Queen Boudicca of the Iceni

[Paul P]

Cheers Andrew, its much appreciated.

Just a picture of the finished chariot, well I say finished, there are a few more things to do but I cant do them until the horse team are finished.

So onto the horses and the figures, im going to do Boudicca last as im still not sure as to how im going to pose her. I want the whole thing to be pretty static, no flying cloaks, galloping horse etc, so the driver will be chilled against the side of the chariot, probably smoking a joint and wearing shades :shocking:

For the horses ill be using a couple of mini art horses converted and for the figures I have 2 mannequins. If you havnt used these and fancy a go at sculpting your own figures these are a great way to get started

Ill start on the guys trousers next as theres plenty of sanding to do on the horse

all for now

Paul

 

[Ian M]

Great job on the chariot it should look the bees what not when painted.

Where can you get the mannequin figures from? Never seen those before.

Ian M

 

[CDW]

Are you taking any length out the leg of the horse Paul, or are they more like "pony" size compared in scales to the Chariot?

That is if you're going for exactness

 

[Paul P]

Ian thanks mate, the mannequins come from Michtoy in america, they do various scales male and female, i think Verlinden also do manequin figures as well

Colin, no im keeping them as they are, although as you have rightly said most celtic tribes only had ponies or cobbs, by the time of the battle of Watling Street in AD 60, the combined tribes had defeated the romans on several occaisions, its therefore possible that horses were taken from the romans and used for their benefit. The Roman scribe Tacitus also wrote that Boudiccas chariot was drawn by two white horses, i suppose then as now the press couldnt be taken for granted but ill give him the benefit of the doubt. It would also have been a minor alteration the change the yoke spa to accomodate a larger animal. The design of the celtic chariot was superior to the roman one. having suspension and a non rigid standing base, even the wheels were better as the roman wheel was made from segments at the rim, each segment being joined making those joints a weak spot, whereas the celtic wheel rim was a solid piece of Yew steamed around a former with only one joint.

more to follow soon

Paul

 

[CDW]

Fair enough Paul, there's definitely a possibility that some (originally) Spanish equines made their way over here. There's evidence that larger breeds were used in agriculture around AD100 so boudicca may have chosen a couple of nice beasts years before AD60.

P.C. Tacitus amassed incredible records of the empire that are still refered to today by archaeologists so we'll go with it. (Daft thing....he was French wasn't he?)

Incredible work on the chariot by the way sir

 

[Paul P]

Thanks Colin glad you liked it

So started on the blokes strides, i have done these in the traditional way with leg bindings, they still need a lot of cleaning up and the creasage sorting

Im also going to make a start on the head and helmet, loads of designs to choose for the helmet so not sure which one to pick yet

Paul

 

[Paul P]

After cleaning the legs up a bit i made the bottom of the shirt, and then on top of that i did the bottom part of the chainmail shirt

The chainmail was done with a syringe needle, purchased from my friendly vet, i filed the point down so that im left with a C section, and then indented the milliput in rows. first one way then turned the needle round for the next row and so on. This leaves a S shape indent in the milliput, its very time consuming but worth the effort

Paul

 

[Ian M]

Not sure what I admire most. The detail, your steady hand or your patience!!

Great stuff !

Ian M

 

[mossiepilot]

Just got caught up, and your work is brilliant Paul, fantastic scratch building mate.

Tony.

 

[Polux]

Amazing scratch build Paul...

 

[Paul P]

Ian cheers mate, they say the devils in the detail, my right hands steady its the left that shakes :sadcry:

Tony and Polux many thanks hopefully another update later

Paul

 

[Paul P]

Just a small update, ive done the front part of the mail shirt, and also the helmet with some changes to the face as well

Just the back to do

Paul

 

[joep]

Absolutely amazing work

 

[Paul P]

Thanks Joep glad you like it

Just a couple of pics today, the back of the mail shirt

And the belt made from .25mm styrene, the buckle is stretched spru

all for now

Paul

 

[CDW]

That's brilliant Paul

The needle trick has been stored in my grey matter for later thanks

Is the head gear going to be the style with the leather cap and metal helm?

 

[Paul P]

Cheers Colin, yeah its not bad and it gives quite a good chainmail effect, The helmet will be all metal with cheek guards ah la Roman style, or i might go with scaled type cheek guards i havnt decided yet. Im going to do some kind of celtic design on the helmet as well so ill have to get the steady hands out of storage

Paul

 

[Paul P]

next step was to make the cloak, i always find these tricky, mainly because theres an awful lot of milliput to mess around with and to try and stop it sticking to its self. one way is to make it in sections but on this occaision ive done it in one bit

Ive then sat him on the chariot so that it hardens in the right position. once its gone off ill add some more creases and sand it down

Paul

 

[Polux]

Keep up the good work Paul.

Could be very satisfactory knowing is all do it with your own hands

Best regards

Polux

 

[CDW]

That's amazing work Paul ....

I quite like the addition of the 1st century pot of revel glue

 

[takeslousyphotos]

Thanks Joep glad you like itJust a couple of pics today, the back of the mail shirt

And the belt made from .25mm styrene, the buckle is stretched spru

all for now

Paul