Billy Hill’s SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry

Billy Hill’s SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry looks at the Supreme Roman Cavalry.  Billy felt that the figures need some additions and upgrades. We will let Billy telling you what he did.

Billy Hill’s SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry  Billy’s Comments

Billy Hill's SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry

The Supreme SPQR Romans set comes with 4 different mounted figures. These figures are clearly meant to be officers.  My feeling was that a cavalry turma would be much more useful.  I made the shields from plastic card.  The graphics were done in MS  Paint and printed out on peel-off sticker sheets.  The shield bosses are 6mm furniture tacks which also served to pin the shields onto the figures’  fists.  The spears are 1/16″ brass tubing.

Billy Hill's SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry

Billy Hill's SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry

I flattened one end and filed it to shape. Then  I glued a length of straight pin inside the other end for the butt spike.  I removed the crests from all the helmets except the 2 officers. 

Billy Hill's SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry

 The rest was paint.  The figures still bear some evidence of their officer origins,  but they do well enough.  The cavalry standard was made from a 1/72 horse and bits of cloth and braid

Billy Hill's SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry

Now I have 16 more troopers to go and the cavalry turma of Legio DCLXVI Lupi Hibernicus will be ready to ride.

Billy Hill's SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry

 

I think Billy has done a great job of improving the Supreme Roman cavalry.  The standard for Roman Cavalry is a brilliant idea.  We can not wait to see what Billy comes up with next.

 

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27 Responses to Billy Hill’s SPQR Mounted Roman Cavalry

  1. Greg Liska says:

    Wow! You just made my efforts to turn the Supreme mounted guys into proper Equitae look like a Kindergarten project. This is amazing! You even did the ‘wind sock’ standard. How many of these will you make? I hope to see the whole load in formation.

  2. erwin says:

    I love what you did to all Sunjade figures, well done!!.More historical accurate work .
    Greg your works are great too ,you do for fun and play more than x accuracy. Still excellent job…
    Bill is more touchy in detail.
    I enjoy and admire both technique and works of both artist!!
    Back to Bill, the incredible idea of using a HO horse to customize a 1.30 scale figures (SUNJADE FIGURES ARE 65-70 MM );is very good idea and never heard of it before
    The oval shields are accurate ,I will be a bit picky on the non oval but accepted as very well done. OF COURSE I will never do anything close!!!
    In my opinion they looks CAPAETRORIAN cavalry campaign guard.
    Congrats!!

  3. erwin says:

    I also notice you used Greeks poses mix with romans too, well done, it is know roman late republic and early empire both used lorica mail and brace plate armor. Well choices.

  4. Greg Liska says:

    Thanks, Erwin. This man here takes the crown, though. I’m pretty sure the very Greek looking guy IS one of the mounted Romans. There is one with that helmet in the set. Billy, solve the mystery for us? I’m nowhere near my toys right now, so I can’t get another look.

    • Erwin says:

      I see now.You right Greg.
      Yes I was looking in my phone the pic and apparently did not show clear to me.Sorry
      Paint job is very well done.So that confuse me too I guess..

    • Billy says:

      These are 3 of the mounted poses that came with the Supreme SPQR Romans set. I removed the crests on most of them. The scale mail suited them as cavalry. The 4th pose wears a muscle cuirass and I will be using these figures for a legate, both mounted and foot and several military tribunes, mounted and afoot. They will wear a mix of lorica ferrea and lorica corium.

  5. bill nevins says:

    Excellent work, there. Always great to see new poses.

  6. Michael Purchase says:

    Wonderful work !
    Nice that you turned toys into display pieces. Do you need extra horses?
    The cavalry standard is a great piece. It made me look at my Roman cavalry & consider a few new ideas.
    Creativity is a wonderful facet of this hobby.

    • Billy says:

      Thanks Michael!
      I have plenty of extra horses. Many of the Supreme mounted figure sculpts are not really suited to sit a horse, so I have added bases to many of them, converting them to foot figures.

    • Greg Liska says:

      Extra horses?!!! I DO!!! You have more of the horses?! Let’s talk deal!

  7. Brian Nielsen says:

    Wow!
    Very nice indeed.

  8. Mark T. says:

    These look amazing! You turned these cheapo, second rate China made figures into artworks approaching the level of Elastolin!

  9. Michael Purchase says:

    Hi Greg
    Please send your contact information to Paul to forward to me. I know I have more than a few extra Britain’s horses around here.

  10. Wayne W says:

    Some really beautiful jobs there. Very inspirational; shows me there is hope for some of those figures I’ve been avoiding. Thanks for sharing.

  11. TDBarnecut says:

    Really excellent attention to detail…do you have an opposing force for them to battle?

  12. Mike Blake says:

    Brilliant! I do so love it when someone sees beneath the surface and makes the most of cheap plastic figure. I have a ‘Legion in a box’ waiting to be transformed in the same way (but to a lower standard in my hands) and these are exactly the inspiration I need.

    BTW the plastic copies are of King & Country metal figures, with some in-fill compromises for molding/casting, so actually they are very nice sculpts to start with, and are transformed with a clean up to remove mold lines and in-fill and a half decent paint job.

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