1/16 MiniArt Athenian Hoplite

[Dave Ward]

After successful finishing of the 1/16 SWAT officer & 2 X 1/9 Busts, my figure building confidence is up. I'm going to attempt to actually finish a MiniArt Figure - I've tried several in the past, so far, I think it's 0/3



I took most of the halved parts off the sprue to see what the fit was like before deciding to blog this.........................


The parts don't have any flash to speak of & the moulding is a bit soft in places. I think that the moulds are getting rather old, and need refurbishing. Dry fitting reveals that there are a lot of bumps & humps that need cleaning up & the locating holes need to be opened up to get best fit - the plastic is rather soft, ingates quite small.
After an hour or so of filing & scraping - the legs arms etc. are finally joined & clamped where needed.
A lot of the joints need attention, but the dry fitting has removed most of the gaps, so only a little filler will be needed ( famous last words! ). The way the model is engineered, you can almost build & paint in sections.
The head & helmet can be treated as a a separate model, and I'm going to leave those until later.
Dave

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Really pleased you're attempting this one Dave. Don't forget that if you use the waist armour/ leather skirt, that it can only be fitted by attaching it first to the tunic skirt section, then the cuirass on top of that. Ad#s you say, there are various sub-assemblies and it's easier to paint the head, helmet, shield etc separately. Beware the shield decal - it's very fragile.

Looking good.

 

[Dave Ward]

Peter,
I was looking at Athenian/Greek shield designs, for a simpler, more bold motif. I think that an uppercase lambda may fit the bill, but I'm still looking................
Dave

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Hi Dave

The Lambda was used by the Spartans. A decal is supplied with the Miniart Spartan kit.

 

[Dave Ward]

Hmm, they're labelled as 'Greek', so I'm thinking more along the lines of




The easiest would be the trident, I'm going to sit down with a piece of paper, and see which I can make a mask for........
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

More work, after filling & filing - paint -over a primercoat, I laid down a flesh basecoat, and bronze over his armour

I used AK 3rd Gen Bronze, thought I might get away with brush painting, but despite care - brush strokes clearly visible - Oh well, out with the wet & dry & crank up the compressor................
Giorgos' skin colour is going to be a bit browner - these guys must have spent a lot of time in the sun, and would be pretty well tanned, it's going to take a bit of care not to make him look like an Indian! I've pretty much decided on a Trident shield motif.
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Rubbed down the shield & breastplate & airbrushed the bronze - much better.
I made a mask for the shield motif - Tamiya masking film


The bronze looks much better sprayed - I guess brush would work for small parts, but large areas? - no.

The masking didn't work too well - it'll need a lot of touching up
Dave

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Looking very nic e indeed Dave. The shield mask has worked very well.

 

[Dave Ward]

Moving along - I had a go at the face - my hands were nice & steady, today


The shield needs a bit more work - it would have been easier to use a decal for the motif - I have some red trim film, but I thought the mask would work better, I must just rub the whole thng down..............................
Lower legs & tunic finished - I have the armoured skirts to add......................

Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

I was thinking that things were going well - then I decided to tackle his hair! This comes in 4 segments, which don't fit together very well!


Now, here's a problem - the hair won't fit onto his head! I could file down his head, or the inside of the hair, but..............................

The hair won't fit into the helmet! The helmet is too thin to remove any material, and filing down the hair defeats the whole point!


I might just leave the hair off entirely, and have him actually wearing the helmet, rather than having it pushed back - I'm going to do a bit of barbering so see if I can come up with a compromise!
Dave

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Hi Dave

No, the hair doesn't fit at all, and I've never used it. If you fit the helmet pushed back, then there's only a little bit of neck showing anyway. The last time I tackled it I built up some hair on the top of the head with putty and just painted on a few strands escaping from the back. Hair is over-rated anyway!

Looking good.

 

[Dave Ward]

A bit of butchery on his scalp ( head on body, as a convenient place to keep it vertical! )


I realised the only bit of hair visible will be through the front of his helmet

I've had to modify the horsehair 'tail' on his helmet, to hang clear of his back. Progressing nicely now. Usually at this stage, with MiniArt figures, I've lost all interest, but this one is different
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Pushing towards a finish........................


I need to make up a strap to hold his sword, and the back of the shield has a bit of work to do
Dave

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Looking good Dave.

 

[Jack L]

The bronze looks great!

(As does the rest, but that caught me eye in particular!)

 

[Dave Ward]

Jack,
the AK 3rd Generation bronze airbrushes very well, once you've got the mix right, but I can't say the same for hairy stick! It may be OK for small bits, or decorations, but larger areas - nope
Dave

 

[Dave Ward]

Nearly there - all that is missing is his shield - and a little bit of touching up


The next pictures will be in the 'completed' section...........................
Dave

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Great stuff Dave, looking really good. You've inspired me to get hold of the Spartan, which is missing from my collection.

 

[Dave Ward]

OK - finished, pictures HERE
Thanks for looking in
Dave