A handul of Walkers

Something of a record for me; i painted and based 15 men in a week! I normally do three a week if i'm up to it, but i've been really in the swing of it lately. I also needed to lower the unpainted pile a bit.

First off, the Walker retinue. 9 archers, 7 men at arms and a mounted man. It's not finished yet but i've got a good foundation now.

The stabby element. I noticed i have quite a few heavily armoured men, so the next builds will be lighter. The fully harnessed man with the glaive and dulled armour is the second brother, the mounted is the third and i have yet to build the first. I need a really good idea and build an excellent conversion for the leader.

The shooty part. A couple of conversions but mostly out of the box.

I'm aiming for a retinue of between 20-25 men, half archers or maybe slightly more.

I've also finished off the Danes, adding the leader and three hand gonners. I did forget to add a quarrel bag to the leader (!!!) so that will be added later.

I have 10 Danes, perfect for a Group in SP or some mercenary crossbowmen and harassing troops for DB.

Also did some Maston men, 2 archers and Richard Maston himself in his shining Italian plate. The mounted man at arms next to him has blued armour.

The man, out of focus but proud anyway.

Next on the painting table are the Lowlands pikemen to change the colour rythem a bit. Once they're done it's back to the English, most likely the Mastons to bring them up to strength a bit.

Craft knives and brushes

After a few weeks of not painting, i decided my plastic pile needed a lick of colour so i got cracking on 9 men. But first, a little modelling.

Ok, this idea has already been done before, taking the mounted legs and sticking them on a lesser armoured body, but how about the other way around? I hate wasteing figures, so i decided to make a scourer/prickler and a foot man at arms (without leg armour) that has mounted his nag to pursue the enemy.

I began by cutting away the legs. I managed to save the tassets on the harnessed man, damaging them only slightly. At this point i prayed it would work...

Knight and henchman about to be eaten by the big purple bear

Plenty of glue was applied and i sat them on the horses to see if they would stay...

Oh yeah! It worked!

Here they are, basking in the sun.

The prickler/whatever. I used pike arms, with the pike shortened slightly. Not sure on the left arm, might change the arms to make it look like he's actually holding the reins properly. The legs went on a treat, and didn't require and miliput!

The man at arms. I'm glad the tassets stayed on, helps cover the gap. I also shaved away the horse trappings over the rump, as he's only got a horse for riding to battle. I have added stirups since the picture was taken.

As for painting, i've started properly on the Walker retinue. I chose a stag's head for the badge, and think it came out well on them. The billman has a badge on his plakart and the man at arms has one on both shoulders, but the camera thought it would be funny to run out of battery and tell the spare batteries not the work. It wasn't even April 1st!

I did get some photos of the archers though. The man on the right has had his chain mail trimmed back, turning it into a livery jacket.

You can see the mentioned jacket better here.

Red and blue has been done a lot (on several real retinues in fact) but i like the colours and it helps tie my forces together; all English have either red or green on them, the French are blue and the Flemmings are white.

I have also done the bases, but today the weather is cold and rainy, no good for taking good photos.

There are some Danish handgunners and a couple of mounted men that need pictures taken, so that's for another post.

Finally, this is my final post before my bithday, tomorrow. I'll be a big 19, and any money i might get will go towards an order to the Perrys for some metal figures (light cavalry, more horses to make some wagons and perhaps a box of mercenaries, which will be the last in a while or i'll get obsessive).

Militia done and dusted

100th post and the white coated militia are finished!

All is finished, bases and all. I like how they came out.

In total, they number 12 pole armed men and 4 archers.

The fully harnessed man is not part of the militia, but is a test for my next retinue (Walkers).

Pictures aren't great as it's a bit dull here :(

And look what came in the post for me today!

A medieval renaissance

Finished three more militia men.

I think it's all the inspiration, with the discovery of Richard III and Battle Royale III on the Lead Adventure Forum that made me break out the brushes and continue the 28's.

A bill man, the banner bearer and a chain mail armoured soldier (miliput conversion). I might add a buckler later.

Below, the band so far. Only a one man and perhaps 2 archers to make to archer group 6 men.

I also made some more Danes, with one conversion inspired by the gun commander below (taken from je-lay-emprins blog, a very nice blog and a must for medieval lovers). The commander has a plakart over his doublet, which i copied. 

My result, a Dane crossbow leader. He is accompanied by some mercenary handgunners and, with the leader in the crossbow group and one man with the handgunners, will give me all the Danes i need. That's 10 men in total.

Speaking of Battle Royale on the Lead Adventure forum, i wondered if i could have a force that big. A quick count up revealed i have 240 foot and 36 cavalry, either painted, plastic or waiting on sprues. So when i'm finally done i will almost have BOTH forces! But that's in a long time yet.

Making a start

Made a start on my new 15s and painted up two of them. They went quickly and they might not win any painting competitions but i'm looking for a full force, more impressive en masse. Just the bases to do and click for more detail.

I did a little conversion on the spear man, turning the hand and clipping a hole in the spear. I did add a little axe head in plasticard but it fell off so he's a spearman. I kept highlights to a minimum, mainly on the armour and the crossbowman's surcoat.

I've also made a start on a hall and two houses for my campaigns in Runissia and the Kaliad Shore. I'm aiming for a mix of Saxon/Viking buildings for the poorer and rural buildings with later medieval manor houses and towers/keeps for the richer and fashionable men.

Figures to show the size.

The hall's big, but it has to be! I won't stick the roof on so men can go inside.

I plan on doing a tower, like the one i have already in 28mm but perhaps in stone this time, as well as some more farmers houses and a barn and smithy. That was i can have a village, a manor around the hall or a motte and bailey castle around the tower. I'll make a circular palisade from plastic sprue too. Hmmm, plenty to do!

They get painted 2 by 2

Two more Not Romans. I tried a different shield design, sticking with the same colours but bringing a bit of difference to the group.

Patterns certainly look a bit late Roman/Romano-British.

What a surprise, i now have a group for Dux Britanniarum. It was like i planned it...

Not the best photos but you get the idea. More of these on the workbench to train for the Runissians.

I also bought a sample pack from Legio Heroica of some Crusaders, Feudal and a Swiss pike man to see what they're like in the flesh. With them i should be able to start terrain and see how easy they are to convert, then maybe a full order?!?

(Not) Romans

The first four not Romans are painted, the first 15mm i've done in years!

Since i bought 28mm Vikings and Saxons, i've only done 28mm until now. I still have lots of Perry Wars of the Roses to do and plenty of games to play, but i feel like a change of pace for a moment.

Why not Romans? Well, because i've not painted them to be Romans, one even has a tartan cloak! I painted the shields the same to keep them unified. I might make a Dux starter force with them (elites with regular shields, warriors with similar-ish shields).

After painting bigger figures for a while, these men take little time, but easy to make scruffy. I only went for a single highlight on the tunic and cloaks, being the biggest part of the figure (minus the shield). I thought they didn't look that good, but i based them and they look better.

Static grass on these men makes it look they they're in untamed fields, perfect! The tartan cloak is the front row on the right.

The spears are bent, yes. I could have bent they away but didn't want to break them.

I have plenty more of these to practice on before i get some Legion Heroica (maybe March/April), giving me time to do some Perrys too. I might do they at a slower pace, one or two at a time as not to get frustrated painting them. They seem a lot more trouble now!

Comparing painting times, it can take me several hours to do 6 Perry 28mm (shorter if i only do a couple at once) while these took an hour/hour and a half to paint, minus basing. Quite a difference!

Militia archers and a little 'how to'

I thought i'd show you how i made my 'light box';

It's very simple and rudimentary, made up of some paper or plasticard, a box, bluetack and, of course, the figures and a camera.

Put some bluetack on the box.

And stick. Easy.

And these are the photos they take. Here are the first of the militia retinue, three archers and one with a crossbow.

The right hand man obviously forgot his jacket, and the only thing that ties him with the group is the red diamond on his jacket.

Pavise stuck on. I only did a very simple design on the facing. They're only militia after all!

All finished, except bases, but they can wait.

I've also been experimenting with bigger hills in my games after a post on someone's blog and a message on the Toofatlardies yahoo group. So i placed two Perry boxes under the carpet, and the hills rose high.

Solid border tower looks out for raiders (Vikings, Saxons or even rival English).

The Mastons and the 'Light Box'

First post of the year!

Little experiment of the photo taking front, trying out a 'light box', something i saw on a forum a while ago and decided to try it out, to see if it improves by pictures.

Here it is:

In reality, it's a sheet of thin plasticard blue tacked onto a box.
So, these are the first of the Mastons:

The photos might not be great, but you can see the general look.

One of the 'sergeants' for the Mastons. He's probably an esquire or country gentleman. He will be leading some bill men.

A conversion of a bill carrying arms to now carry a sword and buckler. I made him a while back and have only now got around to paint him.

The halberdier who once carried a banner, but he seemed to lightly armoured to be one. He looks better with a halberd.

Here you can see the badge.

One of the few musicians i have ever painted (not sure why). With only carries a dagger, he won't really want to get stuck in. In Dux there are no rules for them, but someone made a banner and musician group, and they are useful for LOTR.

Man waving his sallet. The feather's defying gravity a bit, probably a fake, stiff one.

Another kneeling man. He's falling over a bit, and might be changed. His purpose will become apparent in the picture below...

'Protect me Jenkins!'

Yes, the pavise carrying servant who's only job is the protect the boss from arrows. He will join a 'command group', the leader for my whole force (if i ever play them as one, big army. One day...).

Some plastics for Walker's retinue, a kneeling archer, a bill man and the sergeant of the bill men. Fist time i've used that left arm.

Two of Walker's men at arms, with putty hands. Finally! Right, now for some paint.