Sculpted figure: General Atena Minervista

Hi everyone today I present to you something of a labour of love of mine. I have been working on this figure on and off for the past few months now but now I can finally present to you the figure that I sculpted and have now painted. For those interested in the biography of the character refer to this post on the Oronegro blog. The model is the third that I have sculpted, although given that it has been several years since my previous efforts this is essentially a first effort. There are certainly areas where I can improve, notably the sculpting of faces and on the detail of clothing. The figure was sculpted from an white metal armature rather than from wire which meant that the correct body proportions were already established. Still it was quite enjoyable to sculpt and very satisfying to paint. I hope you enjoy her too.

As a Minervista she originated in the unit that I covered in my last post.

the scabbard sadly broke and had to be repaired. However, despite being made from strengthened card (used super glue) I think it looks quite good.

Also for those wondering these photos were taken on our balcony. Making the most of the natural light which my camera prefers for sure.

The hair took quite a while to get, based it on a friend. She is the one who painted my nails, you may be able to see the remnants of that incident in this shot.

Also despite being a little oversized I am also very satisfied with how the grip and handguard of her sword turned out. Although in future I may get premade scabbards and swords to ensure it looks good.

That is all for today. I hope you enjoy this model. I am hoping to get some more stuff out before the end of the month. I am also working on another sculpting project but very much an on and off affair. Once again I will direct you to the post on the Oronegro blog. If for nothing else for the additional photos. However, until the next one I hope you all have a good day/night. ::) 

Las Minervas, 18th century female infantry

Hello everyone today I have something rather special. Las Minervas the 8th regiment of the line in the Oronegrean army. A unit entirely composed of very tall pagan women. Sounds strange? Well you can find out more about them here, on my Oronegro blog. They were fun to paint and creating a flag for them was also fun as I had managed to lose my file full of Oronegrean flags meaning I had to start from scratch. I do believe that the new ones I have made are better although perhaps this didn't turn out so well in this instance due to pre-moulded flag and the paper one not working together well. Still I hope you enjoy them.

Las Minervas, the regiment of La Tierra del Diablo (land of the devil), one of Oronegro's founding units and one of her most special.

The uniform of Las Minervas is quite different from the rest of the soldiers. While the colours remain the same Las Minervas are proud of their uniqueness and their uniform is designed to set them apart from their male comrades.

Painting metal miniatures is a quite unusual for me and there was a few small breaks I had to fix, notably one of the muskets had to be glued back on and made firm with putty. However, the difference is not as easy to notice now they are done.

Coming up with a slogan was difficult. In the end I chose Lágrimas de plomo" - "tears of lead." This is based on the fact that Minerva herself was often depicted in mourning for the dead of war. As such I wanted to include some reference to that. Las Minervas like their goddess also cry but their tears are lead bullets

This banner represents one of many I have come up with each for unique units in the Oronegrean army. There's square ones like this and rectangular ones (more like the original I did). Each includes a number, a unit name and some symbols depending on the unit's role.

Rosa Alexandra Minervista the commander of Las Minervas, she would go on to be one of Oronegro's finest generals.

Once again the macro camera reveals that I didn't actually manage to get that damn hair off when I had a go at it with the tweezers.

las Minervas on Parade. I would love it if more of the marching figures could be made separately so that a larger unit could be made.

Finally, I mentioned that these women are tall. Here's a comparison. The figures themselves stand around 27mm tall. This translates to around 194cm tall or 6'4" which is huge for their time and they do indeed tower over their male counterparts

Well that is all I hope you enjoyed this post. I just want to give a little shout out to Paul from Paul's Bods who painted these beautiful women a few years ago. No doubt Bodstonia's Purple Roses and Las Minervas have a deep respect for one another as fellow sisters in warfare.

I don't have any models that are immediately near completion so it will be a little bit before the next one. I do hope to get something else out before the end of April. However, until then, I wish you all a good day/night.