On the painting blocks

It’s cooled down a bit, so I got on with undercoating the figures I have finished assembling. This prompted me to take stock and make a plan for finishing some command groups.

With 73 figures either undercoated, part-painted, or nearing completion, my polystyrene blocks are full.

I have undercoated half of the Flower of Craven (mounted and unmounted), and I need to finish Margaret of Anjou and the Prince of Wales command groups to make room for the remainder.

This will leave finishing off Hastings’ retinue as the main task.

Left-to-right: nine bill-armed figures as yet unallocated; Clifford’s light cavalry and mounted and dismounted archers; Margaret of Anjou and the Prince of Wales.

Hastings’ retinue comprising three companies of figures in full harness, bill-armed figures, and archers.

Hastings, his standard bearer, and a man-at-arms holding Hastings’ helmet.

A few more of Clifford’s retinue

It’s been way too hot to paint (again) so I got on with some assembly and a couple of conversions.

As I have posted before, I’m planning on a contingent of eight light cavalry, and eight mounted archers with their dismounted equivalents.

I’ve completed the horses and horse holder group, and one mounted and one dismounted archer. Now I have assembled two more archers and the first of the light cavalry.

One is a conversion joining a plastic tabard torso to legs with partial armour. I added mail and riding boots using Green Stuff and spurs using lead to match the mounted figures, and the result is alright.

These conversions take me ages, so I’m not sure if I’ll make matched pairs for all of them. Wait to see …

The front four figures are mounted and dismounted archers, with three mounted light cavalry behind. All these are from Perry Miniatures plastic sets.

Clifford’s Flower of Craven

I stalled with this retinue because I became unhappy with the appearance of the wyverns.

Call me fussy (I’ll be fine with it), but even when I was applying the Little Big Men transfers I had a sense I wouldn’t be happy with the result.

The problem is the thickness of the carrier film: it’s somewhat thicker than a conventional water slide transfer (decal to our American cousins), and doesn’t really respond to Micro Sol.

I’ve used a few for Edward IV’s cannon crews and hand gunners, and the result wasn’t too bad. These were applied to the left hand side of livery jackets or tabards, where there weren’t too many creases.

When applied to the backs of the four archer figures I have painted, the result was very much appliqué … and I came to dislike it every time I looked at them.

More recently I had a look at The Mighty Brush’s web site (I have some of Luther’s transfers, and they are sharp, and delicate, and thin) and I discovered a new sheet of wyverns. Brilliant! Ordered in red. Problem solved.

Then, the tricky part: could I remove the LBM wyverns without making a terrible mess of the figures, since they had been varnished by now, and some were based.

A new #11 blade in my scalpel, a steady hand, a bit of retouching … and the result is not too shabby.

Now I have a bit of emotional energy for the Flower of Craven again.

The Mighty Brush wyvern transfers, with gold fleur-de-lis destined for Margaret of Anjou.

These transfers are so much better. I’ll probably use this size and one smaller size for the remainder of the retinue.

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.

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.

Spear tips and standard bearers

I seem to be on a bit of a roll, which makes me happy. I have a lot of figures ready for painting and I assembled a few more this week.

Ready for undercoating are a pair of horses, a holder, and a standard bearer for Clifford’s Flower of Craven dismounted archers, and standard bearers for Wenlock’s bill men and archers. I made a couple of short spear armed fellows too.

I have never liked the shape of the tips of wire spears, so I have been cutting the tips off of plastic flag staffs, drilling them and glueing them to carefully shaped wire tips.

Needing more than were on the sprues of the Perry Miniatures sets that I have, I ordered North Star’s plastic spears (NSS 111). A set of 40, these are perfect; I am also using them complete.

North Star’s very useful set of plastic spears, which I am using intact and just the tips.

Flower of Craven mounted archers

I have started Clifford’s Flower of Craven, beginning with the mounted archers. I am planning eight mounted and eight dismounted figures, with a base of a couple of horses and a horse holder.

My intention is to match the dismounted archers as closely as possible with their mounted counterparts, so I selected two similar figures from the Perry Miniatures’ Wars of the Roses Light Cavalry and Infantry sets, and sculpted long riding boots and spurs for the dismounted figure with Green Stuff. I’m no sculptor, and this is my first time using Green Stuff (I like it), but I’m reasonably pleased with the result.

I have also assembled two horses with their holder and a standard bearer. Now I’m really looking forward to getting paint on them.

The first pair of archers, the horses and horse holder, with standard bearer. The horses are from Claymore Castings, the standard bearer is Steel Fist Miiniatures, and the horse holder is a Perry Miniatures archer.

Happy New Year

As 2025 begins I am reading Desmond Seward’s The Wars of the Roses, which documents the lives of five people who lived – and in one case died – at the time: William Hastings, John De Vere, Margaret Beaufort, and Jane Shore.

As I finish my screw gun battery transport mules for a later era, I have restarted my attempt to ‘get my eye in’, continuing to paint anything other than an English retinue and its leader. Francesco Coppini, Papal legate to England and Scotland, and his standard bearer, serve here, then on to finish some mercenaries. I am attempting a different painting style for this project, with less use of Army Painter strong and soft tone shading, and more definite use of paint to define light and shade.

I am beginning to form ideas about which characters and their entourages I wish to represent. As noted in a previous post, John Clifford and the Flower of Craven are intended, with Clifford himself already begun. More of this in due course.

Meanwhile, I hope Santa delivered to you all of the toys you wanted, and that during the coming year all of your dice rolls are sixes!

Amidst mercenary artillery crews, hand gunners, and crossbowmen, Francesco Coppini and his Papal standard bearer, with John Clifford sneaking in to view, top right.

First assembly

Thank goodness for the long weekend! At last a chance to spend a few uninterrupted hours getting to grips with the plastic and metal miniatures I have, and begin to assemble them.

I have assembled a handful of crossbow men, hand gunners, and gun crew, all using a mix of Perry Miniatures plastic parts and Steel Fist Miniatures dollies. I have also assembled my first mounted figure, destined to be the vengeful John Clifford. I am thinking he will lead a light cavalry unit – The Flower of Craven. This will be my first  attempt at painting heraldic devices and patterns, so I am keen to see how I get on with it.

Hand gunners, crossbowmen, gun crew, and hand culverins,  with a cannon and limber in the background. The mounted figure will be John Clifford.