Wenlock’s retinue; first of the Flower of Craven; Earl of Rutland

The politically mutable Baron John Wenlock and his companies of bill men and archers are finished, and I’m pleased with the result, which is consistent with the everything I have done so far.

It’s also my first experience of working with Pete’s Flags.

The flags are fabulous. Great care is needed when cutting the fringed edges, but the effort is rewarded by the final appearance.

The flags are delicate, though. I got a small amount of PVA on to one of them, and removing it by gently rolling it off with a fresh cotton bud lifted a small amount of colour.

I remedied this with gentle application of colour using Pentel Arts coloured pencils, which are quite soft and blend easily, so ideal. I also used them for colouring the edges of the flags, blending colour with black to achieve the right tone.

Hasting’s companies are on the painting desk, and a handful of hand gunnners liveried for Edward IV are being based. I’ll begin assembling the remainder of the Clifford’s Flower of Craven next.

Wenlock’s retinue of bill-armed men and archers.

The first of Baron John Clifford’s Flower of Craven – dismounted archer’s horse holders and standard bearer, and Edmund, Earl of Rutland’s command group.

K&M Trees, and standards and banners

I’ve been looking at K&M Trees web site for a while, waiting for an opportunity to actually see their trees up close.

K&M had a stand at the  Legionary Wargames Show in Exeter, so I went along on Saturday to have a look. I can report that these trees really are lovely – the images on their web site don’t really do them justice.

They had run out of bases for the trees, and while ordering these I inevitably succumbed to a few more deciduous trees and some fir trees.

I’m looking forward to modelling these on bases.

I bought a fourth box of Perry Miniatures’ plastic Wars of the Roses Infantry, and on opening I noticed that the booklet had different flags from the others I have.

I now have the following (grouped by leaflet):

Battle of Wakefield1460
– Richard, Duke of York’s standard
– Richard, Duke of York’s livery banner
– Edmund, Earl of Rutland’s banner
– Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury’s banner
– Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland’s standard
– Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland’s livery banner
– Lord Clifford’s banner
– Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter’s banner

Battle of Towton1461
– Edward IV’s standard
– Edward IV’s banner
– Edward IV’s livery banner
– Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick’s banner
– William Neville, Lord Fauconberg’s banner
– Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset’s standard
– Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset’s livery banner
– Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland’s banner

Battle of Bosworth1485
– Richard III’s standard
– Richard III’s banner
– John Howard, Duke of Norfolk’s banner
– Henry Tudor’s standard
– Henry Tudor’s livery banner
– William Stanley of Holt’s banner
– John de Vere, Earl of Oxford’s banner
– Sir John Savage’s banner

I wonder how many different sets there are.

The first K&M Trees … of many, I suspect.

Supporting cast

I’m beginning to think about the civilain population for my medieval adventure; camps, a farm, and village.

Steel Fist Miniatures have just announced some rather splendid female camp followers sculpted by Paul Hicks – I shall definitely be buying a set of these. I’m also looking for male figures for my small farm, and Perry Miniatures’ labourers set may prove suitable.

Debris of War have some rather nice tents, and their haystacks and bee hives look useful. They have a range of dry stone walls too, which will probably prompt me to make roads.

I have just taken delivery of Victrix farm animals, loot, and sacks from their Pillage range. I was never going to need full sets, so I bought a sprue of each from The Sprue Shop.

Wenlock’s retinue is almost ready for basing, and I have assembled a few extra hand gunners for the Yorkists.

Steel Fist Miniature’s women camp followers.

Victrix farm animals …

… loot and saccks.

A few more hand gunners, destined to be in the service of Edward IV. I added simple small pouches to some of the figure’s belts, made from ProCreate.

River crossings

The river project is now finished … for now. The stone and wooden bridges have been based, I have made the ford, and I’m pleased with the way they have turned out.

I am tempted to make another stone bridge, though, with two Gothic arches with a central pier. I also have an idea for roads: Pendragon make 75mm wide 2mm MDF straight, curved and junction road sections, which will be ideal, I think.

Now my desk is clear of modelling and scenic materials I can get on with painting miniatures. I have almost finished the first of Clifford’s Flower of Craven, and will move on to Wenlock’s companies next.

The ford …

… the wooden bridge …

… and the stone bridge.

Horse colours

I’ve been using Howard Hues paints for my horses for a very long time. The large pots have lasted ages, but when it came to needing to replace them I discovered there was no longer a UK distributor.

I really wasn’t prepared to pay the crazy cost of shipping from the US, so I sought an alternative, settling on Coat d’Arms. I thought to try one of their Superstar brushes too, to replace my by now very out of shape Rosemary & Co size 2 brush that I use for blocking in.

I’m looking forward to trying these out soon – I have quite a lot of horses to paint.

Coat d’Arms chestnut, brown, dun, and roan, and a new brush to try.

Progress on all fronts

This week I assembled the men-at-arms and bill armed men for Hastings’ contingent, finished the bridges, and thought to take stock.

I have a fair few figures with a fair bit of paint on now, and I really need to get on with finishing these, since I don’t have room to assemble Hastings’ archers. A clutch of command groups, Wenlock’s two companies, and Clifford’s mounted archers are in the frame for finishing next.

The two bridges are finished, and I am waiting on delivery of custom MDF bases for them.

Left-to-right: some of Clifford’s dismounted archers, a headless Clifford (in Or – yellow) and his mount, Hastings’ companies of men-at-arms and bill armed men, and nine as yet unassigned bill armed figures.

Left-to-right: Edmund Earl of Rutland, Edward Prince of Wales, Margaret of Anjou, John Baron Wenlock and his companies of bill armed men and archers.

A pair of Clifford’s mounted and dismounted archers, and Hastings, his standard bearer, and a man-at-arms holding Hastings’ helmet.

The finished bridges.

The river runs away …

Firstly, welcome to my first follower! My river project really took over these past days, becoming my sole focus so that I could get my desk clear for more figure assembly and painting. Oh! And work.

I finished the additional short curves and 150mm lengths, giving just over 2300 mm of river.

I have also modelled stone and wooden bridges; these will be based on custom 3mm MDF bases from Pendragon, with modelled banks and route ways. I’ll make a ford too.

The complete Trevor Holland river sections.

The stone bridge and the wooden bridge – with a removable section to simulate damage, both ready for painting.