Hey there friends, Martin here.
I’ve been very busy with moving to a new flat, adjusting my computer setup, and a lot of other changes in my life. However, I found some time for Heroes. Let’s start with the biggest render. Architectural reconstructions are an important part of the project and only now I feel confident enough with Blender to really dive deep into this topic. And since I am planning to briefly show the Winter capital of Darius the Great, the magnificent city of Susa, I wanted to model it.
By the middle of the 6th century BC the ancient city of Susa had come under the rule of Persians, whose powerful Achaemenid dynasty rapidly conquered a vast territory. Darius the Great (522-486 B.C., see the previous posts) recognized the importance of the city and its administrative role in the region and made it his lowland capital. Once again, Susa became a vital, cosmopolitan city and a centre of interchange between peoples of the Mesopotamian plain and the Iranian highlands. Darius also began a significant building operation there, which resulted in the construction of a new column hall apadana , a complex of palaces and a large eastern gate.
I tried to piece this model together from various sources, but I mostly got inspired by the amazing paintings from Balage Balogh at archaeologyillustrated.com.
I also remade some older renders… Not really related to the short film, but it’s been fun anyway.
The third image is one of the oldest renders I've made for Heroes of Bronze. Ever since, it circulated a lot here on Instagram, especially among ancient history groups. However, through the years, I've learnt a lot more about Spartans and their actual looks to realize I made some errors. Therefore, I decided to (hopefully) correct those mistakes and created two new versions of this render. If I missed something or made a new historical blunder, please, do not hesitate to let me know.
Image 1 - Spartan warriors around 490 BC: typically wore heavy bronze muscle-cuirass, greaves and Corinthian helmets. While in Athens already the lighter Linothorax started to become popular, the more traditionalist Spartan army still relied on cumbersome protection of bronze. They used their shield (aspis) to cover the groin, so probably no leather flaps at the waist (Pteruges). Their shield - as was the custom for most of the Greek world at the time - were varied in their decoration, mostly using lions, bulls, scorpions, triskelion (three running legs) and other symbols. This heavy gear brought them great protection against the Persian arrows. What I am a bit confused about is the moustache - sometimes I read they shaved it, to not focus on their looks too much, sovmetimes I read they kept it. Not sure. I read Spartans shaved their moustache while leaving the beard in this period - not sure about it.
Image 2 - Spartan warriors around 430 BC: were more lightly armed warriors. Having learned valuable lessons from their struggle against Athens, the Spartan army adopted more of the Linothorax and Spolas armor types, and ditched the heavy Corinthian helmet, choosing the cone-shaped Pilos instead. This allowed for better flexibility on the battlefield, which was a must on the chaotic battlefield of the Peloponnesian war. Most hoplites might have fought without greaves (I decided to keep them). The shield stayed almost the same, only grew lighter, and especially at later period, the typical "Lambda" (symbol for Laconia) appeared, making the army more uniform in its looks. I am not entirely sure about the moustache shaving practice in this period, it probably grew out of fashion.
Image 3 - The original Spartan model with errors: The combination of the lighter Linothorax armor and heavy Corinthian would not be very typical, especially since the hoplite carries Lambda decorated shield which appeared much later. The shoulder flaps are probably nonsense. The archaic high crest in the background is much older type of crest, very rare d at the time of Greco-Persian wars and completely gone at the time of the Peloponnesian war. The greaves are not too accurate. Not too sure about the star on the helmet.
Finally, did I ever mention I've always wanted to make an illustrated novel, something like James Gurney did with his amazing Dinotopia? Well, this idea has been brewing in my mind for some time now.
Thing is, I do have a loong storyline for Heroes of Bronze thought out, with characters, storyline, side-stories, backstories and twists. All that good stuff. And of course, I can’t tell that in one short film.
Neither can I make a long series from Heroes of Bronze… yet. However, there is a possibility mentioned above - to make an illustrated book with a written story first. I've made a little test here, trying out how it might look. What do you think?
Hope you liked this update and see you next time, in more project news! Things are coming together quickly and I plan on having the short film ready by the end of the year!
Chairé,
Martin
