"Black linothorax test figure" Topic

Did a highly fanciful figure, that will end up as Pyrric royal guard.

link

Looks smart, whatever the realism factor.

I like it. Nice contrast between white tunic and black armor. Nothing is wrong about the color as your unit will be uniformed Guard.

I like it!

Very nice, looks great!

We do not know for sure what colors would be available during ancient times. There has been recent evidence that Roman Legion units stationed in Britain may have worn a black tunic as part of their uniform. The ubiquitous red tunics seen in the movies is as much a convention of Hollywood as historical evidence. We know that Roman sailors wore a light blue dyed tunic and it is though to have been an early concept of camouflage.

Regardless, while white linothorax would seem to be a common practice there is not any reason to think other units would not have sought to distinguish their appearance either with a shield device or particular color. Black dye or at least a dark grey would have been more that possible to achieve with the technology of the times.

Thought by whom? I don't trust passives in the wrong hands!

As I recently commented in another topic (or two? three? I am on a roll today) doing things to improve (in one's own opinion, of course) the look of otherwise "historical" schemes is a way of both personalizing a force and showing some creativity.

Well done!

If you're assuming that linothorax is some kind of stiffened cloth, flax-seed oil is actually somewhat orange. Particularly after you've applied several coats to the cloth.

And then you could add charcoal dust to make it black, like how you tint real lacquer.

Looks good…

Now of course you need to add the 'sunstroke' rule when you game with them. Considering all of the decoration on pottery and and elsewhere showing hoplites with very wide brimmed hats and what I have read of Mediterranean climate, I would tend to think that black armor would tend to turn into an oven.

I like the black. Its a cool change from all the red and white. Well done.

Que bello!

Nice. If I were to use a black scheme, I'd probably paint it with a dark grey, maybe a medium, and then wash it with black. But I do like the idea, and why not? They are YOUR minis, and YOUR army after all. You ought to be able to have some say in how they look, eh?

Black tinted leather armor. Great look for a guard unit.