Monday 16 September 2024

The Scale of my Descent into Madness!

Yes, long before my AWI project is "completed", I have embarked upon another adventure - a new era and a new scale, to boot.

I have been dropping a few hints on other blogs for about 3-4 weeks now, and at last, it is time to reveal my new area of interest.....


Well, the Romans, at least, at this stage, but never rule out the possibility of travelling another few hundred years back in time to take in their predecessors, the ancient Greeks!

And the scale? I hear you ask - well, after due consideration, I have gone with 10mm! Yes, I know, with my eyesight - ye Gods! Having decided on the scale, or perhaps while still considering options, I came across a producer based in Aberdeen, my old tertiary alma mater, and my interest was piqued. 3d printed 10mm Early Imperial Romans, let's take a look...


EIR Command


EIR legionnaires attacking


EIR legionnaires at ready


EIR Auxiliaries


EIR Praetorians



Different shield dseigns available


After communicating with James in Aberdeen, it transpired he has an associate in Australia who prints from his STL files - so I ordered a few samples, which arrived today, hurrah!


Ancient Britons command, complete with three versions of Boudicca - on foot, mounted AND in a chariot!



The EIR Command




The Auxiliaries with Wreath shield design



The legionnaires at ready with Wing shield design



And as if all this isn't insane enough, as the original producer is based 30 miles from my mate who is due out here in 10 days, I, of course, I ordered another batch from Aberdeen, and they were delivered in Montrose within 36 hours of me paying! (Must be great to live in the UK :))

For any readers who might be interested, there are several You Tube clips of these figures, just type in Cromarty Firth 10mm and they should pop up!

Now, all I have to do is mess around getting some of the individual figures (the commanders mainly) separated from each other, and with all their supports removed - such fun!

Not sure when I will get a chance to paint up a test batch - perhaps one or two strips will jump to the head of the painting desk queue?!!

39 comments:

  1. I look forward to seeing these painted up. I'll be picking some of the Cromarty forge figures up in 15mm for some Celts to face my Republican Romans

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    1. Cheers Scotty - they are great figures - detail is pretty amazing for the size they are - it's really going to test my painting skills, I think!

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  2. They look very clean and detailed Keith. Have you had any trouble removing the supports from the cavalry? That always puts me off a bit. I do like 10mm as a scale and bought a swag of Kalistra to have a go at.

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    1. Hi Lawrence, so far, so good with the supports, managed to get Boudiccas chariot sperated from the rest of the figures without any damage, which I was pleased about!

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    1. They do Michal but I wonder how good they will look, painted...fingers crossed they dint look too bad!

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  4. Well, I think you win the "long leap" competition for this one: about 2,000 years (from AWI to Romans) and from 28mm to 10mm. Your butterfly is a mighty one!

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    1. Is that just a nice way of agreeing I am crazy, Ed? 😃

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  5. These figures look great, Keith! I’ll be watching your new project develop.

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    1. Thanks Jon, I just hope they still look great when I have painted them....

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  6. A very good project to be doing Kieth- yes, 10mm should be something new for you to tackle- though I'm sure you'll do well with the painting.

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  7. Well always great to see a new project in the offing Keith! I'm pondering Ancients too, but an earlier period and something involving chariots I think. Re: the supports, it's best to remove them as soon as possible as as the resin dried out so to speak, it tends to get more brittle, or at least that used to be the case. The figures do look brilliant and can't wait to see them painted.

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    1. Thank you, Steve, I knew you would be a fan of the scale, at least!
      Thanks to the Brits being a bit behind the times, I will have some chariots in my collection, too!

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  8. Another cracking project and 10mm is a great scale for ancients. Having seen some Cromarty Forge figures before they are lovely and a good choice to go to, and Scottish too, what's not too like!! Looking forward to seeing how they look paint ed up and on the table, should be good!

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    1. Cheers Donnie, the figures certainly are very nice, I just hope I can do them justice on the painting desk!

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  9. Everyone loves the Roman’s. Of course you need hordes of barbarians for them to fight against.
    Nice figures, but almost too detailed for 10mm. You’ll be painting them like they’re 20mm. But with your eyes more like 6mm. It’ll probably even out. 😀

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    1. Lol, very astute of you Stew....I did a test run last night....took of my "painting glasses" and I can barely see the things with the naked eye...BUT, if I take nice close up images with my phone, I suspect the painting will be dreadful....we shall see in time!

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  10. Oooh! They look good. Thought you were going all Shipping Forecast then: Cromarty, Forth, Tyne, Dogger etc.

    I'd be tempted to keep those legionaries in that dense block and paint them from on front/top/side/rear.
    Might have to visit their site if they expand their periods.

    And I'm glad you're not downsizing!

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    1. Thanks Chris....you would be one of my inspirations for the move to 10mm! I will be experimenting a bit with painting and basing initially I imagine.....and like the downsizing pun at the end 😆

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  11. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Hope you do not completely abandon the American Rev War period of course.

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    1. Thanks Mark, definitely won't be abandoning the AWI, still got a few units worth of figures to paint up yet!

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  12. Very nice Keith and a big project to undertake, certainly a lot of people will be looking at the new Warlord figures, but these 3d’ s look better in your pictures

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    1. Thanks Matt - I would have considered the Epic ones, but they are just a bit too early for me - I want my Romans looking like Asterix the Gaul or Life of Brian! I have just done a quick comparison with all the 10mm ranges I could identify via Google - Pendraken are 19p each (excl VAT) Gripping Beast 18p each, Cromarty 19-21p each, The Baggage Train Ten High Range are 12-15p each and the best bargain but possibly least aesthetically appealing are East Front at 13p a figure! So really, the differences are pretty minimal and I may as well stick with the Cromarty ones, I think!

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  13. Great looking project Keith. I find 10mm to be a great scale, enough detail for painting and lots of figures on the table.

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    1. Thanks Ben and I agree - its just taken me a LONG time to bite the bullet - and I am still a bit concerned about my ability to paint them as nicely as I would like to - I know it does not make them fight any better, but that is the argument for just using bits of card or wooden blocks (no offence, Steve J!)

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  14. Wow, ancient armies and 10mm scale. You are mad. In a good way, of course. Look forward to your mustered hordes.

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    1. Thanks Joe, that's the plan! Plus, I can fit a "proper" battle onto a 3' x 3' table.

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  15. Awesome. Never heard of this company before- but I’m very impressed. You’ll get some real bulk to the armies in 10mm too. Very nice.

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    1. Oh bugger, just been to the website and they do some sweet stuff in 10mm. I really don’t need this distraction right now…but then again…

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    2. Hahaha....get thee behind me, Satan, JBM!

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  16. Gotta admit they do look rather tasty! I look forward to see some with a lick or two of paint.

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    1. Thanks Ray, here's hoping my painting skills, such as they are, are up to the task!.Hope you are doing well....are you still in hospital?

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  17. These do look rather nice…
    I like the ability to chose your shield design and they have a nice chunkiness about them with no obvious build lines…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Yeah, they are very nice, Aly...it will be interesting to compare them with the Scottish versions, when they arrive...basically the same price - £7.50 becomes AU$15, which is pretty much right I think.
      If I bought £150 worth and got free postage from UK, I might be 20 quid ahead or something like that....but it's not enough of a price variation to worry about!

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  18. They look very good indeed, Keith. Fortunately, 10mm figures are NOT in my future! :-)

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    1. Lol...never say never, Peter....although perhaps one can! I certainly can't see me ever going any smaller!

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    2. 10 mm is the smallest I would ever consider; 6 mm definitely doesn't do it for me. Jared just got a bunch of 2mm figures to do the Napoleonic Scenarios from Bloody Big Battles; I would have just used a bigger table, LOL!

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    3. Yeah, Ray at Don't Throw a 1 did both sides of a whole WSS battle in 2mm....it's a bit too small for my liking.....but you could do the whole of Waterloo on my 3 x 3 table!

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