“SANGUIS ET HONOR"






Production Brand: Tartar Miniatures (Italy)

Item code :TR75-115 "Sanguis et Honor"
scale: 75mm, resin
sculpture. Sergey Radilov
Box- art : Fabio Nas Kino Fiorenza
information and prices: tartar.miniatures@libero.it



Packing and content

A while ago I purchased directly from Mr. Sergey Savenkov this relatively new kit from their brand Tartar Miniatures. First of I have to point out that communication transaction and shipping was professional and ultra fast!, and the kit arrived in an excellent condition. The package is small and cost effective for shipping .The kit is consisted of 34, bigger and smaller, grey resin parts which are packed in a relatively a card box with a flip top opening. The parts are in bunches within smaller zip lock plastic bags, and put securely into the box but without any foam padding .Externally the box has a sticker on top with the kits info and a wonderful box art by Fabio Nas Kino Fiorenza. Some may already have seen this presented in P.F by S.Savenkov when it was released. (Check thread below) https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/sanguis-et-honor.117571/





The scene depicted in this set, is the final act of a duel between two gladiators. More specific a Murmillo and a Thraex .The murmillo has already wounded the thraex ,who stands on his knees where the opponent holds him by his helmet waiting the order for the fatal blow or spαring his life.
These two classes of gladiators where of the most well known at the time and a classic pair to fight. Today there are several historical evidence of duels between a Murmillo and a Thraex..Like in this clay field flask



Or in the following newly discovered fresco in tavern of Pompei


And in mosaics (the pair far left)



Now let’s take a closer look to the gladiators individually .


THE MURMILLO
The murmillo was considered one the most heavy class gladiator. They were physically strong due to the more heavy equipment they were carrying. Opponent classes of the Murmillo were the Thraex or the Hoplomachus. The figure of the murmillo in this set is consisted of 15 grey resin pieces. Now let’s take a more detailed look.






BODY
The bigger part of the Murmillo is the body. This is presented in a standing stance with only the two legs , torso and part of the head and shoulders being casted as one part .The overall sculpting and casting in excellent with fine details and no resin bubbles. So minimal cleaning or putting is required .The torso is naked as he is wearing a loin cloth (Subligaculum ) around the waist and groin supported by a leather belt with metallic decorations (balteus). The loin on the front part has a fringe round the hem.




Moving lower to the legs from the thighs to the knees are also uncovered .From the knee and below the left leg has a fasciae (padding ) and top of that a Ocrea ( shin guard) which is decorated .The decoration is actually similar to an excising sample of gladiator’s ocrea from Pompei..So thumps up to the sculptor!











The lower right leg has a small scarf below the knee and below that a leather cover which seems like a leather boot without the sole .Also this section is well detailed with fine lacing and folds.





ARMS
The right arm is completely cover in a Manica (thick soft padding) with six straps (leather or cloth) tightening it up around the arm. In the murmillo this was the arm carrying the sword (the gladius) so it was protected that way against opponents minor blows .The hand now , holds the gladius but only the handle is casted on, the blade comes separately .The represented gladius is most probably a Pomeian type , as is shorter and the cutting edges are parallel and not tapered to the midsection as in the Republican and Mainz types .In this case maybe the part of the blade it should have been a bit longer than 15mm (in scale), as the real specimens of that type have a blade length between 43-51cm (18-21mm in 1/24 scale) . Also as separate parts are the hanging ends of the padding straps, which are glued on the knots.







The left arm is made out of two pieces. The one is from biceps to wrist and the second one the hand. The bigger part carries a cloth decoration ribbon strapped around the biceps and a wrist leather band with metal details. The hand has the fingers stretched out as the palm sheets on the opponent’s helmet holding his head down. Anatomy and details of the fingers is brilliant




HELMET
The helmet ( Cassis or Galea) presented here is of the mid period type and is consisted of three pieces. The main part of helmet ( hat) , face grill (face protection) , plume ( crest decoration mostly made out of horse hair or feathers).In this case it seems like horse hair as is relatively short and with a stiff look.
Also in this case the kit’s part is very , very close to the real thing!








SHIELD
The shield used by the murmillo was the scutum. A big rectangular shield also used by the Roman legionaries ( after 43 A.D.). The shields were mostly made of wood - a few layers glued together to make the curved shape. Some extra strips of wood were glued on the back for more strength. The shield was then covered in leather and a sheet of linen cloth added to the front. Designs were usually painted onto the front. Sheepskin was used above the handle to make the grip more comfortable. The rim was protected either with strips of bronze or with leather. The grip was across a hole cut from the middle of the shield. This hole was protected by a metal boss, a hemisphere of iron with an iron plate around it...All these elements of this type of shield are also well presented in the kit’s parts. One is the shield and second is the vertical handle.

The shield is not hold by the gladiator but can be used on the scenery on the ground of the ‘arena’ facing up or down. The choice is yours .




....Continued in next post

THE THRAEX
The thraex class gladiator was also one of the most strong and fearsome of the arena. His opponents where the murmillo or the hoplomachus. The figure of the thraex i is broken down to 18 grey resin pieces.











BODY

Also in this figure the bigger of all the parts is the body. In a single piece we have, the head ( part of it as it wear a helmet) with the torso, the groin area and both legs up to the knees. The torso is naked with two diagonal leather straps for the attachment and support of the manica. Part of the left side of his chest is casted on the piece of the arm that fits the gap. The overall sculpting and casting also in this case is excellent with fine details and no resin bubbles. So minimal cleaning or putting is required . He is wearing a loin cloth around the waist and groin (Subligaculum ) supported by a leather belt with engraved decorations (balteus). The front part of his loin is more simplified with no fringe round the hem. Moving lower, the thighs are covered both by a fasciae ( thick soft padding similar to the manica) ,which was a characteristic part of the equipment of this class. This was offering an added protection against his opponents lower strikes ,as his shield was small leaving his legs vulnerable. The texture of them is brilliant.





ARMS

First of we have the right arm which is covered also with a manica (thick soft padding) with seven straps (leather or cloth) tightening it up around the arm. Also in this case are provided as separate parts the hanging ends of the padding straps, which are glued on the knots. The hand which holds the wound is very nicely sculpted with slightly open fingers and natural anatomy. The palm,on the inside is not detailed as it attaches to the body and will not be visible.




The left arm is casted with part of the chest and is totally uncovered.It has a very natural curve, as the wounded fighter is trying to hold on from the left leg of his opponent.Also here anatomy is at it’s best with detailed fingers and muscle groups.




LEGS (LOWER PART)
As mentioned above half of the legs are casted with the body, The rest , from knees and below, come in two more parts. In both the fasciae ( thick soft padding similar to the manica) continues to cover the legs up to the ankle. Above the padding in both legs now ,there are also Ocreas (shin guards) which are longer than the one ,the murmillo is wearing on his left leg. As the Thraex is presented wounded and stands on his knees nothing will be visible from the front side of the ocreas, so there is no much to them. On the contrary the back side of this areas are brilliant in terms of detail with attachment links and straps for the ocreas and very nice folds for the padding. The feet are very well sculpted, and are visible due to stance of the figure.




HELMET
The helmet ( Cassis or Galea) presented also here is consisted of three pieces. The main part of helmet ( hat) , face grill (face protection) , plume ( crest decoration mostly made out of horse hair or feathers).In this case it is also a horse hair plume. Additionally this helmet has two feathers attached in small hole left and right of the hat base.
The hat of the helmet is very well detailed with the characteristic, for the Thraex, griffon head on the top of the crest. Also in this case the resemblance with the real artifact is obvious!











SWORD
The weapon of the Thraex was the sica. A short sword or long dagger as referred. This weapon originated and used by the Illyrians and Tracians which were enemies of Rome. Thus maybe, fights between a Murmillo and a Traex , represented the fight of Romans with the barbarians. The characteristic of this sword was the angled blade. This usually had an upward angle of 27 degrees with a single or dual sharp edges. With this weapon the Thraex could overcome the barrier of the heavy and big scutum (shield) of the murmillo and hit him on his back or neck, as his gear was making him faster .This kind of sword is presented also in this kit. It’s casted as single piece with the handle somehow similar to a gladius and the curved blade. And maybe here, as the opposite to the gladius of the murmillo the blade could have been shorter. Something of course that is easily done if you wish ( by cutting the blade from the guard and trimming a couple of .mm)


SHIELD
The shield of the Thraex was the parmula,a small rectangular shield with a central vertical grip. As with the scutum , these were mostly made of wood - a few layers glued together to make the curved shape. Some extra strips of wood were glued on the back for more strength. The shield was then covered in leather and a sheet of linen cloth added to the front. Designs were usually painted onto the front. The rim was protected either with strips of bronze or with leather. Some also had in the center a metal boss some other didn’t .The kit’s shield comes in two pieces shield – handle, offering also inner structure so it can be put on the ground facing either sides. The choice is yours.



BASE
Final parts is a resin base. It’s simple with minimal details as it represents part of the arena’s ground .On this you can put , in the right position your figures but it’s kind of small for incorporating to the scene also the two shields and sword. So some extension to this is need on behalf of the modeler if used…or set it aside and make a new one from scratch.
Also a small strip (40x5mm) of thin cooper sheet is included the use of which I could not specify …?.






CONCLUSION
This is a brilliant set of figures with excellent anatomy , details and historical elements. The presented scene is very alive and dramatic. As for the resin casting, is clear without any defections.In my opinion is a must have.. Thumps up to TARTAR MINIATURES for this brilliant release. Highly recommended .

Vassilis

Cracking review and excellent photography thank you. I have this kit (I think it is based on an old Angus McBride illustration?) and it is a tremendous set-piece.

Gary

Vassilis, thanks for the detailed review!
metal strip to make ties on the hand (for those who want to replace the resin)

Thank you very much Sergey. Nice pointing out the use of the metal strip.
Take care

Nice review it looks like an amazing model produced to a very high standard.

Gary

An excellent review, I have this pair and agree - they're superb.