Roman Butcher-Birds and the 2nd Aztec War.

[nev]

Romulus Cassianum, Pilus Prior of the XI cohort of Legio V Aluadae watched as the last of his 30 Carnifex fighter-bombers were loaded onto the aircraft carrier Lucius Cornelius Sulla.  Happy that all his planes were safely on board he went down below decks to check that they were being stowed away safely – he didn't trust the ham-fisted navy types to treat Army planes with due care and attention.

2 years now his men had been training for this – over the empty deserts of Gaetulia, the wilderness of Hibernia, the high mountains of Cappodacia - a series of secret military exercises of increasing size and complexity had been fought out, Army and Air Force practising combined arms, honing their skills.  Most of the men thought they were preparing for an offensive against the Huns, but he knew better.  Romulus had been a Centurion in the XXX Air Legion when the Aztec War had broken out III years previously and as such had been a confidant of the Legatus, Terencius Campionicus – now Augustus Terencius Campionicus Aztecus, Emperor of Rome.  He knew how even whilst the fighting was ongoing that Terencius talked about how Rome could and would wreak vengeance on the Aztecs.  Thousands of Roman merchants had been sacrificed to their bloodthirsty god Huitzilopochtli an abhorrent crime of the gravest sort and a towering insult to Rome – Terencius had sworn at the time by Jupiter Optimus Maximus that he would make the Aztecs pay and now, his position on the throne secured, payback had begun and the men knew that they would not be fighting against the Hun after all.

IV Roman legions had been slowly and secretly brought into the Roman colony at Nova Eboracum in Americanum Inferior and last week they had launched their own surprise attack.  Progress had been swift at first as the Legions broke through the Aztec lines around the colony, but as the Aztecs rushed reinforcements to the war zone progress had slowed down.  Romulus knew that before his ship set sail the IInd phase of the operation would be underway – the Appacheans who had suffered for centuries at the hands of the Aztecs had been secretly re-armed and re-trained by the Romans and would be launching a surprise attack from the north west, hoping to win back their ancient ancestral lands and drawing off more Aztec troops.  Setting the stage for the IIIrd phase of the plan – but that was still a secret known only to a handful of men aboard the fleet about to set sail from ports up and down the west coast of Iberia.  He would brief his pilots on their role when they were at sea, V days from now......

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This is a Revell 1/72 FW-190, originally intended as a Fascist Mexico plane, http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,19882.0.html
but subsequently dedicated to the service of Mars.

Here is how it was



Then some Roman Red added



Then some paint chipping and a wash with MIG Productions Neutral wash.





Then using a tissue moistened with thinners the excess was wiped off which as well as highlighting the panel lines also dulled down the NMF


I'm also going to experiment with pigments and filters to really dirty this bird up

[Brian da Basher]

The paint chipping is extraordinary and really makes this one for me! Excellent work, Nev!

Brian da Basher

[BlackOps]

Nev, you've got my attention!  Waiting patiently for more Dirty Bird pics

[sotoolslinger]

Very neat backstory and super bird

[SSgt Baloo]

  Of course you realize you're now going to have to show us what the Aztec forces are flying. 

[noxioux]

FW-190's don't usually get a rise out of me, but that FW is Effing cool.

[nev]

  Of course you realize you're now going to have to show us what the Aztec forces are flying. 

Haven't thought too much about that....although they do use their vast amounts of gold to buy the latest war machines from their allies the Shogunate

[NARSES2]

  Of course you realize you're now going to have to show us what the Aztec forces are flying. 

Its not so much what they are flying but all the "heraldry"  they will be carying that's excercising my imagination  Elite Jaguar Squadrons et al 

I may have to revive some of my ideas for some "Roman" armour - Italian WWII A/C's on the Sassinid border ?

[Sisko]

I am liking this!

[cthulhu77]

BEAUTIFUL !!!!!!!

[Sauragnmon]

There is only one comment I might have, Nev, aside from the fact that the paint chipping and the whole look is just sweet.

I might think the roundels a little unfitting for a true continued Roman Empire scenario, since those are the Italian roundels, this is true, but hold nothing of the true standby of Roman Iconography - the spread-winged eagle.  Just one thought, it seemed incongruent with the SPQR and the rest of the look, but hey, it's your model right?

Ok, that's said, still looks pretty damn sexy, and the paint chip looks perfect.

[BlackOps]

What if there was an olive branch wreath around the current roundels? Just a thought.

[nev]

I might think the roundels a little unfitting for a true continued Roman Empire scenario, since those are the Italian roundels, this is true, but hold nothing of the true standby of Roman Iconography - the spread-winged eagle.  Just one thought, it seemed incongruent with the SPQR and the rest of the look, but hey, it's your model right?.

Ah, but what is the WW2 Italian roundel?  3 Fasces - and the Fasces was the symbol of authority in the Roman Republic...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasces

Thanks for the compliments

[Draken35]

Fascinating history... I like that very much.
For the Romans decals, I would have preferred the SPQR standard reproduced, but I admit that the fasces are more easy to find and reproduce 

[NARSES2]

As Nev says The Fasces was the symbol of Roman authority form the very begining (whence it's use by Mussolini)  and you could also use the smaller Fasces that the RAI used in the blue disc on "Roman" aircraft in my view.

You could use the Eagle for individual squadron markings - Eagle holding the unit badge in a globe in it's claws ?