Triari

During the last moments of Christmas day I finished basing the completed triari for my first legion of MRRs. These are OG 15's and painted up well. These minis represent a couple of firsts for me.

Xyston Spears
I substituted the wire that came packaged with the minis with the spears available through Xyston. My first concern was attaching them as I've rarely encountered this situation aside from the odd standard bearer. After much trial and error I've decided on a method of scoring ridges on the spear and model before applying JB Weld for its fixture. During the painting process they had many an opportunity to come off but always stayed firmly attached.

LBMS Transfers
Back in '08 when I was buying lead and hatching this project I had decided that the triari in each legion would go beyond a plain shield design to further suggest their status. I quickly decided to go the way of LBMS as they offered transfers to fit OG15s. When it came time to try them for the first time I had my doubts, but having read many an endorsement I took the plunge.
At first my doubts were given validation, but only due to my own oversight and possibly some clarification needed by LBMS on their site although I do not fault them. I had purchased the minis and transfers at the same time last year and did not have the minis prior to ordering the transfers. If I had, I would have seen that the OG triari shields are of a slightly different proportion than those of the hastatai/princeps. Not only are the triari shields longer, but the center of the shield is further down the axis. This contrasts with the hastatai/princeps center being exactly that, center. The problem is of course that the transfers are made with the hastatai/princeps in mind.
Rather than withdraw I reinforced the situation and made some slight trimming adjustments and made them fit as best I could. After this I needed to touch them up considerably to match the shield colors and contours. I had a couple of areas of buckling due to the slightly different shape, but that was easily dealt with buy making a small cut and allowing an overlap which after touch ups is not noticeable. Despite the oversight and the extra touch ups I'm happy with the finished product and will use them again. If I have one tip to give any first time LBMS user, its to not get discouraged. At times it may seem like they might not look as good as you hoped, but with a little help and after drying, varnishing etc, they turn out just fine. Even the simple act of application gets easier by the time you get 16 minis done, so keep trying, LBMS has a great product.