Vorkosigan Posted December 3, 2017 One of my hopes for LEGO since I came out of my dark age was to see an ancient Rome or Greece based theme. In the absence of that I decided to make a small theme of my own. To match LEGO's typical conflict based approach to most themes, I used the Visigoths as the enemy of Rome. These are the sets: Roman Battle Pack Visigoth Battle Pack Chariot Attack Visigoth Outpost Gladiator Arena Roman Forum My favorites are probably Chariot Attack and Gladiator Arena. Things I am not satisfied with is the representation of Roman civilians, and the monochromatic quality of the Roman forum. Hopefully we'll see an official theme some day that does a good job of representing this topic! Here are the detailed pictures: 1) Roman Battle Pack 2) Visigoth Battle Pack 3) Chariot Attack 4) Visigoth Outpost 5) Gladiator Arena 6) Roman Forum Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Littleworlds Posted December 3, 2017 Your vignettes look excellent! And, as far I can tell, historically quite well informed too. The detailing on the buildings, the use of weapons, all fits very well. Same for the minifigs. Romans and non-romans alike. They all have character too. Something I really appreciate. As for the forum, it is very well built. The gold decorations looks brilliant, but I agree that it could use some more colour. Maybe this link and this here will give you some inspiration. The arena seems to be pretty spot on though, according to these sources. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ED-209 Posted December 3, 2017 Awesome! I'd snap these all up if they were real sets! You broke up the tan in the other Imperial sets with some dark tan masonry bricks, is there any reason you didn't do that with the Forum? I think if Lego were producing something like this, they'd use a different colour for the ground and insert a bit of random variation in some of the walls with colour or texture. I'd also love to see a small sticker one one of the walls displaying the graffiti "Romanes eunt domus" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vorkosigan Posted December 3, 2017 10 hours ago, Littleworlds said: Your vignettes look excellent! And, as far I can tell, historically quite well informed too. The detailing on the buildings, the use of weapons, all fits very well. Same for the minifigs. Romans and non-romans alike. They all have character too. Something I really appreciate. As for the forum, it is very well built. The gold decorations looks brilliant, but I agree that it could use some more colour. Maybe this link and this here will give you some inspiration. The arena seems to be pretty spot on though, according to these sources. Thanks for the many kind comments and the inspiration! I had not seen those. I referred to this illustration when building: 5 hours ago, ED-209 said: Awesome! I'd snap these all up if they were real sets! You broke up the tan in the other Imperial sets with some dark tan masonry bricks, is there any reason you didn't do that with the Forum? I think if Lego were producing something like this, they'd use a different colour for the ground and insert a bit of random variation in some of the walls with colour or texture. I'd also love to see a small sticker one one of the walls displaying the graffiti "Romanes eunt domus" Thank you! Its true I probably should use some strategic dark tan. Mostly though I used the masonry bricks to represent damaged or underlying stone (except the pattern along the base of the arena wall). Also the arena floor being dark tan is supposed to be dirty. The forum I think should be very well maintained and not having any random wear or exposed masonry. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Littleworlds Posted December 4, 2017 9 hours ago, Vorkosigan said: Thanks for the many kind comments and the inspiration! I had not seen those. I referred to this illustration when building: (...) I'm glad I could give you some useful input! Thinking about it, a mix between white, tan and dark red might work really well on the forum. White for the columns and the face of the building maybe, framing some tan parts, with dark red for accents. That should cover the most common colours used back then, without having to delve into recreating mosaics or frescos, which might be more than Lego pieces are able to do What we see today on historical buildings is often just a shadow of what was there when they were new. Stucco, paint, decorations - all that weathers away when not cared for. Medieval castles, for example, were probably all covered in stucco, instead of showing their bare stone walls as we see them today. History fascinates me and one of the reasons why is the detective work in so many fields: how things looked like, how they were used, how people lived, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Elostirion Posted December 23, 2017 This is a really cool series of MOCs. Great selection of the theme and settings, and the execution is great. Amazing work, thanks for sharing. If I'd have to pick a favourite it would most likely be the chariot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Loves Houses Posted January 14, 2018 Nice collection. I like the temple front very much, there is an interesting piece on the column heads. And the way the walls seem to float... . Would you have a frontal close-up picture of the roof technique as well? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Braunsfeld Posted January 14, 2018 The sets look great - I like the chariot the most! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iammac Posted January 15, 2018 These look good, and I think with a bit of strategic audience targeting they could prove popular! One question since I don't know a terrible amount about the Roman Empire, what do you have against the CMF shield that came with the Roman soldier? Keep it up! MAC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vorkosigan Posted January 16, 2018 Thanks everyone! On 1/14/2018 at 2:12 AM, Loves Houses said: And the way the walls seem to float... . Would you have a frontal close-up picture of the roof technique as well? Well this is actually from the back, but shows the roof is just plates attached with a hinge, very simple. I use a continuous hinge made with clips since the click version is limiting on angles. 19 hours ago, iammac said: One question since I don't know a terrible amount about the Roman Empire, what do you have against the CMF shield that came with the Roman soldier? Those shields came with the series 5 roman soldiers, I am using series 10 roman soldiers which only had a sword and cape. I actually quite like those shields, but only got a couple of them after I made these builds, they are expensive these days since they were from an early CMF series. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daki575 Posted March 10, 2019 wow te budowle są ekstra właśnie jedną zbudowałem Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aine Posted March 13, 2019 Great idea, this could be a funny long-term project with lots and lots of stuff from smallest sets to big castles! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
