Category: Dark Age

Last Saturday I completed the two remaining foot figures which I had for my Footsore Baron’s War army.  As regular followers are aware I still have a number of mounted knights still to do.  I very much want to complete those and hopefully will make further progress on them throughout the year.  However, for now it is time for me to move on and concentrate on other things, specifically my “Earl’s Visit” diorama which, incidentally will feature a dozen or so mounted knights albeit not from Footsore range.  More on those in a future “Dio-Bolical Monday” post.

What I couldn’t do dear reader was leave you without a few photo’s of the army as it currently stands.  As you will see I haven’t gone to any great length to display the figures against a scenic background or on a diorama like base.  Maybe one day I’ll do something about that.  What you can see in the images is 90 figures, 10 short of the hundred I was aiming for but the difference is made up of the mounted knights I haven’t done yet.  I have not done much in the way of close up photo’s as everyone of the figures on display has at one time or another featured in a previous post.

One thing I have yet to decide on is what to do with the army.  For now I think I will keep it until I have done the remaining figures, after that I’m not so sure.  I love the knights but some of the other figures do little for me.  Nothing to do with the castings or quality of the figures but they aren’t anything special for display and as I’m not a gamer they will just sit around gathering dust or be hidden away in a box.  I might therefore look to sell them on eBay at some point.

As things currently stand this will be my last Saturday post for a while.  Along with my “Midweek Musings” I expect to return to a weekend post at some point in the not to distant future.  

Images of the army below.

TIM

As I’d hoped I managed to get the last two figures of my Footsore Baron’s War army completed in time for this Satruday’s post.  For now the project is complete.  Yes, I have some foot figures to do but these are all duplicates.  Yes, I have a dozen or so mounted knights to do and these will get done albeit later in the year.

So, with regards to this project what next and what did I think of doing it?

What next is easy, take some group photo’s and get them posted.  When that’s done and when my diorama is completed return to painting the mounted knights and any duplicate figures.  I’ll probably take a good look at what new figures have been issued too.

As far as the project itself goes I’d have to say that overall I enjoyed it.  The quality of the figures are excellent so no complaints there.  The peasants and surfs are nice figures but in truth I found these pretty dull to paint.  With hindsight I ought to have done more of these bit by bit rather than leaving them mainly to the end.

The foot knights on the other hand were great and I enjoyed painting everyone and trying to stretch myself further with my freehand.  The mounted knights were even better but I totally underestimated how long each one would take.  Of course I could have painted them quicker but I really wanted each one to be the best I could do them and still do which is why I will return to them in time.

At no point in this project have I ever had all the figures out together so I’m looking forward to doing that and seeing just what the massed ranks look like.  Hopefully I’ll get to see that either next week or the week after.  In any event the group shots will I suspect be my last Saturday post for a while.

TIM

With less and less space to work due to the size of my diorama project I decided to press on with getting the final few figures done on my Footsore Baron’s War army.  This week I got two archers done which by my calculations has left me with just three to do now.

In reality I do have about five or six other foot figures to do but these are all duplicates and will get done eventually but not for now.  I’ve put these with the mounted Knights I have to do and will aim to get these done throughout the year but only after my diorama is done.  Without wishing to say too much, as more will be revealed under my diorama posts, I have a dozen mounted figures to paint for that eventually along with numerous foot figures as well.

Not much to say on the archers other than images are below.

TIM

Continuing to plough through my Baron’s War figures I had a pleasant surprise in that I had a knight to paint which I had overlooked.  Although these figures take longer to do, which then meant less time spent on my diorama project, it was much more fun to paint.  I’ve got out of the rhythm of painting knights so I had to stop and remind myself, especially when it came to doing the freehand star on the shield.

In search of a name I once again delved into my family tree and came up with the name of Sir Tobias Denning.

TIM

With Telford behind me I’m keen to establish some routine back into my modelling world.  So far it’s proven harder than I imagined, life as always simply gets in the way.  I’ll get there but it’s just taking a little longer than I’d hoped.  It helped that I had a partially started a banner man which only required a modest amount for completion which was just as well given the time I had available.

I remain keen to at least finish all the foot figures I have still to do from the Footsore Baron’s War range before the end of the year.  Unfortunately there is no way I will get all the mounted Knights done which I have to do.  Fortunately my deadlines are self imposed so whatever the prevailing circumstances I don’t intend to beat myself up about it.  Besides I have a multitude of projects swimming around on my head which I now want to get started on.

Next week I hope to make a start on a recent model I bought while still trying to chip away at the Baron’s War foot figures.  Until then I will leave you with some images of this little chap, another addition to my little army.

TIM

Another day another Knight!  My penultimate Footsore Baron’s War knight in the set of figures with two handed weapons.  They will bring out more in due course I’m sure but for now I’m nearly there with this part of the range.

This is another figure with made up heraldry, well as far as I know it is and with it a made up name taken from my family tree.  Whilst the paint work might look fiddly, and to some extent it is given the 28mm scale of the figure, the reality is I’ve gotten reasonably used to painting what amounts to little more than straight lines.  As for the colour scheme I thought I’d have another go with a blue and yellow combo as I really think they go well together.

Images of Sir William below.

TIM

Time this week has been at a premium.  As you read this I am on my way to Oxford with She Who Must Be Obeyed taking She Also Thinks She Should Be Obeyed to the start of her new life at University.  As expected anxiety levels for us all have gone through the roof in the lead up to this dramatic change in our lives and as such modelling has had to very much take a back seat.  I did however mange to just about get something together for this post and get another figure underway which hopefully I’ll get finished in time for next Wednesday.  Time will tell of course.

What I managed to get done was another foot knight and one which I kept simple on every front.  No deliberation on colour scheme, plain white was good enough.  No fancy name given to the figure and therefore no proper title for this post either, although I did indulge in a bit of basic freehand for the shield.  Not entirely sure where the idea of a castle turret came from but it works of a fashion and is different to anything else I have done. 

Next on the agenda is my dad’s 95th birthday next week which will further restrict what I can get done but hopefully, fingers crossed, things might settle down a little after that.  Then I really need to take stock of where I am and where I’m heading as right now I haven’t got a clue!

Images of the knight with no name below. 

TIM

When I first set out on my Footsore Baron’s War army project I worked out the ratio of foot figures to mounted figures with the intention of working to it so that all the figures would be completed roughly at the same time.  Doing a quick count up the other day it was clear that I had advanced far more with the foot figures than I had with the mounted knights.

There are many reasons, excuses if you prefer, as to why this has happened but time has been by far the biggest.  On occasions time has been limited and I have preferred to pick up and paint to completion a foot figure in preferance to starting a mounted figure which will require work over several days.  That said I needed to address the balance as and when and with a bit more time available just recently I have tried to focus on the mounted knights.

I rather like the yellow and blue colour combination and elected to use it once again.  I’ve yet to discover a real knight that used this combination with a white cross, not that I have researched that hard but the colour combination and the blazon, in this case the cross, do appear from what I can determine to be authentic heraldry.  In need of a name I once again delved into my family tree (so glad I thought to do this) and elected to go with my maternal Great Great Grandfather Frederick Joselyne.

The paint job on this one was pretty straightforward as were the freehand crosses as I’ve had a lot of practice on these and done quite a few now.  The only real challange was getting all the crosses to be roughly the same size.

Images of Sir Fred below.

TIM

Back in June (where did the summer go?) I painted up this Footsore Baron’s War figure with a bit of freehand painting on the shield to depict a knight by the name of Sir John De Belloows.  At the time I did it I thought I’d quite like to have another bash at the heraldry at some point and over the last week I finally got around to doing so.

I decided this time that I would have a go at applying the heraldry to a mounted knight.  I also chose to go with a different colour scheme, yellow instead of white, and a slightly different design.  As you can see there isn’t much to choose between them other than the head really.  Having done three paint jobs of the Eagle(?) – two at the back of the horse and one on the shield – I couldn’t be asked to do two at the front of the horse so I went for crosses instead.  Lazy I know.

I really have no idea if there is a real knight with anything close to this heraldry, if there is then it is purely coincidence on my part.  Accordingly the knight was in need of a name so once again I returned to my family tree for inspiration and thus settled on the name of my great grandfather, James Kimber.

Images of Sir James  below.

TIM

Another week, another Footsore Baron’s War knight and another opportunity for some freehand painting.  This weeks offering is Richard The Lionheart, King of England.  The figure comes as a twin pack, the other figure being mounted and in a slightly different pose with his helmet on.  I think I might start on the mounted version sooner rather than later but look at doing the freehand heraldry a bit different. 

For some reason I couldn’t get the shield to photograph as well as I’d like.  Not enough of a photographer to understand why but the end result is reflective light so the three lions do not show up as well as they look in the flesh.  My best guess is that it is down to the metallic paint.  Gold was appropriate to use but maybe a yellow would have photographed better?  It is what it is.

Images below.

TIM