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54mm Gladiator
I’ve always liked Gladiators: been fascinated by them since I was not much bigger than a miniature myself (I’m Sparticus!!!). So, when I started sculpting seriously I knew that I would always want to do at least one Gladiator. This is the first, with a strong fantasy style, of course. His pose is one of the classic Sabre stances as taught to generations of fencers (OK, with a slight modification of the legs to give a stronger overall pose). If I remember rightly its called ‘Presented Garde’ – or ‘Refused Garde’, blame my fuzzy brain cells. Whichever, that is the reason for the somewhat odd wrist position. My favourite parts of the mini are the hair and the chain mail. The hair because it shows the traditional ‘couda’ top-knot of the Roman Gladiators, and the chain mail because I’ve draped it like cloth with a couple of very convoluted folds. The original sculpt has been tweaked for production by ‘Spyglass Miniatures’ (owned and run by our very own SJB ) to make it more casting friendly, hence the separated arm held on by blu-tac. The figure originally had a battered shield attached to the left hand which has, obviously, been removed. A couple of personal items and adornments have been added to make him look more like a mercenary/bodyguard than a pit fighter (Why would anyone need a money purse in the arena?). Overall, he’s one of my favourite sculpts, purely for the attitude he shows, and I can’t wait to get hold of one of the finished castings to paint him up. I see a very ornate tattoo design on all that bare flesh…
Posted: 20 Oct 2005
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