Diary X: May 2017 Duel v. Zed1

[Bluefalchion]

First of all, here is a link to the original post containing the duel in question:

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=20577

In the unlikely event that there are any comments about this write-up, please post them here and leave the original post buried in 2017 where it belongs. Remco wants to keep his dueling section tidy, a goal I share wholeheartedly.

This was my fifth duel as Mr. X. Expecting to lose 12 and win zero, I was surprised to be sitting at two wins, one loss, and one exhilirating tie. My challenger Zed1 picked this figure, so I purchased the set and started researching as I waited for it to ship.

And what a fascinating journey it was! I learned that there really were female gladiators, but they were rare and considered exotic by observers at the time. "Gladiatrix" was a term that came into use hundreds of years later, but not contemporarily. And little is known about them.

So I realized just about any color could be possible. Since the different gladiator types were all based on traditional enemies of Rome, this gal appeared to be something like a Thracian.

I decided to make her blond, anyway. I speculated that such performers might wear dramatic makeup to exaggerate their features for the benefit of the patrons in the upper levels, so I attempted to create that look.

I tried to give this figure the look of fair, but somewhat sunburnt skin. I ended up using around a dozen layers, and the result was passable. If I were to paint this figure again, I probably would have used brown for a leather hat, possibly with some metal trim.

I loved Sho's "mirror image" photo style, so I mimicked it here. Finally, I strayed from my usual "serious as a heart-attack" naming convention and made a (lame) attempt at a funny title.

Zed1's entry was really fantastic, and his hair and skin tones probably much more likely. But more voters picked mine. I especially enjoyed Remco's post announcing the result. So Mr. X improved to 3-1-1, heading into the June Duel. There, as we shall see, the wheels started to fall off the wagon.

[Susofrick]

I can only say again that it is very nice reading this diary from a Mr X. And it works just as well posting a link to the original duel. Go on!

[Bluefalchion]

To be perfectly frank, I would probably do write-ups of all these duels and post them even if no one else read them. I have to do them soonish, or I will forget how they progressed. But it is nice to know that at least a few are enjoying them.

One additional item: this female gladiator figure is not supplied with a base. So the duelers agreed to employ a simple 5c piece coin, painted sand. Sasha did a much better job on his base. One area that I always find tricky is the transition between the feet and the base. It is so easy for paint to collect in that spot and mar the figure. In this case, I simply balanced her on the base for the photograph without gluing it. And she is still in that state to this day.

Lastly (I promise), I meant to put this in the category General--20mm and 1:72 scale. Perhaps a kindly mod could move it there, for me. Only two of the duels were in other scales...