Cruppelarius (?) and 'Minotaur'

Cruppelarius ?

The question mark in the title really refers to the fact that, as far as I can find out, no-one actually knows what a Crupelarius looked like though it seems that everyone is agreed that he was some type of heavily armoured gladiator.
The figure shown here though is not what I purport to be a Cruppelarius, but is a generic 'Heavy' gladiator, who can easily stand in for any such gladiator.

The figure itself is a minor conversion from the vignette in the Pegasus set that I used to make a casualty from (see here).
I've used the gladiator giving the 'coup de grace' as the basis for my 'heavy' gladiator.

Can you spot the surgery ?

The conversion is very simple requiring little in the way of major modelling skills.
The only piece of modelling he needs is a small part of his thigh filling in with some modelling putty (or something similar) but as it's less than a centimetre across it should be within the capabilities of anyone.
In addition to the plastic surgery (teehee) he also needs a sword and a shield.
I made the sword from a piece of the sprue that came with the set and the shield from a piece of thin plasticard.
 

He's not heavy... He's  my .....

If you're thinking that the sword looks a tad long for a gladius, then you'd be correct if it had been intended as a gladius.
In fitting with the idea that he's a "heavy" a decided to make it a spartha (a long sword basically) for variation if nothing else.

The shield was also a scratch-build from thin card with a boss made from a plastic BB shot cut in half. 
You'll also notice that although he's meant to be  heavily armoured, what passes as armour for his chest and back, hardly covers a half the area.

 In the second photograph above, alongside the vignette, is a standing figure,  in another hopeless (imo) pose for a gladiator.

I converted my version of this figure into a 'Minotaur'.
I think I got the idea originally from a film where a character played by Sean Connery kills such a best (Time Bandits?).

He's still a bit static but I think a little more interesting.

 There was quite a bit of modelling required for this figure and a bit of shopping!
Once I had made up my mind to make this figure  the search was on for a suitable cow's or bull's head (my modelling skills only go so far).
I found a suitable looking piece in a Poundlandworld-type shop (Bargain Buys?)and upon getting it home found that not only was it a good size but that the model cow hollow and even better, it was modelled in two halves that snapped together !
This made cutting the head of the cow into a suitable fit very easy as the whole head fitted over the gladiator's head fairly comfortably which meant I didn't have to cut his head off.

The two horns were made from pieces of sprue that were twisted and filed to shape  before being glued into sockets on the cow's skull.
The hide of the cow, covering the gladiators back was made from tissue paper soaked in pva.
The weapon was another scratchbuild from  sprue a piece of chain (Poundlandworld) and another plastic BB shot to make a flail.
It does give a little more variety to the weaponry in use, although I could have made a much easier alternate weapon such as a maul or mace.

With a little conversion work I now have an additional pair of Gladiators  that I wouldn't have had otherwise.













That's it then for another week, thanks for taking the timeout to look and I do hope you find something interesting here/