Clubman - Archer, Modified Warlord Games

This is another modified plastic figure, taken the Warlord Games 'Firelock Storming Party' box set. Having read that the bow and arrows that were still being used occasionally on the battlefield during the wars I wanted to portray something completely different, hence this figure represents a 17th century archer.

As I didn't want to make or depict an entire unit of archers I thought it would be more interesting to make an individual clubman who came armed with bow and arrow(s). Given that he depicts a clubman I deliberately didn't want to give this model a quiver of arrows as I wanted to give the impression that he was probably a gamekeeper/poacher and not someone who had a dozen or more arrows at his disposal, more like someone who used a couple of arrows to hunt for food. To add to his individuality I gave him an extra bag and a woollen hat made from greenstuff. 

As with the clubman commander figure I cut away the belly box. Both arms are taken from the Perry's WotR plastic boxset.

Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted that I had forgotten to dot in the eyes before taking this photo. I normally add these using a technical pen. It's surprising the difference this tiny detail can made to the overall look of the model (no pun intended).

Clubman Commander, Modified Warlord Games

This model is a modified plastic figure, the original taken the Warlord Games 'Firelock Storming Party' box set, which forms part of my ragged group of clubmen. I'm currently working similar models that will appear as dragoons but with this one I wanted a figure that would offer a degree of flexibility and so could represent a cavalry officer, dragoon, militia or, as titled above, a (rather well-to-do) clubman (any excuse to have a go at modifying plastic figure). The majority of the clubmen are standard, stock figures but I still detail them as and when I finish painting them.

This particular figure required a lot of cutting and carving, more than I initially envisaged. First the top half of the head was removed and then the sides of the head and face had to be narrowed in order for the distinctive helmet to fit. Anyone who has a box of Warlord Games plastic cavalry set will hopefully recognise the original part. If not then the top part of the lobster pot helmet consists of the crown and the face bars. The neck pieces (or the lobster tail, if you will) of the helmet and the hair were added with greenstuff.

The extended left arm was also taken from Warlord Games plastic cavalry set as was the carbine. So that the left and right arm matched I added a cuff, using greenstuff, to the left arm/hand. The carbine was a cut and shunt job. I chopped in half, well to be more accurate cut out a small section (the size of the model's hand) out and then glued the pieces either side of the left hand making sure that they aligned properly (unlike the first attempt seen in some of the original photos).

The small belly box was also cut away.

As the figure is obviously waving his sword around I removed the original sword hilt from the model.

The large turnovers on the boots were also created with greenstuff.

C19th Horse Drawn Utility Cart, 4Ground

Costing £3.50 this is a small kit, this time from 4Ground, that I would consider to be in the pocket money range of purchases, such as this [chicken coop]. Although the label states it's a 19th century utility cart I don't think it looks entirely out of place for my ECW games and even medieval set ups.

Utility Cart

Relatively simple to put together (each kit is individually rated indicating the skill level required) I would recommend reading the instructions before popping out all the pieces from their board. Another recommendation is to dry fit all the pieces before gluing them in place. 

Yet another thing I would recommend is to paint the wheels and side of the wagon before gluing the wheels in place as it is quite awkward trying to paint them afterwards - as I discovered. A simple error to make but one that I will avoid in the future. 

Utility Cart

The model was given a rudimentary paintjob given that will only ever appear on the table top as a terrain piece.

Medieval Chapel, Tabletop Workshop

I received this model was a gift from a regular reader (cheers Derek) but as usual it has taken me quite a while to complete it.

This model depicts a small chapel which I feel is more appropriate to skirmish style games rather than a larger church model (said someone who made a castle great tower) and as such it will eventually form an essential focus for a scenario based on a real life event that took place in the 1432 and directly involved Lord Dudley and few of his retainers (or henchmen, it depends which side you were on).

The interior of medieval churches would often be a riot of colour as can be seen with a rebuilt medieval church such as an example at St Fagans Wales [here]. A smaller version can be found [here] but because I'm lazy I have left the interior plain.

Interior detail

Interior detail

Corner detail showing filled in location holes

Although the model is perfectly acceptable straight out of the box, regular readers probably won't be surprised that I couldn't resist altering it in some form (I was about to say 'improve' it but that's a matter of option) I wanted to give the impression that the church had been rendered and whitewashed. This is a feature rarely seen nowadays mainly because, ironically, the Victorians tended to remove it in an attempt to make the churches appear more medieval. To achieve this look I used Milliput to roughly fill in the gaps on the exterior walls but leaving just enough of the original surface detail to show though. I used Milliput rather than greenstuff because basically its the same stuff and a lot cheaper. Milliput is made from the same materials as greenstuff but has been mixed with chalk to bulk it out.

I made the model so that I could remove the roof and two walls. This was relatively easy. I initially glued two of the walls in place and then filled in the location holes that were visible from the outside. I didn't cut away any of the location pegs but I did covered the location walls on the over walls with thin pieces of greenstuff. 

Wargames Foundry Friar
shown for scale reference.

Unfortunately it appears that the manufacturer, Tabletop Workshop, no longer trades but it looks the model can still be bought online or possibly from old fashioned bricks and mortar stores if you're lucky.

Boris and Bobby, Perry Miniatures

Here finally side by side are the two similar figures mentioned previously. How I constructed the plastic figure is detailed in a previous post which can be seen [here].

One is a figure I made from plastic parts taken from various Perry boxsets and the other is a standard metal figure available from Perry Miniatures.

Front View

Rear View

All I can say is, if you're going to copy or steal an idea from someone than make sure it's from the best.

Hunting Party, Perry Miniatures

This set of figures came about as a exercise as to how I could use a number of models given to me as a gift. Why I made a sabot base especially for these figures will be detailed later. 

The pointing left arm was originally taken from the original Perry's 'Wars of the Roses Infantry 1455 - 1487 boxset but this was for a man-at-arms so was covered with plate armour. This was cut away and then greenstuff was used to remodel the cloth.

The second mod was so subtle that I'd forgot I'd actually done it until I came to write up this post. The right arm holding the spear was taken from the Perry's 'War of the Roses Light Cavalry 1450-1500' but as the set represents weapons for horsemen the lance looked too long for this figure. In order to correct this I cut off the spear tip, removed around an inch of the plastic shaft and glued the tip back on.

After (paint)

Before (paint)

I've used a sabot base because there are a set of special house rules available on the Dux Rampant forum which means the dogs can be used as a unit when playing Lion Rampant, which can be found [here].

The dogs were made for Simon Chick (aka Painterman) who has an amazing collection of late medieval figures and is mentioned on the Perry's Light Cavalry boxset as the 'go-to' reference for Burgundians, his blog can be found [here].

I was given these particular models as a give from a friend I met via this blog (hello Derek!)

Wilhelm Bremen, Modified Man-At-Arms, Perry Miniatures

Wilhelm, or Billy to his mates, presents a slightly less well off man-at-arms as indicated by the fact he has a lack of lower leg armour and is wearing boots. It's a nice touch from the Perry's as not everyone could afford a full harness. This armour is more Gothic (i.e. German) in style with it's distinctive fluted detailing.

Details of how this model was achieved can be found [here].

WIP

Wearing his lucky red leggings

The city of Bremen is unofficially twinned with Dudley. I say 'unofficially' because I believe the status is technically 'Befreundete Staedte' which means 'Friendly City' even though Dudley is actually just a town (one of the biggest in the country after Reading). It's probably better to think of the relationship as 'drinking buddies' seeing as both have a strong brewing tradition.

I also suspect that the fact that my old primary school sports kit [here] matched the home colours of the football team SV Werder Bremen [here] wasn't a coincidence either.

Sir Boris of Bilston, Modified Man-at-Arms, Perry Miniatures

Seems appropriate to repost this, all things considered:
This is the completed figure I made up from various bits and pieces all taken from the Perry medieval plastic boxsets. Some of the thought process (haha, as if) and techniques are detailed in this previous post/ramble can be read [here].

The choice of blond hair for his bob was deliberate as I wanted to introduce an extra element of colour to the model and hopefully make him stand out on the tabletop. He does now bare an unfortunate resemblance to the current Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who's full name is actually 'Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson' which does make him sound like a proper medieval baron.

The post title comes from that fact that Johnson was,very early in his career, sent to the midlands by his employer The Times newspaper in an attempt to show him how real people lived. He lodged in Bilston, near Wolverhampton with “a woman called Brenda”. He even claimed that it was this work experience that turned him into a Tory.

My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it."

As this miniature bares an unintentionally similar resemblance to another metal Perry figure [here] I may paint up that model and label him Sir Michael of Lichfield in honour of Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, who also sports an equally distinctive (I would say 'comical' but my mom told me not to be rude to strangers) blond hairstyle.

In an attempt to keep this blog balanced I did try to find a bad haircut among the members of the opposition but met with no success (although Ed Miliband did sport a corker in his youth which resembled Henry V's puddin' basin style).

I'm unsure which retinue this model will eventually fit into. I have several options that I have planned including those for the Earl of Warwick, Lord Audley or the Duke of Buckingham, all with relatively local connections. These characters would have enjoyed far larger retinues in real life but I'm limiting them to the six men-at-arms as allowed by the Lion Rampant rules. As I am a benevolent dictator I will probably also allow them to have a limited number of billmen or archer units. Lord Dudley will of course get a full strength retinue (my toy soldiers, my rules).

Medieval Bills

This post is more of an observation rather than anything more technical. I often read that a number of medieval weapons were developed from agricultural implements. This is most obvious with weapons such as the flail and the English bill, a type of polearm that has a distinctive shaped head (see images below).

Exhibit A - Weapon or Tool?

Exhibit B - Purpose built weapon? 

Due to my current WoTR project during a recent sight-seeing trip to the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry I paid particular attention to their medieval armour collection. The Coventry sallet is probably better known but displayed either side the helmet are two bills. These may be two of the twenty seven bills purchased for the city of Coventry and delivered to St. Mary's Guildhall in 1458. These caught my attention because it was during another visit (to a Victorian pumping station in Burton - I know, I lead a pretty rock'n'roll lifestyle) that I noticed a large display of hand bills (or bill hook) all with quite seemingly random patterns. Talking to the owner of the collection he informed me that the majority on display came a company called Edward Elwell Ltd that used to be based in Wednesbury (Junction 9 of the M6 and IKEA for anyone who is struggling to place it and which is literally down road from where I live). It is known that there has been a forge making iron at Wednesbury from at least the reign of Elizabeth I. Every single pattern and type of bill on display had a unique reference number stamped into it which you could use to order from the company catalogue.

Elwell handbill

Elwell handbills. Note several have a spike.

Elwell handbills

Of particular interest are the bills which have vertical spikes (or so I thought) similar to the shape seen in the weapon version. I asked the owner why an agricultural tool would need to feature such a shape. He then went on to explain that I was looking at the pattern from the wrong point of view. The sharp point isn't the working part, it was actually the V wedge that was used to locate and push over branches and stems when hedge laying. This technique is now quite rare in the UK but can still be seen occasionally in the countryside.

I might be completely wrong (normally am) but looking at one of the medieval bills (exhibit A above) it seemed that it was a bog standard agricultural hand tool that had been 'upgraded' to a weapon by having a horizontal spike forge-welded to it.

In light of this I have altered a few of my own billmen to reflect that they had received a slightly more rural style of bill.

Looking at the models I may, in the future, modify a few other bills so that they look like they have a simple socket joint and remove the tangs from the shaft (I like to give my loyal readers something to look forward to).