Ben's 18mm Classical Mediterranean

[Ben Bob]

This is just a little update on my new project. These are AB figures. I will create two 24-man phalanxes to start - one Athenian, one Spartan. I will see where the project leads from there : D

I am using this new start as an opportunity to level-up my painting skills. I plan to take more time per figure and try some new techniques.

I think it is appropriate since Greek Hoplites were my very first set of "real" soldiers. It was the Hat mercenary hoplite set. I still remember how sad I was when I saw they didn't have spears

The shields are hand-painted as always

Thanks for looking.

He's about 90% done.






Varying stages of incompleteness.

[Kekso]

From the quality of paint job I cannot say that these figures are smaller than 1/72 ones.

[Peter]

Looks great so far!

@Dalibor: that 7 mm difference isn't really visible on the pictures but I can assure you that there is a difference when I had the honour to paint one of Sho's 18 mm figures!

[Konrad]

They looking great!

[Kostis Ornerakis]

Wonderful work!

[C M Dodson]

Beautiful work.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Ben Bob]

Thank you all for the kind comments.

18mm is only a little shorter than 1/72 scale.


Thanks to a snowstorm, I got to stay home painting some more today.
I finished up the first 3 and started 2 more.


I'm really happy with the spears. These are plastic broom bristles with the ends flattened by pliers and cut into shape.

[Pocho Azul]

Those are gorgeous figures, especially with your good painting. I am a little scared of where you will be when you level up some more!

AB's models are very impressive -- I hadn't seen any 18mms with such nice sculpting before, with the possible exception of Totentanz, which seems, sadly, to be out of business.

[Ben Bob]

Thank you! Yes, AB figures really are a cut above all else, regardless of scale. Unfortunately the ancient range is not very extensive and I doubt it will be expanded more due to low demand.

Here's a small update.
I finished the first stand of Athenians. I need to do 3 more now


I also started on a few Spartans.
Unexpectedly, the Lambdas are the most difficult shields to paint thus far. The sharp edges and contrasting colors are really unforgiving.



Finally, I started working on some Corinthians. The patron god of Corinth was Poseidon, so I am using his symbols on the shields - horses and nautical themes. I need to do some more work on the front legs of Pegasus.

[Bluefalchion]

Everything looks fantastic! Those shields are a revelation. My favorite is the Owl. Is that the symbol of Athens?

[Ben Bob]

Thank you! Yes, the owl is one of the symbols of Athena. I have enjoyed that aspect of this project - looking into the "heraldry" of the hoplites.

[Pocho Azul]

Thank you! Yes, AB figures really are a cut above all else, regardless of scale. Unfortunately the ancient range is not very extensive and I doubt it will be expanded more due to low demand.

You might look at Xyston

if you need to fill in gaps. They call their line 15mm but it seems to be universally regarded as oversize for 15s. The quality seems pretty good and the proportions of the figures seem similarly realistic to AB--no giant heads or massively oversized details.

I have not been able to find a direct size comparison between AB minis and Xyston, however, so it is possible they won't match perfectly..

[MABO]

Applause for those amazing shields, you have painted. The Phalanx will be great for sure.

[wilberforcefrog]

I just am amazed looking at those shields!

[Ben Bob]

Thank you all again.
I finished the second Athenian stand.



I see a couple spots that need to be touched up in this view.


I think the double ranks work well, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the whole 24 man unit will look like.


I also noticed here I need to paint the shield grips in the back row.


Thanks for looking

[Peter]

That's going to be a very nice shieldwall! Keep them coming Will!

[wilberforcefrog]

They make a very solid and colorful shieldwall.

[Ben Bob]

Thank you both I made a bug push this weekend to finish the Athenians and start the basing. Seeing the unit come together is encouraging.

Thanks for looking.

[Peter]

Wonderfull basing! It looks perfect to me!

[Ben Bob]

Thanks Peter

In a rare move for me, I decided to make some terrain for the backgrounds of my photos. It is just a low wooded hill with a hero shrine made from XPS. The trees are all made from natural materials: thorn bush, moss, and tea leaves.

As is my usual practice, the building is slightly under-scaled, but I think there was great variety in the design of these Heroa, so maybe it is within spec.


I think it looks nice in the background. This was taken before painting the rocks.


I also started on some light infantry units. So far I did one stand of "Greek" peltast. Eureka seems to be temporarily (I hope) out of stock of the javelinmen, so some of these are conversions from slingers.


And one of northern mercenary peltasts - Scythians and Thracians.


A few glamor shots







Thanks for looking.