Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!
—000—
This weeks miniature (or should that be this weeks knight?) is one of four from the “The Knights with Two Handed Weapons – Pack 1”. Applying the heraldry rules I decided to make up my own on this occasion and went with two white Chevrons on a red background. It is possible, might even be probable given the colour choice, that the simple design does actually align to a real knight. I will undertake a search at some point but if it does then it is purely coincidental on my part.
—000—
Well It Made Me Laugh
—000—
The Knights On TIM’s Modelling Table
Last week I found this image on Pinterest.
As best I can tell at the moment these Baron’s represent 25 of the key figures in the Baron’s War. Therefore if I am to be true to the history then these shield designs and colours are the ones I should be going for. The problem as I see it however is that yellow and red completely dominate.
It maybe there is a reason for this colour dominance, perhaps there are family connections which tie some of the Baron’s together? Perhaps it’s just coincidence or simply a restricted colour pallette given the available paints and dyes of the day? Whatever the reality I will be deviating from it. I will do some for sure, I have in fact already by chance done the blue and yellow of Richard de Percy, but I will look outside of these for more interesting options where I can. I will still aim for true heraldry but if the geezer fought in a different campaign then I will employ poetic licence if I think the end result will look cool.
—000—
Give Me Five
Now when it comes to films I do like a good saga. A film of three hours of more is is just my cup of tea. Watching a film like that on a cold winters night with the fire blazing and single malt in my hand makes for some perfect escapism. One of the other things I like about some of these films is that the scenery can often steal the show. So this week I have gone for my top five films where the cinema photography has for me made a film truly epic. In no particular order:
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Legends of the Fall
- Dances Woth Wolves (extended 4 hour version)
- The Last of the Mohicans
- Doctor Zhivago
—000—
This week TIM has been listening to …
“Downtown” by Petula Clark. This song was released in 1964 when I was seven years of age (was it really that long ago?) the same year that Zulu came out at the cinema. When my brother and I were taken to see Zulu (I had to sit on the upturned folding seat so I could see the screen) it was, as I recall, a dark and dismall winters night when we all set off “Downtown”. Although this song is not directly linked to the film I have always put the two together. Everytime I listen to it this track conjures up the most evocative images of that time in my life and will simply always remain one of my favourite tracks of all time, not so much for the song itself but the memories. Now where did I put my Zulu DVD ….
—000—
This week TIM has been watching …
“Glory” starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. An excellent American Civil War film and one which I hadn’t watched in a long time.
—000—
Remember …
When someone says get a grip, as tempting as it is, they don’t always mean around their neck.
—000—
TIM
Another great looking knight. Looking at that healdry, I’d assume it’s pretty much guaranteed that at least one knight used that design over the years, but no harm in that the way I see it. 🙂
As for the cartoon… you have ginger hair, right? :O
LikeLiked by 5 people
Yes I reckon at least one knight must have, law of averages. Haha, yes I did have ginger hair but what I have left is closer to white, like a wizard! 🙂
LikeLiked by 4 people
Lovely job matey – building up nicely!!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Cheers Alex, I’m happy with the progress so far. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Another great knight TIM, By a look at the shields and heavy use of red and yellow, they were all extremely rich, s the spices to make these colours needed to be imported in. At the end of the day it’s your army and you put in what you want.
LikeLiked by 4 people
I do love interesting facts like that Dave, certainly makes sense. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Great looking Knight again TIM. Interesting to see all of the Baron’s shield heraldry designs too.
Cheers,
Pete.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thanks Pete. To my surprise there seems to be a great deal to this heraldry lark. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nice mini! 🙂 Quite a good pose I think!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thanks John.🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
lovely work on the knight! I can’t believe you got those lines on his shield so crisp with a paintbrush, it must be a transfer right! 😉
Love the joke, reminded of one I heard on TV the other week…
“So why aren’t you and your wife getting on?”
“Well she said to me that she should have married someone who looked looked a bit more like Charles Bronson, and I said I should have married someone who looked a bit less like Charles Bronson, and you know what women are like…….”
Cheers Roger.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Cheers Roger, love the joke! 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another excellent knight! Looking at the shield designs from the Baron’s War I can’t help but notice that if William Mallet held his shield at 90 degrees it would appear to show three smiley faces – I don’t think he was taking the war as seriously as the other knights…
LikeLiked by 3 people
Haha, an excellent spot! 😂
LikeLiked by 3 people
The knight came out nicely and that information on the era of knights you’re painting is interesting and presents a challenge. I would recommend not being to devoted to historical fact with these knights because as you said, that is a lot of yellow and red to paint otherwise…
In regards to your movie list, I don’t have a top five (it is a good idea for a list but I can’t think of a lot at the moment), but I couldn’t help but think of Kingdom of Heaven. Have you seen that one? I bet you have since it comes from an era that is near Baron’s War and it features a lot of knights. There is one scene in particular where the Christian army is mustered and there is a parlay between the two kings (Baldwin and Saladin, if I remember right) that is certainly visually inspiring!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Fortunately there is plenty of heraldry out there to inspire so I won’t be doing all that yellow and red. Funny enough I watched Kingdom of Heaven yet again only the other day, epic film and a great scene.🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
I figured you’d probably seen it! Not many “modern” medieval movies that I can think of so I’m thankful that KoH is a good one 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Glory is an excellent movie. I saw it the first time when I was studying the US civil war in high school. I remember fighting back tears when Denzel was being whipped. Hard to watch but fascinating. Love the mini and I’m really enjoying the shield designs. My five: 1. Spartacus. 2. The Vikings. 3. Gettysburg. 4. Lord of the rings the two towers. 5. The Green Mile.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good list IRO. Think I’ll have to get Spartacus out again soon. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
I bloody love it. I love the movie Gladiator too but Spartacus was where it all started for me
LikeLiked by 3 people
Great figure again mate , funny thing is I have always like lunging figures !! Your film list is pretty well spot on ! and I’m with you on Down town, and like you mate I was a little tacker visiting the big smoke when I first heard it and wow did I get a shiver down my little spine !!!
LikeLiked by 3 people
It’s funny how some songs mean so much and go way beyond the song itself. This is certainly one for me. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Your right mate, another one in a similar vein was “Tar and cement” sung originally by the great Dusty Springfield but covered here bye our own Lynn Randell .
LikeLiked by 2 people
Don’t know that one Pat so will go check it out.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Another great post with a beautifully painted knight.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Mark. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person