great work repairing those Gauls Neil - very fiddly down at 15mm size.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jason. There were times the air turned blue! Mind you more problems attaching Xyston shields- grr! My friend Eric T reckons "Super glue and swearing" is a great name for a blog.
ReplyDeleteStill keeping an eye out for those figures I promised you.
Neil
You've done a lovely job on those Neil. The horn has come out really well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris. I was quite surprised at how well it came out. First challenge was getting the L shaped bristle to stick. I thought I'd have to get out the actual greenstuff, but used the liquid version to strengthen it. When it came to it, there was enough thick bits to give it the right shape and it was just about using a brush to give it some better definition and details. Paint did the rest.
DeleteNeil
Great job, and the Carynx horn is a nice touch! I agree, buying pre-loved and 'tickling up' is a good compromise between time and expense. Your broom is clearly 'the gift that keeps on giving'..
ReplyDeleteThanks David. Still plenty of bristles left!
ReplyDeleteThere's simply no way I could have produced this many additions in the time it has taken to fix them up.
Neil