5827 Roman Blister pack

[Martin Milner]

or is it the flow of plastic during the casting process?

I've been pondering about that as well.

Bogro

That's it exactly. You'll see similar flow-marks on silver helmets, take a look at the back of the standard Roman Legionary helmet.

My wife has studied fluid mechanics, which makes me an instant expert on the subject too 

The liquid plastic is cooling rapidly as it is squirted into the mould. The silvery material seems to exhibit it most, but it can be seen elsewhere as Jo noted. If they kept the mould hot as the plastic was squirted in it might diminish these lines, but it'd complicate and slow down the production process immensely.

[highlandcattle]

Maybe you can turn the centurions into the empirial guard or something like that?

[Timotheos]

Maybe you can turn the centurions into the empirial guard or something like that?

You tread dangerous ground for the unwary, my friend.

Peruse previous threads for a thorough wrangling on the uniform and dress of the praetorians.

-Tim

[Klickus Mobilius]

I, too, bought multiple blister packs of this.  I have an overabundance of centurions, but I wanted the soldiers with the green shields.

One thing I don't particularly care for about the green shielded soldiers is that the shields are made to be held by the right hand only which forces the weapon hand to be the left.  Now, I'm no expert in ancient Roman history, but it seems to me that the dominant hand should be the one that holds the weapon and since most people are right-handed, I think that Playmobil erred in this.

But what do I know?  Maybe the Roman army gave all their lefties green shields.   

[Gepetto]

I, too, bought multiple blister packs of this.  I have an overabundance of centurions, but I wanted the soldiers with the green shields.

One thing I don't particularly care for about the green shielded soldiers is that the shields are made to be held by the right hand only which forces the weapon hand to be the left.  Now, I'm no expert in ancient Roman history, but it seems to me that the dominant hand should be the one that holds the weapon and since most people are right-handed, I think that Playmobil erred in this.

But what do I know?  Maybe the Roman army gave all their lefties green shields.   

Seems to me this has come up before ! You should check the posts regarding Martin's legions, he put his Centurians to good use as archers which was brillant!



Gepetto

[Martin Milner]

I, too, bought multiple blister packs of this.  I have an overabundance of centurions, but I wanted the soldiers with the green shields.

One thing I don't particularly care for about the green shielded soldiers is that the shields are made to be held by the right hand only which forces the weapon hand to be the left.  Now, I'm no expert in ancient Roman history, but it seems to me that the dominant hand should be the one that holds the weapon and since most people are right-handed, I think that Playmobil erred in this.

But what do I know?  Maybe the Roman army gave all their lefties green shields.   

As Gepetto says, we've had quite a discussion over this shield and it's apparent wrong-handedness.

My conclusion is that the original shield (I think it first appeared in Set 3651, thanks Playmodb) was designed as a Pavise or wall shield, the sort of static shield a crossbowman would carry to within bow range of a castle walls during a siege, then shelter behind while preparing his shot, and expose his head & shoulders over the top of while shooting.



The klicky should carry the pavise within crossbow range of the target, put it down and shield behind it, while getting his bowshot ready.  A Pavise was large and heavy, so it is reasonable that the handhold was on the dominant side.

For this purpose it's ideal, but even the person setting up the packshot was confused by the handhold, and put the shield in the klicky's right hand and crossbow awkwardly in his left, maybe because the figure designer had give the klicky an eyepatch. It's been causing confusion ever since.

The pavise shield is still used correctly for crossbowmen, the most recent use in set 4808 of the Wolf Knight collection, though this klicky has a short bow (oops Playmobil).


In the case of this blister pack, originally Specials 4560 & 4632, Playmobil were really just testing the water for the potential interest in a Roman theme and nothing was quite right, they were just using existing pieces to create something like a legionary. This shield was the closest they had to the classic Roman shield.

Here's the use I put these blister figures to:

[Klickus Mobilius]

Very creative.  I like it.

Sorry for bringing up a subject that was already discussed.  How do I search for topics that have been discussed before?  It's a bit hard for newbies like myself to go through everything that has been posted to find a previous discussion of a topic.  I've tried using the search engine, but have not been successful.  Is there a secret to using the search engine?   

[Klickus Mobilius]

Never mind.  I figured it out.  I was using it incorrectly before.  Silly me.   

[Martin Milner]

Very creative.  I like it.

Sorry for bringing up a subject that was already discussed.  How do I search for topics that have been discussed before?  It's a bit hard for newbies like myself to go through everything that has been posted to find a previous discussion of a topic.  I've tried using the search engine, but have not been successful.  Is there a secret to using the search engine?   

Not a problem KM, we can't expect everyone to search before posting anything (I never do) - it was a good question, and we like re-airing our knowledge! Some people find it odd when an old thread is suddenly resurrected months or years later.