The Arena Minimus
Having begun painting my 1/72 Orion Gladiators for the solo set up in Cyprus I realised that I had the perfect mini arena for them. It's been a hot summer over here and I have just bought a water cooler from our version of a DIY store. The packaging included a circular polystyrene ring for the top section. Perfect.
My 20mm Gladiators are based on 15mm diameter coins and washers. This small size, combined with using centimetres instead of inches means my arena is big enough for up to three simultaneous combats.
The Kourion Arena along the coast from here in Paphos, like all of the Cypriot arenas, was originally a Greek theatre. They are rather smaller than purpose built Gladiatorial arenas, but generally in a horseshoe configuration. The Arena pays homage to these.
The Oakenshield Ludus has fled Ostia for an Autumn tour of Cyprus! This will be our new home until we return to Rome in the Winter, Triumphant!
The small stone arena fits almost perfectly into a box I may or may not have picked up from the bins outside the Cyprus Homebase when I was buying the water cooler. It will protect the completed arena.
I also intend to add a wooden framework as the VIP box, and a metal grill type gate across the entrance.
My 20mm Gladiators are based on 15mm diameter coins and washers. This small size, combined with using centimetres instead of inches means my arena is big enough for up to three simultaneous combats.
The Kourion Arena along the coast from here in Paphos, like all of the Cypriot arenas, was originally a Greek theatre. They are rather smaller than purpose built Gladiatorial arenas, but generally in a horseshoe configuration. The Arena pays homage to these.
The Oakenshield Ludus has fled Ostia for an Autumn tour of Cyprus! This will be our new home until we return to Rome in the Winter, Triumphant!
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| The top of the water cooler packaging. Great piece of kit by the way. |
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| 20mm figures demonstrating the scale |
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| Using an old set of domino's to build up the stand. Gives it a bit of weight too. |
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| Starting to build up the stone work. Eating a lot of fruit and fibre breakfasts these days. Cyprus is too hot for the usual porridge. |
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| Adding the second ring of seating. |
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| Took a long while to glue and base. |
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| The arena after a dab of filler. It will get a second coat as texture before painting. The "sand" here is a cork tile, another nice texture. |
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| From another angle, work halted whilst it dries. |
The small stone arena fits almost perfectly into a box I may or may not have picked up from the bins outside the Cyprus Homebase when I was buying the water cooler. It will protect the completed arena.
I also intend to add a wooden framework as the VIP box, and a metal grill type gate across the entrance.
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| Undercoated with a grey mix, filler, pva and fine sand mix. Drying in the garden. Didn't take long. |
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| A trial game, Secutor vs Retarius, using a 6 centimetre ruler. |
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| And the Retarius takes a beating. Stuck on my tablet camera after dropping my phone on the tiled floor. |
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