Pegaso 54mm metal
Byzantine Infantryman

by Glen Phillips

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I picked this figure up from a vendor at a local model show.

The vendor had two tables covered with Verlinden and Warriors figures, mostly 20th century pieces, and there in a sea of camouflage green was a lonely blue box: Pegaso’s Byzantine Infantryman.

My reaction was similar to that of the seagulls in ‘Finding Nemo’ - Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine…

Pegaso’s 54mm Byzantine Infantryman is a well sculpted and cleanly cast (with two minor exceptions) metal figure. Clean up was minimal and the fit was excellent.

The minor exceptions concerned the sword and scabbard. The sword was straight and slightly misshapen at the blade tip, while the scabbard was curved. I cleaned up the excess metal at the tip and re-sharpened the blade. Since I felt more comfortable straightening the thicker scabbard than bending the thinner blade, I opted for the former.

The figure’s helmet, sword blade, scabbard tip, and shield rim were buffed with a motor-tool; the remainder of the piece - including the base - was primed using Floquil Grey Primer, thinned with lacquer thinner, and applied with a brush.

Painting consisted entirely of Andrea Miniatures acrylic paints. All of the leather parts - boots, belts, trim, and whatnot, were painted using various browns and ‘leather’ colors. The tunic was painted Prussian Blue. The chain mail was painted Gun Metal and given a wash of Flat Black. The wash was heavier in shadowed areas and lighter in the highlighted areas.

The shield was painted using a series of alternating light blue and yellow stripes. The stripes were first drawn on the shield with a sharp pencil and a straight edge. The yellow was painted first; followed by the blue. Highlights and shadowed areas were added using the lightened and darkened base colors thinned with a water/alcohol mix stippled into position. Thinned base colors were used to soften any hard lines. This technique, a fairly common one, was also used on the face, hands, leather parts, and tunic.

The base was painted a medium brown color, washed with a dark brown, and then extensively dry brushed with a pale tan. I was trying to emulate the color of rocky areas I had seen in Turkey several years ago.

The finished piece was mounted on a two inch block of wood from a local craft store, but Andrea Miniatures’ 2.5 inch(ish) round base (AEPR003) will work quite well.
 

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Model and Images Copyright 2005 by Glen Phillips
Page Created 15 March, 2005
Last Updated 24 December, 2007

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