Queen Boudicca of the Iceni

[takeslousyphotos]

Absolutely fantastic. I've been following this and I'm in awe of your skill and patience Paul. ............ Syringe needle??? That must have taken ages.........?????

But I have a question.............. I'm not big on history, at least ancient stuff. But, and I know I'm leaving myself wide open for a kicking here, The good Queen Boudicea was tooling around AD60 ish, and I understand the Roman Soldier types were among the first to use "Buckles" .......... But did the good Queen's people have them as well???? ...... This isn't a criticism Paul far from it ......... I just saw the buckle and the question just sort of lept into my addled brain. No doubt I'm wrong................

Peter

 

[CDW]

Sorry for chipping in here ....... I'm a bit geeky about Archaeology.

The Romans actively used buckles to fasten their armour and its common to say they had "the franchise" on the idea.

There were two other examples of buckle fastening found ... one from France which was dated around the same period so they could have found/copied the idea, the other was Swedish which was dated around 300 -500 years before. Seeing as we had lots off visitors from that side of the north sea its entirely feasible that the iceni (or any brythonic tribe) could have had this utility years before the romans.

Again sorry for slightly hijacking your thread Paul.

 

[Paul P]

No problem Colin, there are examples of buckles in the British museum that pre date this era by hundreds of years. and although the word buckle comes from the latin buccula, or cheek strap, as in for a helmet, there have been many decorative as well as functional uses for buckles and there are examples of buckles from around 500bc in Egypt. We also have to consider the fact that, as with the horses, many soldiers would strip the trappings from a vanquished foe, and it was not uncommon for the tribes to wear parts from Roman armour, which at the time was the state of the art gear, in deed in my time in the army ive purloined many a piece of U.S. military equipment, all above board you understand.

Thanks for the question Peter, I don't find it a criticism at all, in fact if I get something wrong please let me know, theres nothing worse than finishing a sculpt and then finding out that its not correct, and how else would we be able to improve our talents without criticism

thanks for looking in,more to follow

Paul

 

[Paul P]

Just one small update today, while the cloak was hardening I decided to make his sword, I used 1mm styrene and 2mm styrene rod with .25mm styrene for the strapping

first the basic shape of the scabbard, I then added the metal to the throat and the locket at the open end and the chape at the bottom end

I then added some strapping with .25mm styrene

and finally the hilt and guard with a V pommel at the end

Final pic just gives you some idea of the scale, again I probably could have gone for a Roman Gladius, which were well made, but the Iceni as well as many other tribes were expert metal workers.

all for now

Paul

 

[yak face]

Superb work again paul , keep those updates coming , cheers tony

 

[takeslousyphotos]

No problem Colin, there are examples of buckles in the British museum that pre date this era by hundreds of years. and although the word buckle comes from the latin buccula, or cheek strap, as in for a helmet, there have been many decorative as well as functional uses for buckles and there are examples of buckles from around 500bc in Egypt. We also have to consider the fact that, as with the horses, many soldiers would strip the trappings from a vanquished foe, and it was not uncommon for the tribes to wear parts from Roman armour, which at the time was the state of the art gear, in deed in my time in the army ive purloined many a piece of U.S. military equipment, all above board you understand.Thanks for the question Peter, I don't find it a criticism at all, in fact if I get something wrong please let me know, theres nothing worse than finishing a sculpt and then finding out that its not correct, and how else would we be able to improve our talents without criticism

thanks for looking in,more to follow

Paul

I knew I'd get it wrong ............ I guess I'll just have to keep quiet and wait until you give one of them a Heckler & Koch MP10 ...... and then I'll jump all over it.............. This thread really is a pleasure to follow Paul

 

[Paul P]

Tony update in coming

Pete ya didnt get it wrong mate ya just asked a question and theres nothing wrong with that.

Moved onto the helmet, i thought id add a bit of decor to it ah la celtic of course, so i used a very fine pointed etching tool and scraped out a design on one side

Biggest problem now is doing the other side to match

Paul

 

[CDW]

Right then ... the sword is great and I think its a much better option than a foot-soldiers gladius.

The helm is a work of art ... good luck on the B side ... not that you'll need it from what we've seen so far.

Questions on the good lady herself if you don't mind....

Will you be dressing her in the longer attire depicted on most statues or in a "war type" knee length tunic.

Also are you going to have her wearing a torc?

I understand if you want to keep it under wraps until you post that stage up .... but I personally can't wait

 

[Paul P]

Colin cheers for that you have more confidence in me to get it right than i do

I certainly dont mind discussing the boss lady mainly cos i dont know yet how to portray her either in costume or stance, I have several depictions of her dressed in different ways, as you have said some in a long dress and some in a shorter tunic with leggings, some with chainmail some without, with helmet, without it goes on, also some depictions of her with her face painted or tattoos, As you will know the only sure fact about her is that her hair was long and red,and she did indeed wear a gold torc. apart from that im am open to ideas, discusions,any facts that we know. I have already discussed this with Dr Jody Joy who is head of the ancients dept at the british museum and has been a great source of information and knowledge, but even she said there is no written evidence of what she wore during battle so i suppose as long as i get the general attire correct it cant be wrong.

There is still some way to go before i start her so perhaps we could have a concensus of opinion, although a small one, on how you think i should portray her.

personally i cant beleive that she would have fought a battle in a long dress it would restrict her movement, i also cant beleive that she wouldnt wear some form of protection so you can see where im heading with this.#

let me know your thoughts Colin

Paul

 

[flyjoe180]

Wow, all that intricate work on the helmet looks fantastic!

 

[Polux]

Amazing work on the helmet Paul.

Very nice.

 

[CDW]

I seem to recall Tacitus having recorded something about armour on our females which I would interpret as mail (mainly due to ease of movement)

I'd be inclined to have soft leather footwear, leggings with ankle wrappings, a short tunic with mail over, a smaller (less restrictive / weighty) torc and a small helm.

Not sure what to do with her hair ... free-flowing for visual impressiveness or braided for practicable use .... can't remember reading anything definitive on this, just supposition.

 

[Paul P]

Joe and Polux many thanks guys your comments are much appreciated

Colin thanks mate sounds very sexy

heres one pic that I quite like, a bit romanticised but I like the belts and ornamentation. Im not going to have her wearing a helmet, probably have it on the floor next to her. but I like the idea of either armour, such as a cuirass, or chainmail, I would think that being a queen and a warrior that she would have had some form of protection.

Paul

 

[Ian M]

Well considering this a 'family' forum, I will not share my ideas as to how she should be dressed. Also this is a serious model.

I am sure that what ever you choose the result will be spectacular.

http://tamiart.deviantart.com/art/Boudicca-360451224 sort of thing maybe?

Ian M

 

[CDW]

Like you say, its a bit romanticised but quite regal and has a great presence.

I would imagine her apparel would be practical though, and looking at our history of the times our "leaders" were more dressed in line with the troops so they didn't stick out too much, after all, in this situation, the fall of the queen would have had a massive effect on moral.

 

[Paul P]

Cheers Ian the pic in the link is good, it will probably be something like that

Colin I think a mixture of both practical and show will be good

Heres the finished helmet with a bit of ornamentation around the edge,

So this is how the finished figure will look, im not going to finish the arms until its painted

ill move on to the horse next

all for now

Paul

 

[Gern]

This is wonderful work so far Paul. Having looked at the two pictures of boudicca, I reckon the tamiart one will look better - unless you're thinking of how she'd look going to her wedding!

 

[Paul P]

Cheers Dave, and thanks for the input

moving on to the first horse

Just been cleaning up the head and sanding the joints. Ive also removed most of the halter. The girth strap can stay as I will incorporate it into the harness.

Some more detail to add and then I can start on the straps

Paul

 

[CDW]

If you'll take some constructive critisism from Elaine, my partner, who's been working with horses virtually all here life.

The shoulders or the horse seem too hunched and/or hefty, there should be a nice even line back from the neck, with a slight dip at the withers onto the back.

I think from looking at the image ... the bottom of the neck (at the original join to the shoulder before being chopped and repositioned) widens too much and when you filled it .. this led to the shoulders being slightly over proportioned.

Apart from the above Elaine thinks your work is stunning mate.

 

[Paul P]

Critisim taken on board although i havnt reshaped it yet, this was just the first stage to get it all smooth before i reshape the neck and shoulders. i have a wonderful model in the paddock next to my house called Mississippi, she is more than happy to stand there and let me model her, just as long as i give her the odd carrot or the occasional apple, please pass on my thanks to your partner

Paul