Hello to one and all

Its a lovely warm and sun filled day so I thought I would bring a bit of sunshine to your modelling lives by sharing my look on a release from Altores Studio .

The release was announced here and in social media as always

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/altores-studio.87942/

The piece:

Lets have a bit of history on the hoplite

A hoplite (from ta hopla meaning tool or equipment) was the most common type of heavily armed foot-soldier in ancient Greece from the 7th to 4th centuries BC and most ordinary citizens of Greek city-states with sufficient means were expected to equip and make themselves available for the role when necessary.

Athens had a system of compulsory military service for 18-20 year olds, but during a war all male citizens up to the age of 60 could be called up to the armed forces. Other city-states followed a similar policy which meant that hoplites were not professional soldiers and often lacked sufficient military training, although some states did maintain a small elite professional unit, the epilektoi. The most famous of these was the Sacred Band of Thebes, a unit composed of 150 pairs of male lovers who swore to defend their partner to the death. Sparta, where all male citizens over 20 were members of a permanent professional army, was the notable exception to this approach of only calling up an army when absolutely needed.

WEAPONS & ARMOUR

The principal weapons of a hoplite infantryman were a long ash wood spear (doru) and a short sword (xiphos).

The spear measured on average 2.5 metres (8 ft.) in length and was fitted with a bronze or iron blade and a four-sided end spike (sauroter).

The sword was also of iron with a straight or sometimes curved blade (machaira or kopis) no more than 60 cm in length.

No doubt many hoplites also carried a dagger (encheiridion) as an extra weapon.

Protection was provided by a leather-lined bronze helmet which could vary in design, was often crested, and protected the head, neck, and face. A corselet or breastplate (thorax) of bronze or leather (later reduced to a laminated linen vest to save weight - a linothorax), bronze greaves (knemides) to protect the shins, and sometimes arm-guards were also worn.

The hoplite carried a large circular shield (hoplon or aspis) some 80 cm (30 in.) in diameter and weighing as much as 8 kg.

This was made of wood or stiff leather, faced with bronze, and was held with the left arm placed through a central band (porpax) and gripped via a strap (antilabe) attached to the shield rim. Shields often carried particular designs - the most famous being the inverted V-shape of Spartan hoplites - and emblems - particularly popular was the gorgon from Greek mythology with its association with changing the onlooker into stone.

Sometimes protective aprons were attached to the shield lower

Surviving examples of breastplates and helmets also display engraved decoration. Fully armoured then, the hoplite was required to carry some 20 kg of equipment and so good physical training must have given one side a strong advantage (e.g. the well-trained and professional Spartans).

Precisely because all of this equipment amounted to quite an investment, being a hoplite also indicated that the individual had a certain status in wider Greek society.

HOPLITE PHALANX

Hoplites were organised into regiments or lokhoi (several hundred men strong), and they fought in ranks eight or more men deep (known as a phalanx), and standing close together, half of the shield of one man protected his neighbour on his left side.

This meant that the phalanx often moved forward at a slight angle to the right as men sought to keep behind the shield of their neighbour. This resulted in the left flank usually breaking formation first, and so this was the flank a competent commander would attack with priority, and he would therefore ensure he had his best troops on his own right flank.

The phalanx advanced at a walk or faster, often accompanied by rhythmic music from aulos players, and shouting a tremendous war-cry (paean).

On engaging the enemy the hoplites first thrust their spears, usually over-arm. After that initial contact the opposing lines usually went through a series of pushing and shoving (othismos) and close-quarter fighting with swords which only ended when one side broke ranks. Pursuit of retreating hoplites was usually only over a short distance in order to maintain the protective close-formation.

Books are as always available here are a few I have

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Nap

On now to the resin

Details of the release


Title: Greek Hoplite

Reference: F-54-037

Scale: 1/30th

No of pieces: 13

Sculptor Maxin Voronin

Box Art: N/A


General Comments

With this kit you get a choice of 2 right arms and 2 shield options

As with all of Altores parts come in a good strong box and in bags in between foam layers

The pose might be a little static for some .

Parts consist of the main figure , 2 arms , head , helmet crest , scabbard , 2 shields , apron , 2 arrows and a small base


Prep

Choose your arm and shield preference

Small casting plugs to remove by simply cutting and sanding

Casting line on sides of legs ..fine sand will remove

Fit head and top piece together ...fit is very clean

The shield apron fits easily to prepositioned holes

Arrows are to be fitted if you wish

I will look at the main figure in this part to allow for all the pictures I have to use .

Main Figure

Consisting of the upper torso and legs , the pose is perhaps a little static , the legs are astride with the pose showing off the muscular legs well .

The undercuts on the shoulder armour are particularly well done with nice definition in the shape and the edging of these pieces , moving down to the chest this is patterned very nicely , the lower waist protection strips also sit well to the figure slightly wider separation at the sides

Arms are ready to be put in place at the shoulders

Across the chest we have the sword straps or cords , like the knotted ties these are finely done

The clothing folds are folded over each other as we see in illustrations

The thighs are muscular and open these lead down to the lower leg protection , shaped well around the calf muscles.

The feet are bare and as in previous releases the details of the toes are well done

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Nap

On to the remainder of the resin

Head/Helmet Crest

The head is cast with the helmet on the cheek pieces are at the sides held together by a bow under the chin , the helmet is a good shape and has a cutout ready to take the crest .

The edging detail on the helmet is very good this together with decoration which includes a gorgon at the front which leads on to circular motifs , all with good definition , the face is a determined young warrior , looking straight ahead , teeth slightly showing .the features are good I like the nose in particular , the hair of our hoplite which was generally worn long comes out from under the helmet in long curling strands .




The crest is well shaped with good texture work seen at all sides

Fit is easy and looks good when in position .




Arms

You have a choice for the right arm , one raised one lowered , both holding the sword , muscle work is good with the actual hands also being the same , he holds a kopis , well shaped and looking just as lethal in real life .



The left ( shield ) arm is bent at the elbow , cast on to the arm is the main shied handle



Both arms are showing short sleeved in style , slightly opened at the middle

Fit of the arms are easy and simple to do , no filler should be needed.

Shield/Apron

For the shield we again have an option , one being battle damaged the other not , the battle damage includes slashes , cuts and dents , there is a option also to put an arrow through if you wish.

The apron is designed to fit to the battle damaged one but it would be a easy option to fit to the other

The other shield is completely untouched but whichever you choose you have a good surface to paint a design onto




Both shields are the same on the inside with some really good details on the securing cords and the edges of the main arm piece

The apron is a simple piece of material or leather , shaped at the lower edge , we have damage on it , where you can fit another arrow through

Fit of the apron is by small circular lugs into rounded cutouts on the lower part of the shield



Scabbard/Arrows

The scabbard fits easily to a cutout on the main body of the figure and has a plain casing with the sword cords being crossed on the front , the top of the scabbard is styled in a shape .

The arrows are delicate but suitable for purpose , the flights are a typical shape, one has the point on it the other not , some might wish to replace these with wire shafts etc

Again you have the option of using these or not



Base

Oval in shape , textured with 2 cutouts to fit the figure into , again perfectly okay for purpose if you wish to display with it but most will incorporate it within a larger base




Lets have a couple of pictures of the unpainted figure from Altores site:



Final thoughts

A good addition which although a little staid in pose in my opinion will no doubt please those modellers that like this period , detailing is good with accurate fitment , this together with the arm and shield option make it a good buy .

Overall casting is good and the figure adds another good item to the Altores catalogue



If this is your period of interest or you want something different then why not :

E-mail: altoress@mail.ru

or visit the website at:

www.altores.com

They are also a member of FaceBook and the forum here on PF

Thanks to for the review piece

And to you all for looking in

Happy Modelling

Nap