Gary,
Thanks for your reply and bringing up your doubts on the size of the sword.
Examination of archaeological findings showed that the blades of the "Gladius Hispaniensis", as the Roman swords were called, had an average lenght between 64 and 69 cm and a width between 4 and 5,5 cm (Roman Legionary 58 BC-AD 69, Ross Cowan, Osprey-Warrior).
If I'm correct 90 mm figures are in reality 1/20 scale. So to be correct, recalculated, the size of the gladius should have been between 3,2 and 3,4 cm in length and between 0,2 and 0,27 cm in width.
However, the scabbard of the gladius of Andrea’s centurion is 2,8 cm long and 0,3 cm wide. So you're right, it is out of scale, meaning at least 0,4 cm too short. But the width is actually not far from the right size.
Now, IMHO, to me the sword doesn’t look out of scale compared to the rest of the figure. To adjust the length of the scabbard would have been only a minor work, regarding the rest of the problems I had/have to deal with. But adding 0,4 cm to it, I think it would have been a very odd sight, looking way too long. I don’t know how the gladius of Pegaso’s Arminius kit looks and what the dimensions are, however. Maybe the relations between length and width are different creating another optical view. So I like to see some photos from your centurion to get an idea about the different look.
One remark though about items looking out of scale. One of Pegaso’s 54 mm Roman Aquilifer (ref 54-114) is notorious for its out of scale sword, meaning it doens’t seem to fit the figure because too massive. I think the problems concerning correct size in relation to optical view has been dealt with here on the Planet before, and as I remeber it the conclusion was that scale correctness doesn’t automatically creates a balanced view on the whole figure.
But please, I appreciate your opinion and you made a very valuable point here.
I’m waiting for the opinions of the other Planeteers.
Best regards.
Johan