Decebalus, King of Dacia 87 - 106 AD by king derelict - Art Girona - 54 mm

[king derelict]

Back to an Art Girona model, as the title says, King Decebalus. He fought three wars against Rome losing the last one and, with his city destroyed he committed suicide. I thought I remembered him as a character in the Harry Sidebottom series of books “Warrior of Rome “. Excellent books by the way.

 painting guide can have limited historical accuracy but I like it enough to want to follow it as well as my abilities permit. There are some fine details on his tunic which will be a challenge and the plaid like pattern of his cloak is going to be a stretch.

I got carried away and got into the painting and forgot to take photos. You only missed the black primer / white zenithal paint so nothing terribly interesting.

The basic elements are done. The face was really nice to paint, excellent sculpting.

For some reason the green paint has a shine which will need a matte coat at the end.

i added some of the details on the tunic and pants, it’s tricky with all the folds but I will try for the red zigzag pattern on the pants next.

i laid on the very light blue and buff shades as the base of the plaid and I’m not totally satisfied. I hoped that the thin dark blue lines would help but my brush control was not good enough. I put a white wash over everything to reduce the contrast which helps a bit. I’m in two minds about overpainting and starting again but I think I might go a bit further first. This is really about learning and improving.

Thanks for looking in

Alan

 

[Old Collingwood]

Another Excellent figure.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

23 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Another Excellent figure.

 

OC.

Thank you very much OC. The plaid is giving me fits at the moment but I’m trying some experimenting off the model to see if I can improve.

alan

[king derelict]

I spent some time experimenting with the plaid pattern on bits of scrap material. I discovered that the small flat brush was not really the best choice for the wide lines. I thought it would be easier to make consistent width lines but it wasn’t the case. Instead I chose a smaller round brush and used the side of the brush which also gave me more control. I also found that sketching out the placement of the lines with a pencil helped me to work on the pattern without getting too lost.

So I painted over the first attempt and put the wide brown lines on and the thin darker blue ones. There are a few logic gaps but overall I think it’s acceptable. I have started refining the lines and then I am contemplating doing a pale blue or white wash to pull it all together 

I moved to a darker brown and I’m not sure I like it. Again the wash may help.

I can’t wait to get some matte varnish on his tunic. For light relief I painted the fringe of his tunic and started on the Draco.

According to the references the Dacians used the Draco as a standard. It took the form of a dragon or wolfs head with a perforated wind sock body. When faced into the wind it created a shrill sound. This is supposedly the origin of the Roman Draco.

It’s fun to paint anyway.

Thanks for looking in, the likes and kind comments.

Alan

[Jack12477]

The darker brown definitely makes the tunic stand out more. Nice job.

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work Alan  - I am loving  the  paintwork  - its really  taking shape.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

22 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

The darker brown definitely makes the tunic stand out more. Nice job.

Thanks very much Jack, I decided to stay with the darker brown and I’m not going to use the washes, I think they will blur the pattern too much.

alan

[king derelict]

19 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Excellent work Alan  - I am loving  the  paintwork  - its really  taking shape.

 

OC.

Thanks very much OC. This one was fun, no historical references so colors are a matter of preference but I decided to stay close to the painting guide as a challenge. I learnt quite a bit but I don’t think I will be painting any members of highland regiments any time soon.

alan