Category: Dark Age

As far as my miniatures go this week sees a different manufacture/supplier – Other World Miniatures.  If memory serves me correctly, and at my bloody age it’s doing well if it does, then this was the third of three figures I bought more than a year or so ago.  The other two were a Rat Catcher that featured in Miniatures and Musings No: 40 and a Medieval Knight which I used in a mini diorama entitled The Temptress.  For far to long this little chap has been sitting primed in the to do pile.

I do like figures which I consider have some charachter about them and this little chap falls into that category which is why he appealed to me at the time and still does.  All of which adds to the mystery of why it has taken me so long to get around to painting and basing him.  All in all a nice little two part casting where the arms and the book are a seperate piece to the main body.

I am reminded to take another look at the Other World website as I seem to recall they had some other very nice figures too.  But can I can  justify any new purchases?  Of course I can!

TIM

Just recently my modelling has mostly been all about knights and to be fair I have enjoyed it.  The Baron’s War figures from Footsore Miniatures are excellent and I will be keeping a close eye on the range as it continues to expand.  Included in the range are some mounted knights and I decided to buy one and feature it in another little diroama.  You might recognise the figure as a foot knight I have shown in a previous post.

Since I completed and posted my previous diorama I discovered some interesting information on Hospitaller Knights.  Long story short it seems that black tunics and shields both with white crosses owes more to artistic licence than fact.  It would seem that black tunics with white crosses are fine but the shields were in fact red with white crosses.  Based on this discovery I felt compelled to do another diroama sporting the correct colour scheme.

The model provided another opportunity for plenty of freehand, albeit only crosses, but getting size and spacing consistency proved a challange.  The flag was another one made using Japanese writing paper and the method described in my other diorama post.  Overall a simple affair, just a few knights standing around together really.  That said it’s probably my best bet for an entry into Azazel’s Jewel of July.

Images below.

TIM

 

A return this week to some more Footsore knights.

This is the first of two little dioramas I have planned.  The other will hopefully be completed in a week or so.  The model itself is a simple affair, just three figures on a base with very little ground work.  My image of the crusades is one of an arid and dusty landscape.  Whilst I like the array of colours and heraldry painting knights offers I do find the Templar and Hospitaller Knights very iconic.  Of the two I elected to go for the Hospitallers as I had a preference for black over white.

What can I say about the figures?

The tunic crosses were painted freehand as were the two shields as there is no embossing or engraving on the figures themselves.  The flag was hand made.  You can buy flags and banners already printed but I found a YouTube tutorial on how to make your own so I gave it ago.  Not a lot to it really, the key is to use Oriental/Asian writing paper.  The paper has more of a fabric feel to it and in my opinion produced a decent end result.  I went for a simple cross befitting both the model and my first attempt.  Once painted and allowed to dry a wash of PVA was apllied.  When the PVA had dried the flag could be folded and shaped more easily and hold its position.

Images of the model below.

TIM

Following on from my first “Barons War” post last week I have now completed a further four Footsore Miniatures.  Nothing much to say on these that wasn’t covered in the previous post.  I kept the idea of two colour tunics and quadrants along with freehand shield designs.

I still have a few other figures to do and have placed an order for some more with the aim of hopefully doing a couple of mini dioramas.

Images and a couple of group shots, icluding one of all nine figures, below.

TIM

 

 

As those that regularly follow this blog will know in “Memory Monday No: 18” and “Memory Monday No: 19” I recently re-posted details of two 28mm 1st Corps mounted knights I had done a few years ago.  Seeing these posts again made me want to revisit the genre so I did a little online searching and decided to buy some figures from Footsore Miniatures.  The figures I settled on were from the Barons’ War range.

I have bought Footsore Miniatures figures before and found them to be excellent so it came as no surprise to find that these were too.  After zero clean up I soon had them primed and ready for painting.  Unusually for me I did no background work on these figures in terms of colour schemes, I just picked up a brush and started to get on with it.  Two things were very clear though.  Only the tunic and the shield, both of which were plain and with no embossing, offered an oportunity for any variation.  I therefore decided to paint the tunics using two colours instead of one and to do them in quadrants.  As for the shields I figured I would hand paint designs as I went along.

What you have here are the first five figures I have done.  A few more will follow maybe next week.  Some single shots along with a group shot appear below.  My favourite thing was doing the Templar and Hospitaller scheme and free hand painting the crosses on the tunic.  For now I will do all the figures I have in a random fashion but I think I will revisit them again and maybe do a little diorama of just Templar or Hospitaller knights.

TIM

 

Reaper always seem to be able to produce some great looking figures with a high degree of detail and such is the case with this figure called “Amon”.  I don’t know if IPMS Norway will have a trophy to present at Telford later this year or whether the show will even be on but I thought I’d like to go for it again if they do so hence this purchase and paint job.  With so much upper flesh on show I decided to give him a few basic tattoo’s.  No doubt IRO will approve!

The wall was a part of the sculpture so I only felt a need to add a litte ground work and vegitation to the base.

A couple a WIP images to kick off with followed by the completed figure.

TIM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we have a little vignette I put together of Brian Boru, First High King of The Irish, a legendary Irish Warlord – so says Gripping Beast who produced the miniature.  Just a little figure I was rather taken with and for which I felt the pose warranted a little more attention than a simple 25mm round base.

As with all the Gripping Beast figures I have found to date they are nicely made and enjoyable to paint.  Not a great deal to say on this one.  Simple paint job on the figure and an opportunity to make another wire tree as I hadn’t done one in a little while.

Images below.

TIM

 

 

 

 

Following on from last weeks post I managed this week to complete the last of the four Gripping Beast figures which I purchased about a year or so ago.  As this neglected figure just crept into February I thought I might as well include it in Azazels monthly challenge.  Hopefully I’ll aim to complete at least another one before the month is out as well as making a contribution or two to Alex’s February challenge.

Not a lot I can say about either the figure or the base, neither are spectacular just pretty straight forward stuff.

I do have some good news though, well for me at least.  My “Partly Done Neglected Pile” has been reduced to one so once I get that done I can start to do something new.  Hooray!

I’m not looking at the “Not Yet Started Neglected Pile” though, that’s too big to contemplate right now but at least it’s smaller than the recently purchased pile which will soon become the focus of my attention!

Pictures below.

TIM

Not my favorite model by any means but I’m pleased with it on two counts.  Firstly, I found the wherewithal to finish it.  It had been neglected for a while, unjustly to some extent but my commitment to it waned and other more interesting things took its place.  Secondly, and not for the first time, an Azazel monthly challenge spurred me on.  It’s not a great piece or a great entry for the January challenge but it’s likely to be the nearest to anything involving scenery that I’m likely to produce this month.

The aim for the base was to try to achieve a little bit of a sand dune type image, nothing to accurate but sufficient to achieve the appearance of an attack on a small island just off of the north-east of the English mainland.  Styrofoam (to provide the elevation), garden slate chippings, sand and some static grass tufts and there you have it.  Simple and OK but nothing to write home about and now I can focus on the multitude of things which are craving my attention.

Not very often that I paint resin figures but these came out OK.  I did find them a little fragile compared to using white metal figures and a little heavy-handedness on my part left me with one or two minor repairs to be made.  Something to put down to experience I guess as I would be happy to purchase from this company again albeit that their range is not huge.

Images of the completed diorama below.

TIM