Wednesday 3 October 2012

Order of Alcántara

A break from painting those pesky difficult Tudor cavalry
The Order of Alcántara (Orden de Alcántara) or the  Knights of St. Julian, was formed in 1166 and was formely the order of León . Another attempt at freehand Heraldry...I really must stop trying :-D
The Alcántara bods added to some conversions from the HaT El Cid Spanish Infantry set.

Just basic head swops.....
These two have got new heads from the Caeser  Medieval Knights (Crusaders) set....
..and the one on the left, from the Italeri Templar Knights and the one on the right, from the Zvezda Livonian Knights

40 comments:

  1. That heraldry looks pretty good, look how thin the lines are on that Templar's shield, that can't be as easy as it looks.
    I would have just done blobs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It takes a bit of practice..sometimes it drives me mad!!

      Delete
  2. beautiful! seems that this time you gave a clearer finish the figures. Very nice!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The heraldry looks fine to me. You really captured movement in the folds of the cloths especially on the top two picks

    Ian

    ReplyDelete
  4. As always the good work, and finesse in details .
    Cheers .
    Vincent .

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree, some really nice work there. Heraldry is hard at any scale let alone on these. I thought my eyes were going to cross when I did the shields for my Gripping Beast Normans in 28mm!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your freehand heraldry looks very impressive to me. All in all another great work from you.
    Regards
    Bruno

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the headswaps, I can't see were or which one have had it so they must be good, great painting as well!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great work Paul, especially the freehand heraldry :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like the Heraldry. Did they assembly line paint "uniform" items back then? Maybe a craftsman with a stencil?

    There must have been a "touch-up" man in the unit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Norman and andalusian´s were pre heraldry and as far as anyone knows, each individual painted his own design.
      The "touch-up" man probably stayed at the back of the shiled wall :-D

      Delete
  10. They are good, Paul!
    why do you want stop the hand-painting??????
    for me it's good and if you stop, you never will improve !!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Pascal
      I keep meaning to give up on shield patterns but it keeps tempting me back..

      Delete
  11. Great looking figures. I wouldn't worry about hand painting shields, look fine to me and a lot better than my efforts

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wonderful; the shield reminds me of my Timpo crusaders!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michael.
      The cross is based on a timpo knight who sits on a shelf near my workspace :-D

      Delete
  13. Very nice Paul!

    Did you use a sharpie or similar on the shields?

    Timpo Crusaders, there's nostalgia.

    Simon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Simon.
      The patterns are with a paintbrush. What´s a sharpie? Sounds like something that Hakeswill would say :-D
      Cheers
      paul

      Delete
  14. Very nice work! And your shields are really great!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Terrific work Paul. When I was in my medieval wargaming phase, I was always deathly afraid of freehand heraldry. You do it well.
    Head swops sound painful. I wonder how long it takes the bods to recover?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks mp.
      They never recover from thier "operations"..they don´t make very good soldiers..they are always in two minds about everything :-D

      Delete
  16. Hi Paul,

    Sharpies are pens that I believe can be used instead of fine brushes. I've never used one, though. A mate uses Staedtler pens very successsfully for that sort of thing, but I always break them.

    Cheers, Simon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Acrylic pens..? Like painting with acrylic paint but fine point?
      Sound worth looking into.
      Cheers
      paul

      Delete
  17. Super job! Your hand is getting 'freer', sir...steady too, as the shields bear witness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I´ve worked out a method...4 cups of strong coffee and my hand shakes in the opposite direction to what it normally does..and it even out :-D

      Delete
  18. Please don't stop trying painting freehand Paul. Please!!!
    Excellent work for once more! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Can I borrow those members from Ordem de Alcantara? ;)
    I need them for my medieval project!

    I'm going to copy your picture to use as a painting guide... :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem David. There is no copyright, feel free :-D but i tell you, painting the Alcantara crosses made me go a bit crazy...trying to get them to look correct..and even then they are not 100%
      Cheers
      paul

      Delete
  20. Nice paint jobs - the heraldry looks fine!

    Now try it in 6mm!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Phil..send me some 6mm bods and I will try ;-D

      Delete
  21. awsome work paul, increadible shields, hand painting those must have been the most stressful thing to have done, so complex it's not funny how intricate those are

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks :-D
      Everytime I paint something like this I say "never again!!" but something keeps telling me to have just one more go at it.

      Delete
  22. Very nice conversions, and excellent painted! Love the freehand patterns on the shields!

    It's about time I paint mine!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.be/

    ReplyDelete