Paul´s Bods

Medieval Women

2012-03-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Another great set of medieval civilians from Erik Trauner of Nikolai..
As Female bods are in short supply in 1/72nd in any era, a specialist set like this is very welcome and I reckon that they could be used in a very large range of eras...right up to the 20th century.

I made a couple of mistakes with the painting. The women with the bag...She has an Apron which reaches only to her waist but before I realised my mistake I´d extended it too far. Also, the mother and child..I painted two pieces of material hanging down from the childs wrappings as part of the Apron...

Quite a speciality ...a mother breast feeding her child.. Has there ever been another mini like it?

Stage three of the Pirate Cutter. The planking.
Made from strips of thin card it took an absolute age with pinning etc to get all the planking fitted.

Revell Fokker Dr 1 (Nr 2)

2012-03-09T08:17:00.001-08:00

It´s been a while since I got stuck into one of these but another pause from bod painting was called for.
This one is Revell´s 1984 tooling of the little Fokker which I´ve built OOB...well I would have, but it came in a plastic tagbag..so it´s OOPTB

The colours I made up from a couple of designs I Found on the web, one of the best recources is Will´s Blog WWI Aviation Illustration

Being a kit from 1984 the transfers have yellowed with age!!!

The differences between this kit and the new tooling ? The wingskids are molded onto the wings, the engine couling has virtually no detail, the step into the cockpit is missing as is the cockpit control panel. The main difference is the wingstrutts. On the new tooling they are in one piece..you shove the a bar through the middle wing and then add the top and bottom wings. With the 1984 tooling they are in 4 pieces..which makes putting the wings on a bit like balancing jelly on a greased football.

During the "letting glue dry" breaks a bit more progress was made to the Pirate Cutter.

Great stuff breakfast cereal cardboard :-D

Cap´n Jack Sparrow?

2012-03-07T05:48:00.000-08:00

No, no Cap´n Jack Sparrow but The second band of scurvy dogs and also available from Germania Figuren.

Young Bobbins.(he´s not very good at swimming).....and Cap´n Jock Raven

Billy and Ben, The barrel boys.

"Over tharrrr" Lt Lacy ..."Over wharrrrrrr? " Sharp eyed Pete.

As every crew needs a boat...the begginings of a pirate cutter.

To get everyone in the mood, From the makers of Chickenrun and Wallace and gromit!!!!

Pirate Gun Team 1/72nd

2012-03-05T06:48:00.002-08:00

"YO HO HO! and a barrel of Rum !! "
Pirates are great!!!! I really like the irregular look of them and the "we do what we want" attitude and when this lot landed in my grasp i shoved a couple of other projects one step back and got stuck in....

Pirates of the caribean set 02 from Germania.Figuren. There´s loads more sets of Scurvy Dogs up and coming from Germania and it´s well worth a look at them

Arrrrthur...the Gun master

Arrrnold the loader

Arrrrnie the gunner

12 Pdr. The carriage is made of resin but the barrel is made of Brass giving the piece a nice weight

Hello to Docsmith from Doc´s Art of war blog. He says " Figure collector & painter, occasional wargamer, amateur military historian and professional Grumpy Old Bugger but young at heart" Sounds similar to someone I know :-D
Hello to Headologist from Do you Have a Flag ? blog He´s just kicked off with blogging this year but is going great guns already.
Hello to Tom parker from Google +
Hello to Militaire Geschiedenis blog..took a while to find you.your Google friend is not on open.
Hello to the residential operative...again, no can find!!

Medieval Market Stalls

2012-03-03T02:51:00.000-08:00

You can´t have a town without businessmen and you can´t have businessmen without a Market and you can´t have a market without market stalls (or is it stands? )
So far I´ve built 3 of the many different designs which seem (after a web search) the most common.

No wonder the woman is angrily waving her fist...there´s no goods to sell or buy!!!!

The three types, made from coffee stirring sticks. The coverings are printed. The market wares are still to come, boxes of fruit etc.

They can also find a use in the Khandibar scenario As my medieval civvies now number more than 100 and there´s many more to come, I´ll need some more stalls and a couple of big tents for a special set of bods that will occupy one of them :-D

Waterloo 1815 Dervish Infantry

2012-03-01T02:04:00.001-08:00

Some new recruits to the Khandibarian army, Waterloo 1815´s dervish infantry. This lot I got as part of a swop scheme with my mate Peter from Peter´s cave blog. We buy sets and swop one of the sprues with each other. This saves buying the set and ending up with loads of spare repeat bods you can´t use.

The whole sprue and a copuple of HaT bods to make up the numbers

The waterloo Dervishes really give the impression of a rampaging charge.

A new Khandibarian sharpshooter.

Rollo the brave mule and his rider Whyne Ghum

Hello to Dan...your google connect isn´t on!!!
Hello to Itchy from A Blog amomg Blogs....great WWII flames of war stuff.

Medieval Businessmen

2012-02-27T05:27:00.000-08:00

The set is actually called Medieval Citizens and is created by Erik Trauner of Nikolai. There´s loads of his work to be seen at his Site Diorama Dreamland and I recommend a visit!
The sculpts are very natural looking, proportional, a good test of this is their balance ..if they are in standing poses, then they should then blance on thier own two feet, and this lot do just that. The sculpting is very delcate/filigrann, (which put my painting skills to the test.:-D) and not suprisingly got top marks at PSR
This set is available from Germania Figuren

Hello to Jonathan from My Tiny Things Blog. Load´s of mini´s goodness, his Middle eastern Buildings are very inspirational!!!

Medieval Children (at Play)

2012-02-25T04:23:00.000-08:00

Possibly my Favourite set in 1/72nd...Alex has really brought the expression of happiness and joy of children at play!!!!

The whole set together including one of the bods from the pilgrims set.

I don´t know if the girl is intended for walking on a log..but she fits and wether the the little girl with her doll and the teenager are meant as a pair, but again, they just go together really well.

The one picking his nose....a medieval Peter pan? and I love the idea of giving the boy a cooking pot for a helmet!

Father and son.

The pair playing leapfrog come as seperate pieces....and it took a bit of "supporting scaffolding" around the jumping one while he was glueing

Why is it that I find Alex´s sets so good? THE FACES!!!! :-D

Medieval Litter (Sedan-chair)

2012-02-23T05:56:00.001-08:00

A one seater, two horse power, top of the range method of getting around in the middleages....fluffy dice optional. The second half of this set.

A couple of "pre-fit" pics.

Waiting for his lift..the Bishop of Bodley..Antonious Bonnifatass

I forgot to take a pic of the inside without Bonnifatass, so the crossbow is no longer visible :-(

As always with Valdemars products, the detail is amazing...the crucifix!!

The only small problem with the set, putting the whole thing together. The horses are seperate and have a small ladder like piece as a connector. No matter how I tried or which glue I used...I failed to join them up. Eventually I came up with a solution. I removed the harnesses from the horses and replaced them with thin strips of medical sticking plaster.(this stuff) Using the little ladder connector as a template I constructed a new carrying bar out of cut and sanded down lollypop sicks. The new harnesses I left long enough so that when the carrying bar was added, they could be bent up and rolled into place.

The historical bit..... Entrée de l'empereur Charles IV à Saint-Denis 1378

Medieval Bathtime

2012-02-21T06:21:00.000-08:00

What could be more relaxing (and fun) after a days bullying the peasants and killing dragons than to relax in front of a log fire in a nice warm bath tub?

A bit of historical background. I´m not too sure about the guy with the dagger!!!!!!

The two "Fish out of water" doing thier Yoga excercises :-D

Hello to Pyrrus from King of Epirus Blog. He´s only just started blogging and only just started painting 1/72nd bods....but he´s done a grand start on them

French Knights with assault ladders (Miniart)

2012-02-19T06:18:00.000-08:00

All in all, not a bad set..it has it´s faults and they can be read about at PSR
I haven´t painted all the bods in the set, only the brave (or slightly insane) ones climbing the ladder.

A quick test run in ladder usage, here they are trying to climb up to the kingdom of heaven. If you attach the ladder to the base provided, then using a heated screwdriver, weld the pegs from underneath, then base the whole thing again on a new base it remains freestanding.

Attacking Hugh Jarses´s castle.................or...............................

....................have they just forgotten the Keys???

I tried to attach them after cutting the pegs off the bottom of thier boots...but they just don´t stay put. I used glue but it failed. Who knows, maybe high heeled assault boots were all the rage...

King Richard The Lionheart´s return

2012-02-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

King Richard Lion Heart is coming home!!!! I´ve given him as a "generic" look as there seems to be sooooo many pictorial versions of him on the web.
The bods and nags are from Valdemars Tax collector set, the rest of which will get finished later

And the bods are removeable so they can be used elsewhere and I can re-use the base :-D

Swiss Pikes and command

2012-02-15T05:34:00.002-08:00

A new series of 1/72nd Swiss infantry for the Burgundian wars period.
The infantry for the Pike block are made by Frank Ziegler, the command by Alex
The marching bods are available from Germania Figuren as will the rest of them when they come out.
You can see more pics here
Frank plans to make fighting poses including Lance and Halbardiers
Me, I will make them into a pike block but there are two questions; bearing in mind there are so far 32 marching poses, some of which can be included in a "fighting block"
1. What material should they be for wargaming?
2. How many fighting poses to make a good looking block for wargaming?

The above three sets were painted by Michael from Germania Figuren

Vexillum (How to)

2012-02-13T03:33:00.000-08:00

After seeing this excellent set of Roman commanders from Strelets, I decided to plan another small Roman Legion. This one I´ll name Aduitrix II after seeing Simons excellent representation of this legion on his blog TheBigRedbatCave

The senate discusses the Emporers idea to raise a new legion....

...and after many hours of discussion it is agreed upon....Hail Caeser!!!!!

First though, the soldiers need recruiting and they need banners for thier units so...some need making :-D

Stuff needed. Pliers, thin metal file, florists wire, thin steel wire, some copperwire, tweezers, woodglue (not in pic) and some printed Vexillia patterns. I´ve painted above the prints to form the backs when folded. The paint has a tendency to soak thruogh and destroy the pattern when painting the actual back of the print

Make the spear head as here. A bit below the spearhead, make a groove using the file. this is so the crossbar fits without slipping up and down

Make a hole at the top of the folded pattern and push the shaft through. Smear some glue onto the inside of the pattern, insert the crossbar wire and fold shut. The copper wire is then wound around under the spearhead and down to the crossbar. Cut the copperwire off just below the pattern and using the tweezers fold the wire back on itsself. This makes a little loop where a blob of woodglue can be added to form the "weights".

The pic is a bit dark, but basically just paint the copper wire dark brown or black and the bottom of the pattern and the "weights" gold.

So now thestandard can be given out and the recruiting of the 1st Cohort LegII Aduitrix can begin!!!

"Come to join the legion? Yes? Go along the path and go to the left. next! The legion? yes? go along the..."

Hello to r.s.field from Fieldcrow blog. Nothing posted as yet, he has a quote "life is a carnival and records "aren't just little thingsthat go round & round"

Really annoying thing. The blogroll...it appears to have jammed..nothing more can be added to it. I had a trick, carry on as normal..when it came to saving a new blog it would just stop. All I did was log out and the new blog would be added but even that has stopped now! Apparently the only way around it is to delete the blogroll gadget and start again!!!! What a pain in the ****!!

Khandibarian Infantry

2012-02-11T07:16:00.000-08:00

Well, the 1st half of them....
Stands made up using Esci Muslim Warriors, Hat Dervish Warriors, and Caesar Arab Camel Riders and Bedouin.

Many many thanks to Paul, proud owner of The man Cave blog, for creating a La Figoblogotheque best blog Finalist badge which, seeing as I dropped out, I don´t think I deserve, but it was a great idea and a wonderfull thought, cheers mate :-D
Who else was in the Final? Saxon Dog and Tiny solitary soldiers blogs.
Congratulations on coming top, to Fran of the Angry Lurker Blog.
The best french language blog was won by Pousse plomb
The best other language Blog was Wargaming historyczno-fantastyczny
PS..I´ve said it a couple of times already, but if you aren´t on the blog roll at La Figoblogotheque then drop along and register.

Jan Hus

2012-02-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

Finally finished :-D

The last 3 bods from the Orion set, the "driver", Jan Hus and a trumpeter. The driver has got a new job...waving a muck fork and being threatening from one of the wagons. The figure of Jan Hus is an odd addition to a "Hussite Warwagons and command set" for the simple reason...he had been reduced to a pile of ashes a few years earlier. Anyway, he makes a good Priest bod and couls also be used as a replacement for the armoured version of Prokop. If anyone wants to read up on Jan Hus then look HERE. It´s well worth the look...interesting bloke.

The two bulls that are supplied to pull the war wagon. These are lovely looking sculpts, too lovely to be put to the task of pulling a big heavy wagon so I´ve put them out to pasture :-D

Now I can get back to making a bit of progress with the Khandibarians :-D

Hello to Figurines 1/72nd from Dioramas 1/72nd blog. Loads of 1/72nd bods...his Valdemar Knights are Great!!!!!
Hello to Ben B...from Ben´s Soldiers blog . 20mm, 54mm and 6mm wargaming and modeling in modern, WWII, and the Napoleonic eras and he does...some cracking perspective photos of the wargaming action!

Hussite War Wagon and Command (orion) Pt 2

2012-02-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

The main "object" in the set, the Wagon.
There are a couple of problems with the wagon, but nothing major.
The Wheels. The mold seems to be not 100% lined up and this leaves some extra plastic in the middle which needs carefull filing to remove.
The shield. This is a big piece and when added to the wagon just looks wrong..so I have left it off. but it will make a nIce seige mantlet.

Despite any minor problems, the wagon scrubs up really well. A nice big door to the rear....

..and a storage box at the front.This can be made, by cutting along the line where the hinges are, open or shut.

The woodwork is very well done. I really like the "used" and distressed effect.

Now with the crew on board. Bods from Redbox, Strelets, Miniart and Revell

Now a description of how to build it. The set comes without any plans so I hope this will be of help.

I´ve given each piece letters (repeat pieces the same letter)

Main body
Take parts A and B and glue them to C in the ruts provided on C, add part D. When they are all dry add the floor E. You will notice there are two spaces in the floor. These should go towards the door side of the wagon. If they dont line up with the door..not to worry..they didn´t on mine either but are hardly noticable when finished.
Then add the front of the box F and the Lid G
Be very carefull with the loops on E and C!!!! I broke one off but was able to glue it back on. You replace them with metal wire loops if this happens and glueing is a problem.
The axle and wheels.
Check the wheels fit on the axles. The big wheels N come onto the rear axle J, the smaller ones O on front axle K.. Be carefull when checking for fit as I have already mentioned, there is flash in the middle of the wheels that needs removing.
The rear axle J when fitted. lines up with one of the support struts on the outside of the wagon (see pics).
The front axle K has a hole in it. This fits over a pin on the rear axle, allowing the front axle to turn left or right. Check the fit..it is tight and you may need to enlarge the hole on K.
When fitting the wheels I used a bit of cooking oil smeared on each axle to help slide them on.
The Shield supports.
There are two rows of small plastic discs, P and P. Why two sets of 4 I don´t know. Spares? Cut these carefully from the sprue and slide one over each axle so it pushes up to the wheel hub.
Stand the wagon on it´s wheels. Parts L and M are the outer bars that would hold the shield H and prevent it from bashing against the wheels.
The L ones come on the rear , the M ones at the front. Simply push a prong through the loop on top of the wagon´s side wall and then rest the end of the support on the little plastic disc and glue. I advise doing the back wheels first then the front.
You will notice that when the supports are added to the front wheels it stps the axle from turning and holds it fixed in position
Parts R simply fit over the ends of the wagon (see pics) to stop (in real life) the walls falling outwards. They are a tight fit, so either carefully expand the loops at each end or shave the poles a bit thinner.
The rest.
Q is the towing bar for attaching the oxen team to. I have put it so that it is leaning up on the wagon.
S is the Yolk for the oxen team and the if in an horizontal posistin, Q would fit through the hole in the middle.
?..I really do not know what these pieces are for. Maybe if the box lid was made to be opened the could be used as lid supports..or they are for the sides of the yolk when fitted to the oxen. The extra rings..?? Parts I are for attaching to the shield H but are very thin and broke easily..replace with wire is my suggestion.
The ramp..I´ve just noticed I didn´t give it a letter but it´s the part above E. It´fits very easily. ;-D

If anyone has any questions then do not hesitate to ask..:-D

Hussite War Wagon and Command (Orion) Pt 1

2012-02-05T07:08:00.000-08:00

A bit of a mixed bag this one as the PSR review reflects. Jan Žižka. He was blind in one eye...which eye is difficult to acertain, I´ve done a LOT of research and come up with either. As most of us only have at most two, it must have been the left one or the right one..but the bod in the set appears to have the use of both.! There is no indication as to wether one of them is in fact blind, we can´t ask cos it´s a lump of plastic but in ALL the woodcuts, statues etc of him one at least eye is covered, wether it be the left one or the right.
I´ve gone for the right eye as it´s the one shown as covered on the statue on Viktov Hill, Prague (btw, it´s the largest stone statue of a horse in the world!!) and as he was nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka", without any mention of which eye...the right one is ok by me.

The 3 mounte bods in the set. Jan Žižka in the middle, Prokop the great (Procopius the Great) and a standard bearer. The standard beare comes with an embossed flag bearing a goose emblem. I now know this is an invented insult and have replaced the flag with one bearing a chalice.

Eye bandage on Jan created with..wait for it..Toiletpaper :-D I tried with having him totally blind, the bandage across both eyes but it looked..well, stupid.The other "mistake" with the sculpt..his mace. he is always protrayed as carrying a mace in the form of a clenched fist holding a dagger.

Prokop the great, later leader of the Hussite / Taborite army until his death in the Battle of Lipany, 30 may, 1434

Something not mentioned in the PSR review..the size of the horses supplied with the set. 6 horses and only 3 riders is a bit of a mystery but the size is odd to say the least. To the left, Italeri and the right..Orion. They aren´t badly sculpted, but they are just too small!!

Next part, the Wagon...:-D

Medieval assassins and more

2012-02-03T06:14:00.000-08:00

Another set of medievals from Alex..this time "special forces" :-D

From Fredericus-rex a Trebuchet crew sculpted by Markus Eckmann. They could be used for any other seige machines, onboard a boat or whatever. The bod picking it´s nose is a great idea

and from Andreas from Kamarzinnfiguren, a viking chief and a viking shield wall

Hello to Fireymonkeyboy from The Monkey that Walks blog. He´s been painting and gaming with minis for over 20 years and has a large range og wargames and minis to look at on his blog.
Hello to James Cotgrave from twitter..thanks for following :-D

The figoblogtheque voting went into another round..5 blogs got the same amount of votes and it´s been extended for 5 more days so..VOTE HERE and if you´re not on thier blog list...get and do so
(PS....I have removed myself from the running :-D)

English Archers in Burgundian service...

2012-02-02T06:55:00.000-08:00

... Halbardiers, upgraded / rebased Command unit and the whole army ...so far.
The project is being put on ice for a while until I can come up with a decent idea for some scurriers, or some get made....Ok..I can dream :-D

Archers. From the Redbox WotR´s sets and the command bod from caeser

Halbardiers. A generic term as not all are armed with halberds. Bods from RedBox, Italeri and Caeser.

Command rebased . I´ve added two bods from RedBox and the drummer..a converted Revell Knight.

Right flank....

....center....

...left flank....

...and from above

Medieval Bombard "Harlequin"

2012-01-31T06:25:00.000-08:00

The titel is the English for this guns name. It´s original name in French is "Hellequin" (Arlequin), a black-faced emissary of the devil, who chases the souls of the dammned to hell.
The fact that the gun sends it´s enemies to thier doom and it´s muzzle is black is the reason for the French gunners painting the carriage as it is and it´s "petname" name "Arlequin". The whole of the IVth cent French ordnance was nicknamed the Mesnée d'Hellequin, the household of hellequin, whose traditional colours are black and red, but the yellow and red colour scheme looked better.

I know the Flag is a (speculative) company flag of the French Ordnance but it looked a lot more colourfull than the individual unit flags.

Phew!!!! I almost believed my made up historical background bumpf myself ! :-D
Real fact of the matter is..I saw this one...I liked the colour scheme so much..I had to have one ;-D

Hello to Broke n English...Your google friends link isn´t set up.
Hello to Jose from Muñequitos de goma blog . An amazing collection of largescale "toy soldiers"

Town and County Levy (RedBox)

2012-01-29T06:23:00.000-08:00

It seems that RedBox have really upped their game in the area of sculpting. This is the second set in thier WotR´s series and another good one.
The set divides into more or less two groups...the men armed with bows and the others with various edged weapons.

One complete sprue of the 4 sprues in the set.

The archers. I´ve painted them up as english archers so they can be added to the burgundian army.

The edged weapons group. The bod with the axe and the one holding the buckler up are ok, but the three with the pole arms are very nice, even if thier weapons are a bit long. . A couple of them will find a place in the next pike block.

A couple of ideas that redbox have included. The bod on the left seems to have brought all his bagge with him. The bod in the middle. When I first saw the scans of these I couldn´t make out what was at his feet...the object turned out to be a sack of arrows. The last bod.. he carries not only a quiver but his bow wrapped up in a carrying bag. Wether they did this or not, I cannot say, but it´s an original idea.

All in all a nice set. Unfortunately there is on one or two mold lines running down the middle of thier faces but the overall flash is minimal and the set mixes well with the previous Men-At-Arms and Retinue.
Hopefully this will be the standard of future RedBox sets and I hope they continue the WotR´s line.....some armoured cavalry, scurriers, gun teams, arquebusiers etc would be nice....please :-D

Atlantic Roman Chariot

2012-01-27T04:54:00.000-08:00

I know...they didn´t use them for warfare and it looks way too fancifull for a battlefield anyway, but this set was one of my all time favourites some 30 plus years ago. I can still picture it crashing through the Airfix celts, who were being supported by Robinhoods men, atlantic greeks and various other "they will do to fill the line" troops.

The original covering of enamel matt and gloss paint.

One bath in brakefluid, a new whip from a bit of copper wire and an acrylic paintjob. I haven´t added traces or reins...I didn´t want to make holes etc as the set can still be obtained..but only for silly money.

The sight the celts got before......WHAM!!!!!

Hello to Landser83, from Oh! What a lovely war! blog He´s only just started blogging but he´s done some lovely line drawings of WWII subjects.

Medieval Washday

2012-01-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

Or alternative Titel "over here big boy"
I´ve looked but I can´t find any evidence of them using..or not using washing lines but I suppose it would be the most obvious method to dry washing.
All bods from different Valdemar sets.

Hello to Thorward from Thorward WRG blog AFV´s and a great idea how to create a Roman arena.
Hello to A-Historian..blogger??
Hello to Ernie (Claus) from Ancient Miniatures blog. He´s only just kicked off in the blogging world but has got off to a good start.

Atlantic Greek Chariot

2012-01-23T07:37:00.000-08:00

Not really up to todays standards..well it was released in 1977!!!
The set shown on PSR is the full booklet style box, I used to love reading the stuff inside!! :-D

The "chariots only" set. The painted bods on the boxart are definately the 1/32nd versions..the size of the moss in the picture is a dead giveaway.

Hello to Franck from the Forgotten & Glorious Company of Art. 28mm WWI minis...some of them painted by Oniria..IMHO, one of the best painters in the hobby.
PS, Franck, your blogger friends link is not on.

And this looks interesting. It´s been running since the 1st of January this year. I haven´t heard anything about it anywhere..and even though I follow La Figoblogtheque, a vote for your favourite blog of 2011..

Khandibarian Camels

2012-01-21T05:39:00.000-08:00

I really don´t like painting camels but it has to be done. :-D
This lot are from the Hat Taaishi Camelry and the Hat Hadendowah Camelry.

Hadendowah´s

Taaishi´s

A trick. The bods aren´t that stable when glued on so I cut the end off a pin, about 1cm long and using a pair of pliers, pushed the blunt end into the saddle. The plastic is quite soft so it doesn´t take much effort.

A couple more conversions. from the esci Muslims set. The bod on the left will be usefull for shooting down from a building or from a rocky hillside

Hello to Duane. I´ve read on Paul´s blog, Caliban-somewhen, that he´s asked wether you have a blog..if so do tell :-D

Medieval circus Folk

2012-01-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

Alex does it again!!!!Strongmen, fools (Buffors), stiltwalkers, tumblers, bear wrestling and even a medieval puppet show!!!!

Hello to the madaxeman from Madaxeman Wargames blog.
Looking at it, it´s hard to believe it´s a Blogger blog...it is though. What´s to see?? well everything really! :-D

Burgundian Heavy Cavalry

2012-01-17T06:25:00.000-08:00

Only the Scurriers and some levy to get painted /converted and the army will be ready.
Nags and Bods from Miniarts Burgundian mounted Knights, Zvezda. Italeri and Revell.
Lances scratch made, flags etc from Dansk Figursspilsforening

Khandibarian Cavalry

2012-01-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

There´s no Arab cavalry sets!!!!! OK, the airfix Arabs(Bedouins) set but you only get 3 riders and the nags need fixing to thier stands! So..a bit of converting is called for.
The Airfix bods are unchanged. The rest are from the Hat Numidian cavalry set with head swops from Caeser Arabs and Escis Muslims. The bugler got a head and arm swop...

Flag from Warflag

Nags from different sets including Italeri, Zvezda and Hat

And a couple of infantry conversions using bods from the Esci muslim warriors set.

Body swops

Head swop and a body swop

Hello to Kris..Aka Heisler...from Wargames and Railroads Blog. Not only does he do wargaming and scale railroads and his Fantasy minis are great

Eastern house

2012-01-13T07:59:00.000-08:00

A quick "how I make Khandibarian buildings".

Things needed. Woodglue, sharpsand, biro, sharp knife, setsquare, pins, paintbrush, insulating foam, brown and white acylic wall paint. I´ve decanted the paint into old washing up liquid bottles..much easier to squeete small amounts out. The push down caps cut out the unscrewing of caps or levering lids off.

Cut a square of polystyrene sheet. Cut strips of the insulating sheet and simply glue onto the square. The pins help to hold everything in place as it dries. The gold dome is an old plastic X-mas tree bauble cut in half, I just added glue along the inside rim and put it in place. If you add a dome, remember to cut a hole underneath on the roof to let air in otherwise the glue takes ages to dry.

Using a biro, draw windows, doors, brickwork onto the walls. Mix some sand and wood glue and using a spatula (lolly sticks are good for this) smear the mix over the walls. It´s best to do only two opposing sides each time because if the mix is a bit runny or too thick and you stand the building up on it´s base the mixture will sag and run.

Mix some brown and white paint. Roughly 33% - 66% brown to white and paint :-D

Then another layer but with much less brown and finally a dry brush with just white......Cheap and cheerfull...and Finished. :-D Just a mo!!!...those Khandiabarians have got hold of RPG´s and AK´s!!!!!!!

Khandibarian Cannon and Foot Command

2012-01-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

It seems pretty unfair that the Colonial army should have cannons and the Khandibarians not.
The crew are from The Caeser Arab Camel Riders and Bedouin set the gun from the Revell Imperial Artillery set.

Shiek Yerbouti

French Interpreter and Laison officer..Capitain Le BonBon

Hello to hipster,brah from Here is Blog . Nice articles on the care of "lawns" ;-D
Hello to Thomas from An Average Wargamers Blog..Wargames and minis in 1/72nd.
Bonjour to Hamster from Le dojo d´Hamstersamourai. blog . Vikings!!!!! The nude captive girl is..nice :-D

Ps..I´m slowly moving blogs from the followlist to the blogroll thingy..if anyone spots that they are not on it...Complain bitterly to the management :-D

Bowled Out!!!

2012-01-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

My entry for a duel here at the Bennos Forum..The theme was "guarding a Wall"
I won this one but more for the humour than the actual painting . My opponent´s bods (Jan´s), are much better than mine.

Bods from Zvezda and redbox

Trees from Mahonia roots...Wall, insulating foam..Snow...Plaster of Paris .

Interesting looking "crab hands"!! :-/ Maybe he´s a good swimmer

Hello to Tomasz Celiński...blog link doesn´t work :-/
Hello to Ted Henkle from Stern-Rake Studio Blog. Loads of stuff, from wargaming to humour :-D
Hello to BragonDorn from BragonDorn Asylum blog . Life stories. The duck story is amazing
Hello to El Repartidor from Mighty littlemen Blog. Wargaming and minis..tons and tons of both.
Hello to Winttrix ( Emmett) from Emmett´s Wargaming and History Blog. He´s been painting minis for 7 years now..good ones as well. Why do I mention how many years...?? Look and see ;-D

Town In Khandibah

2012-01-07T07:45:00.000-08:00

The start of a town in Khandibah. This one is called KhitKhat..I´ll add a couple more buildings, and get a few more Khandibarians finished and then as Goldmember says in the Austin powers film "ze shooting can schtart!!! " :-D

Some Khandibarian sharpshooters

The Colonial army so far.

Hello to Clarke from Minismith´s Forge blog and (among others he runs) Minismiths Minis for E-bay. Great painted fantasy minis.His female Ghost banshee is lovely
Hello to Jason from Light bobs and paint blobs Blog. His hail caeser game with the roman and gallic armies is very inspirational. His mate Ian thought so as well :-D

Burgundian Mounted archers

2012-01-05T06:12:00.000-08:00

This lot took a bit of snipping and hacking to get together. It was difficult to find archers that fitted with the look of 15th century ones.
The top halves of the archers are from Minart, Zvezda and Redbox, the bottoms from Zvezda
Nags, Zvezda and Italeri.

The Cornet of St. Jude Thaddaus (for mounted archers)available from Dansk Figursspilsforening

Hello to Sanguemarcio....this time I can say he´s from Minaiture Warfare Blog . He´s only just started blogging (with some lovely 1/72nd medieval posts....good man :-D) but he´s been collecting for years.

Congratulations and 10 points to Paul from Plastic warriors blog for guessing the sound track from my mini-film...it was Black hawk down and the only bit of the film without incidental musik behind the gunfire.
Hugh from Maverick collecting came a close second with his suggestion of the 9th company . Hugh´s got a few great blogs..one called Small scale world is an excellent resource for everything plastic figure related.

Roman Tavern (Strelets / Linear-b)

2012-01-04T11:21:00.000-08:00

Another part of the Roman civilian life range from Strelets / Linear-b These are the masters but they already look pretty good to me. I´ll have to get to work on my new Roman town before they are released!!!

The bod 2nd from the left is attending to a call of nature

The Romans used Urine for curing leather, dying wool etc so the bars used to have pots to collect the "spillage" and sell it on.

There are a few more ancient/medieval sets planned this year like; Spartacus Uprising 2, Roman Port, Spartacus Army, Roman Republican Legion on the March, Roman Republican Legion in Battle, Roman Republican Legion Before Battle, Crusader Transport 1 and Crusader Transport 2.

Hello to Flags of War Blog Georgeous flags from all periods, and now in 20mm as well!!
Hello to Sanguemarcio...avatar but no link ??

Multi purpose Medieval Horse team

2012-01-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

What to do with the spare nags from the Miniart Hussites set?? Make a horse team for pulling all those bits of heavy equipment. :-D

Wether there were such Horse teams back then I don´t know but they look ok so that´s fine by me :-D

Thier first job..pulling the heavy german warwagon. Poor things!

Hello to Anibal Invictus (Benito) from Gaming with TooFatLardies blog. Loads of wargaming from the madrid based TooFatlardies wargames club.
Hello to Jakub Bazela from google +
Hello to TasminP from Wargaming Girl Blog. She´s just kicked off with blogging and says (in her own words)
A mythical beast - a female wargamer! The "does my bum look big in this?" post is great :-D

Burgundian Mounted Command

2012-01-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

Happy new year :-D
Seeing as my career as a film director has been blocked by varíous technicalities..it´s back to the "imobile" form of bodery :-D

Although there is a perfectly good bugler in the Zvezda french Knights set, I´ve used him before and fancied a bit of a change, so I used the one from the Italeri Medieval Tournament set.

The Flag is from Dansk Figursspilsforening. and is a generic cavalry flag depicting St Thomas

Tank "Brewing up"

2011-12-30T05:56:00.000-08:00

A bit of "end of the year fun" :-D (just press play)

If the vid does not play (Blogger as usual!!) then click here

10 points to anyone who can guess which film the soundtrack comes from

Hello to Rudedog and Chema Sanchez...thanks for following

Medieval Tournament - Finished

2011-12-29T06:12:00.000-08:00

I actually have got one project finished this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I´m not going to bother with the Quitain or the standards that come with the sets. They just seem pointless.

Fences. The twobar fences come so they can be constructed in a "S" form but a bit of filling and glueing soon overcomes that.

The "Busstop"

The "richfolks" Viewing box. I´ve added a bit of gold to the purple..it gives it a sheen like silk (which doesn´t come out in the pics :-()

A nice little hunting scene (Printed and glued on)

Not only has my basing moved the mounted knights further away from each other..but..the lances are held facing the wrong way (they can´t be placed any other way). The shield would be closest to the dividing fence and the lances laid across to the left.

Hello to Bishop Lord from Grand Scale Wargaming blog. Wargaming using 6mm and 10mm figures but on a truly grand scale!!
Hello to LoneWolf from Lonewolf´s Welten blog. He´s just started blogging and already has some great 1/72nd posts.

Medieval Tournament (Italeri) Pt2

2011-12-27T07:11:00.000-08:00

The Mounted knights.
As with the foot bods, these are to be found in both the Medieval Tournament and the Medieval Challenge sets. I´m considering painting the other 4 as well, but replacing the lances and giving one of the sidearm carrying bods with a flashy over-the-top standard..

I used the boxart as a rough guide to the colour schemes

oooh..the moldline on the lance!!!!!!!

As with the other bods in the set(s) there´s some great detail.

Hello to Brent from Of Metal Men blog. Dark age´s 28mm...His Irish camp is..well?..it´s well worth a look.

Order of St Lazarus

2011-12-25T06:43:00.000-08:00

Not a made up order of Hospitaler knights but one of the oldest of them. I only found out about them after seeing a wonderfully painted model of one by Dimitris from Figure Painter blog.
The Valdemar bods had been lying about in my collection for a while and a duel with Pascal was a good chance to use them.
The history of the lazarus Order is very interesting..more reading here and here

I over did the "dust" effect on the shields..needs correcting

Just a quick one today..hello´s next time..well it is the 25th

Medieval Tournament (Italeri)

2011-12-23T06:50:00.000-08:00

Or "Lords and Ladies, Knights and Knaves"
I´ve had this (and the Medieval Challenge) in the "stash" for a while now but finally got around to painting it after getting the single bods from Jöse (1/72nd Depot)
This is a bit of a WIP but I´ll only show the bods etc as they are finished. Next...the mounted knights.

All the foot bods together. I´ve painted them as close as possible to the box art of the Medieval Tournament set

The Lords and ladies

The foot Knights. These will be usefull for Burgundians or WotR´s

The Knaves. The bod on the far right is holding what can only be a "Turncard". All of these can be used for the battlefield as command / camp bods

The bods have some excellent detail and the faces are among the best going, especially for a mass produced set. The sculptor deserves a beer

Hello to Robin Sutton from Wargamingnz blog. Masses, but really masses of great wargames and bods...the WWI stuff makes my fingers itch for another project....:-D

Hello to CPBelt from A League of Ordinary Gamers. Again, masses of great wargames and bods..The siege of Kanlakab valley is great..

HAPPY X-MAS :-D

The CCC ( Colonial Camel Corps)

2011-12-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

I really don´t like painting camels...there´s so much of them!!!! :-D
This lot are made up from the HaT british camel corps and the HaT Egyptian Camel Corps
Nice sets...only one thing..there could be a couple more dismounted bods to create a firing line.

I went for two different camel colour schemes..lighter ones for the British..to off set all the grey and darker for the Egyptians to offset the white.

I painted the helmets as they should be..but I didn´t like the look so went with plain white without the green band.

The faces have turned out looking a bit too dark in the photo...

Definately a lack of different dismounted bods!!!

I nearly forgot...what rules will I use for them?. I´ve got a set of napoleonic wargames rules written by T.J.Halsall and A.M.Roth and published by Newbury. All the basics are there, melee, morale, movement etc..I´ll just have to upgrade weapons ranges, fire rates, come up with an idea for gatling gun effects and bingo :-D

Hello to J Womack Esq. JW, long term blogger has 5 blogs!! I´ll pick one...Victoria's Boys in Red (fits with my present painting theme :-D ) Victoriana / Steampunk...another gaming theme which I really like the look of...

Colonial Light horse and Marines

2011-12-19T06:28:00.000-08:00

Firstly, thanks to all for the big response to the Colonial army post...:-D
@Mike...the Army will get a just bit bigger.. it´s not a long term project.
Now for the lastest additions to the army.

The Marines from the "Black Pig"

The Trumpton lighthorse. Captain Flack is off having a cup of cha. Pictured are Troopers Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub

Hello to JeffM from The lair of the Evil DM blog. There´s some..very interesting models pictured there ;-D
Hello to Gauntlett from Duwburg Gamer. blog. All periods collected and played. He´s only been blogging for a couple of months but already has a fine little collection posted.
Hello to brownk29, Thanks for following....no link??

Colonial Army

2011-12-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

A bit of a break from Medievals....lots of red and white colonials...maybe it´s got something to do with having seen lots of people dressed in a similar fashion lately ...yo ho ho.
I´ve been toying with the idea of making a colonial army for a while now, but got my finger out after seeing these gatling guns and looking jealosly at Duncan´s Blog 20mm Colonial Wargaming
This lot are the start of a "colonial" army who are getting ready to put down an insurrection in the Chocolate producing Principality of Khandihar...led by the incontinent Kailf..Mustapha leek
The mission has to be successfull, I mean..how will the ladies and gents back home get to sleep without thier mugs of hot chocolate in the evening ???

The army so far. The 9-Pdr I painted some time ago, but the rest in the last 3 days :-D

Any historical similarity to any kilts pattern in existance is purely coincidental :-P

The red jackets..?? They look good :-D

Gardner Gun from Hat

Gatling gun from HaT

9-Pdr from Hat Colonial artillery

Heliograph and Telescope that come with the Gatling gun set. I´ve based them seperately so they can be used as signallers or spotters for the artillery.

Medieval Springauld / Springald

2011-12-15T06:12:00.000-08:00

Another addition to my artillery park....a ballista. I haven´t painted the crew as Burgundian´s, I just like the colour scheme :-D
Available from Fredericus -Rex

The Ropes etc seem to have come out a bit white looking in the pics!! :-/

The set comes with a basket of ammo....but I suppose the Ballista could throw big darts or spears like this one;

This Spear throwing Springauld is also availble now from Fredericus -Rex..

Medieval market

2011-12-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

Some of the bods from The Strelets Roman market..converted with a bit snipping and a bit of paint.

All the possible "conversions" from the set. I could of got a couple more but it would have been stretching it a bit...too many medievals in sleeveless tunics starts to ..er?......look odd

The females don´t need a lot of work..well none really in the case of the poor peasant girl, but the woman with the basket has been careles and let the X-mas goose do a runner.

Again, just a bit of a re-paint. The guy with the whip has swopped his Pugio for a sword.

No change for the bakers wife...as with the baker (apart from some warm tights :-D ) The Amphore have had one handle removed to give them a less roman appearance. I could of cut the bottoms flat as well..but that would have meant risking the paintjob ......and I´m lazy :-D

Hello to Peter celella from Sword and Sandal Gaming blog. A huge amount of Ancients (and other eras) in all scales.
Hello to Gowan from Gowan´s 1/72nd scale models blog. Fun and creativity..His fantasy medievals are great :-D

Medieval German War wagon

2011-12-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

A sort of mobile Mantlet..or the first ever Ikea moblie Walk-in-Wardrobe :-D
Scratch built from bits of plastic card, aircraft kit sprue and some old Kinder egg suprise cannonwheels.

What´s behind the doors!!?...........

..........a trestlegun, made using the barrel from the bombard from the redbox hussite artillery set.All 4 doors slide open and shut.

The rear..or front..depends really. I´m still working on the crew. Maybe I´ll make extra bits of flooring with the bods attached, so that I can have either the trestlegun or crossbow men

German War wagon ca 1480 from the Mittelalteriche Hausbuch

A large group of War wagons in Lager

Roman market

2011-12-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

A new set by Strelets (release date to be announced) commissioned and exclusive to Linear-b

All the roman bods out selling and buying

Slave traders and wares

Baker, potters and Butcher

Buyers and the woman with a BIG goose!!

Bread maker, cloth merchant and cobbler

For my full review look here

Burgundian Archers

2011-12-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I realised my Burgundian footsloggers were missing something. Archers!!
This lot are the armoured archers using bods from Accurate´s Hundred years War english Men-at-Arms and the RedBox Men-at-arms and Retinue set. If you look at them on PSR...don´t panic...it appears, on the scans that there are just bods embedded in flash, but I think PSR must have got a pretty badly cast set. Mine were ok and needed only a little knife work to sort them out.

The three archers from the Redbox set..bowstrings added like this :-D


Based for impetus.BTW...a couple of you have asked about my opinion of Impetus. It would take up a lot of space to go into it but basically, it´s not a bad system which you can tweek to suit. It would also be difficult for me to compare..they are the only rules I am using..the last set of rules I used were the Newbury ones for napoleonic and that was 30 years ago

Hussite Heavy Infantry

2011-12-05T06:07:00.000-08:00

Well, the ones with the pole arms. Bods from the Redbox´s Hussite infantry and Strelets medieval Levy (1)

Based using one of my "changeable" Impetus bases

...AND!!!! The whole army so far :-D

The infantry base looks a bit odd..too thick....it will have to be re-done :-/

Hello to Dean from Dean´s Hobby Blog...no posts yet but it looks like he´s another 1/72nd fan :-D (and Dean, your google friends isn´t put on the public setting, your Avatar doesn´t link back ;-) )

Bringing home the Bacon

2011-12-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

A mini dio for a duel over at Bennos Forum. This one was against my Arch duelling enemy Rich from the forum, the proud owner of West models and figures Blog . and the person responsible for my starting this blog. Usually he beats me..he´s a great painter and a genius scenery builder ..but this time :-D

Hussite Wagons (occupied)

2011-12-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

The redbox bods have moved in along with a couple of mates from Airfix, Orion, Miniart and revell

Hello to gaarew from 15ml of fame.Looking at some of his painted minis..it´s hard to believe they are 15mm..
Hello to Howard...your google friends connect is not on mate
Hello toTimur from Carpat`Land loads of minis..mostly medievals (good man :-D) and he isn´t afraid to mix genres in his wargames
Hello to Schrumpfkopf from Großbeeren 1813. Another load of great painted 15mm and his homemade flags are wow..!!!!

Medieval niceness

2011-11-30T08:21:00.000-08:00

Lots of new medieval themed goodies either coming soon or just out!!
First an addition to the Medieval Town guard /proclamation set from Alex

An in progress house from Fredericus -rex...which will also become a museum piece in the german town of Soest

A trebuchet..also from Fredericus rex..this has been released.

From Kamar...all available now:-D

Dancing Bear

Darkages/medieval army on the march

And from Valdemar .a large medieval Cog

Enough to keep me going over X-Mas :-D

Hussite artillery (Upgrade)

2011-11-28T08:01:00.000-08:00

I´ve added another gun to the Hussite army..this time the Veuglaire from the Zvezda Medieval field Powder set.
Would the Hussites been in possesion of such a weapon???
Maybe not but it looks bloody good so why not?:-D
The previous RedBox gun was painted along with the crew OOB..
This time I´ve swopped some heads from the Airfix Robinhood set and the Italeri English Knights and Archers set.

Both guns together

Norman shield wall

2011-11-26T07:08:00.000-08:00

Made up using bods from Strelets sets and the HaT El Cid spanish Infantry set. The Strelets bods are due to holding thier shields to the front, good for creating the centre of the wall and the HaT bods, holding thier shields to the left or right can be used to close the flanks.

The right and left flanks

The flag is hand painted.

Based for Impetus ( 12 X 8cm )

Hello to RazorOne223 from Miniature Wargames Junkie Blog. He has a Painting service which is no wonder looking at his "rushjob" painting

Hussite Infantry (RedBox)

2011-11-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

On the PSR review they get a pretty decent score..and I agree with it. PSR says that the set comes only in silver plastic..mine were cream coloured and the flash mentioned at PSR was virtually absent on my set of bods.
Some great poses and accurate weapons etc..a couple of the heads are a bit small but a transplantation will sort that...;.D
So, the bods painted OOB

None of them have been based as some are going to ~~catch the bus.~~..get put in the wagons and the rest are being added to another lot to create an infantry block.......or two.

The "missile" troops.

Flails and nasty clubs (sounds like a 70´s punk band...) Damm!! There´s that goose again!!!

Viscious pikes and what looks like a zulu club!!

Hello to Atreides from Marechel a 1:72..anotherfan of 1/72nd bods and all things attached. I painted about 7 from the 90 HaT El Cid Spanish inf...he´s painted the whole box!!!!!! :-D
And hello to...yet again Blogger has blocked me from seeing the followers..annoying it is getting!!!

Miniart Hussite Wagons

2011-11-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

Ok...the bods in the set are quite ...er?? Ugly...but the wagons are ok.

Stakes from toothpicks, the Pavisen made like this

"Gods word is truth"

The axles?? The set comes with the axles either bent or they break off so i just replace them straight away with wire. Cut to length, heat up and weld into place. The holes in the wheels need redrilling as do the holes in the staves that attach to the axle and run up the sides of the Wagons.

Here´s a link to a 1955 film about the leader of the Hussites and the battle of Sudomer...historically as accurate as a flim can get...and well worth a look.

Hello to Atreides....your blogger Profile is set to "private"

Zvezda Facebook Poll

2011-11-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

There´s a poll over on the zvezda facebook site...about the new Minisets..Basically there´s four choices
1. Big box set---
2. The mini sets---
3. Both---
4. (just added) High quality miniatures

Hello to Simon from the BigRedBatCave Blog...The most amazing collection of 28mm Romans I have seen anywhere on the web...just amazing stuff..looking at them tempts me to get myself some...!!!
Hello to Emile Coutre from Vie apres la Mort....(life after death) blog. Question is...is there??? Thanks for following

Mounted Knight V Peasant

2011-11-20T08:19:00.000-08:00

My entry for a little competition at Valdemars Forum, the place for all fans of 1/72nd medieval bods!!..

Hello to scottsz...you google friends link is on private setting
Hello to Jase from Quod Manica blog...cracking looking 20mm Afghans and spec forces!!!
Hello to Mingamer 1953...also your google friends link ison the private setting

Another Hobbit in 1/72nd !!!!!!

2011-11-19T10:04:00.000-08:00

The first one has got a mate and a Hobbit sized Pony!!!!

Marching through the ages

2011-11-18T07:57:00.000-08:00

A little test to convert a couple of Strelets Normans and run them a couple of centuries into the future.
Just simple head swops using heads from the Strelets Medieval levy (1) , medieval levy (2) and the Normans on the march sets.

All the converted bods together.

Originals in the middle, converts to the left and right. Pitchfork from the zvezda medieval peasants set, halberd from Miniart. The bod on the far left has recieved a head from the Airfix Robinhood set

Original, convert, originall, convert

Hello to..well blogger has again decided that I can´t actually see who..just how many!!!!!!!!!...hopefully it will cure up later and I´ll say hello properly..

Hobbit in 20mm

2011-11-16T12:19:00.000-08:00

A hobbit in 1/72nd scale....from Alex for Pascal from Sam´s Minis World......Alex never ceases to suprise me with his talents!!! A hobbit in 1/72nd....is this a first??

Hello to Gringo40´s website and blog. 40mm mexican civil war, bloody lovely looking sculpts and some of the painting is!!!!!!!!!

Medieval Town Guard /Proclamation

2011-11-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Another set in preperation from Alex. This time the guards aren´t drunk..but mounted on horseback and making a proclomation. These will be perfect for a command escort and signallers. The one reading I will find a place on the field of battle as a map reader.

The horses were originallyto be produced with quilted horsecoats..but they will appear with smooth covers so that coas of arms can be added. A good idea IMHo as it makes the set more versatile (period wise)

Hell to Uncle Brian from A Fist Full of Plastic. Looking at the titel page of his blog I can safely say he must have very big fists!!! :-D Tons of 1/72nd plastic bods..some of (which annoys me :-D ) I can´t identify!!!
His use of bods is pretty damned imaginative as well..

El Cid Spanish Heavy Cavalry (HaT)

2011-11-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

Again, painted up as Norman cavalry. The PSR review correctly places them later than the classical 1066 Norman period..but as my Norman army is ( like all my medieval /dark ages) a generic one..they fit perfectly :-D

The whole Generic Norman army...as it stands at the moment

The shield wall with archers in skirmish mode

The Cavalry charges forward !!!!

The shield wall

El Cid Spanish Infantry (HaT)

2011-11-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

Meant for the wars around Andalusia but I´ve painted the heavy infantry from the HaT set up as Normans. :-D The light infantry..maybe not the archers..I will use as Saxons.

They aren´t as heavily armoured as the Strelets normans and they fact that the shields are mostly held on the left or right of the body means creating a shield wall with just this set isn´t really possible.

The Hat bods fit very well alongside the Strelets normans. The fact that they hold the shields to the left or right means they can be used to close up the sides of a block.

Persian foot command (zvezda)

2011-11-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

I copied the colour scheme from the box art..
There´s a couple of things mucked up and if I do them again would change.

Hello to, well..I can´t actually see who is following...blogger seems to have decided to cancel that one for the moment. Anyway..hello to the nice person who is following :-D

Persian cavalry (Zvezda)

2011-11-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

One of Zvezdas best set...so nice I decided to get it twice :-D

Hello to Michael from Wargamerabbit. Wargames..wargames...and more wargames..all periods from ancient to modern...and loads of bods..tanks ..nags etc

Sans - Coulottes

2011-11-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

I did these after seeing the great idea on Vitor´s Blog Batalhas Napoleonicas. The set used is the Orion English Pirates. Vitor´s made his up as a Militia group and added an Imex bod from the American Pioneers set. Mine are an early french revolutionary gun crew..the so called Sans - Coulottes

Marianne and a couple of citizens

Barrel from Zvezda...the two gabions scratch built like this

The cannon (a 20pdr) is from the Zvezda Russian Artillery of Peter the great

Hello to 1939 Blog ...(no user name!?) Loads of nice bods all scales, all periods

Tomorrow is Herne......Lots of Plastic bods to be bought !!!!!!! :-D

And a BIG thankyou to Andrew from Ferrous lands blog for reviewing my blog....great ideaand very kind :-D

Medieval children

2011-11-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

For me, this new set from Alex is an absolute must have!!! I´ve already got a lot of medieval civilians, towns folk etc but there are just too few children and this set will go a long way to solve the situation in the town of Styrow on the Foam.

This little bod was created a while back but wasn´t released..

She is tiny but Her doll!!!!!!

Hello to Pascal from Sam´s Minis World . Sam is a fan of the 1/72nd bods and mainly medieval´s. Due to his passion for them he has made leaps and bounds in his painting..with every new post he gets better
Hello to Mindenjatek from..well..9 blogs!! I´ll name two...Playmobil Hungary (the titel says it all :-D ) and Seregfestes, where he covers 1/72nd to warhammer.
Hello to Candice Rigby from wiRo Designs blog...only just started. blogging..thanks for following :-D

Monks, Priests , a Bishop .....

2011-11-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

...and a magician. It´s All saints day so they are getting an outing but wether these lot will ever rise to the ranks and get thier wings...??

Friar tuck..or magicians apprentice, the Airfix "holyman"

Valdemars "you must confess"

From a Zvezda "big set"...His Holyness Bunnyfartus. What an ugly §!*°!!

Some of the priests from the Pegasus California Mission Indians set.

A pious looking bunch if ever there was one. The one to the far left had a bell on the top of his (now) walking stick, but it snapped off :-(

The pegasus set has some great detail like the rosary beads with crucifix..

And now for todays sermon...or is it a recipe for fish???

Norman Cavalry on the March (Strelets)

2011-10-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

The last of the Strelets Normans range..except for this set. Not only is the set rare and costs a small fortune (about 3X´s the price of a "not rare" set) but the style and level of sculpting is way below the standard of the rest of the range.

The whole gang on the horses supplied with the set. About half the nags are a bit lively looking for a marching group of cavalry...

Both sets grouped together

The non-action bods mounted on the calmer looking nags from both sets...this splits the sets into 10 actually marching and 14 charging (in Battle)

Hello to Vladd309..from Just too Much free time blog. Space, fantasy wars and gaming fun :-D
Hello to Martin....blogger??? Thanks for following :-D

Norman Army before battle

2011-10-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

Another addition to the Norman army...the Strelets Norman army before battle, but they could equally be "after batttle"...some of the shields have cut marks on them. A few of the bods from the Normans on the march set fit alongside this lot perfectly. As usual..I´ve stuck to the red/white colour scheme for the shield patterns .

A lot of Axes for a Norman army but that should only bother the historical correctness people...

The bod on the far left..he was a bit of a pain to paint..to begin with I wasn´t 100% sure wether he was leaning on a long sword or an axe.

Archer and crossbowman reloading

Macedonian cavalry

2011-10-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

From HaT and Zvezda,,both sets fit pretty well together.

The "boy wonder"

Medieval "picnic"

2011-10-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

"If you go down to the wood today you´re in for a big suprise!"..because..Hugh Jarse´s boys have set up a drinking den. An earlier version of the madieval drunks from Valdemar but this lot are sitting around and planning which poor peasant they can beat up and rob next.

I´ll add some cups, plates etc when I find them

Trebuchet - Mini History

2011-10-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

Made from resin, produced by Mini history and it came with the problems that large resin kits can bring..more later.
The machine, when finally built is an impressive beast....large and being made from resin..heavy.
I´m not too sure wether it would actually, if it were real, be able to fire. The winding gear appears to be in a bit of an odd position. It looks as though it would be smashed by the stone being launched.!!

I created the "firingpin" myself..wether it´s correct..??.. I´ve added a bit of mattgloss to represent oil that was used to reduce friction as the sack with the stone slid along the running board

And now the problems

The wheel for the winding gear had very thin pins one of which broke off straight away so i replaced the whole thing with a section of pen, which I filled with green stuff and then pushed a copper rod through the middle. One side of the device was quite bent and when I used hot water to try and straighten it up, the support holding the winding gear axle..snapped!!

The axle supplied was way too weak and I didn´t even attempt to use it..it went in the bin with the winding gear.

Hello to Fromhold from Jak to na wojence blog. Jak to na wojence has no 100% translation into english but it basicall means "how nice it is in war"..(with a touch of cynicism). Fromhold does Turkish/russian wars in 1/72nd
Hello to Coneforce from Tough answer blog, a reviews and look at blog. The post about the 10 most expensive cars...the Bugatti venyon super sport, a snip at 2.400.000 dollars. How did he know it´s what I´m driving these days? :-D

Medieval drunks (painted)

2011-10-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

This has to be one of my favourite sets....the poses, the faces..all excellent..so good the set virtually paints its self.
I´ve painted the most of them up in the colours of Sir Hugh Jarse
Many thanks to Jens from Valdemar Miniatures for sending me this set :-D

The "I´ll tell ya..", "Olay Olay olay O-lay O-lay !!" and "you´re my best mate" bods

The party in full swing..but wait!!!! One is missing!!!

OH..there he is :-D

The whole Party !!!!!

Hello to Simon,,thanks for following :-D
Hello to Markus Schenk from The Dice warrior blog He´s only just entered the world of blogging but his first post is a big one...The Pyhruss battle dio in 1/72nd from this years DuZi

Burgundian Army (foot)

2011-10-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

The footsloggers are finished....:-D Army made, so far, from Zvezda, Redbox, Caeser, Miniart, Revell and Orion bods.

The bod at the back has pinched a mace from the Zvezda french infantry set.

and now the whole army sans cavalry

Hello to JKM...thanks for following..(I can´t open a link through your avatar so if you are a blogger then please give a link)

Burgundian Command 20mm

2011-10-16T07:02:00.000-07:00

I´ve finally got back to creating my Impetus Burgundian Army. This command unit is made using bods from the Caesar European Knights, 15th Century, The standard bearer is the bottom half of a crossbowman from Zvezdas French Infantry of the Hundred Years War and the top half from a Zvezda French knight
The guard (left of pic) has aquired a billhook from one of the Miniart sets.

Hello to septimus-signum and s.g.cleare. Thanks for following :-D

Strelets Normans

2011-10-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

Basically these could be called Normans in battle but they are just listed as Normans
I´ve kept up the red and white shield pattern scheme. I like these much better than the Revell Normans, who seem a bit ..er?..skinny really.

I don´t usually like embossed shield patterns but these ones are quite nice.

There´s a lot of different styles of "protective" clothing in the set...

....including a rather snazzy studded leather coat...

Here´s a good one...for shield decals and Flags /banners in 1/72nd or 28mm look at Schildschmied
And if you are hunting for minis on E-bay..look here

Gloria!!

2011-10-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

A new set from Alex, combining some single sculpts that never made it into other sets. As the titel suggests one, the younger kneling bod is getting a knighthood from the old veteran knight.

Hello to Jonathan leboeuf (twitter? ) thanks for following :-D
Hello to Ironbovin from MUCH to little time blog. He´s just started with blogging and is doing a great job with the 20mm bods :-D
Hello to Sada from Page of Sada´s Hobby blog.. I like the look of napoleonic warships..but never have been able to get my finger out to attempt one..sada on the other hand has a complete fleet!!!!
Hell to Justin. Justin has 3 blogs..one of which has adult content, what, I´m not sure..I didn´t look..honest! and the others for Marketing.

Strelets Mamelukes

2011-10-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

Exactly which unit these are or which exact period I don´t really know ..which gave me a bit of free range on the colours..:-D Nice set...the horses have some great detail and they all, bods and nags look like they are involved in a charge..Very little flash to deal with and the detail is very good. I´ll have to get them based up..

The boss, who I have nicknamed Sumbhajee Angria (and so, we shall go to war!! )

I gave them a general colour scheme..I suppose they are after all one unit. The bod in green, second from the left, his sabre broke off during the shoot. :-( Still..it´s repairable :-D

Close up of Sumbhajee, standard bearer and next to them, two chainmail wearing bods..the one with the lance carries a bow and quiver...

Strelets Norman Knights

2011-10-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

Another addition to my red and white norman army...the knights set from strelets
Some of the horses look a bit sedate for a group of cavalry charging or in battle so they will get swopped for ones from the Norman cavalry on the march

All the lances I have replaced with florist wire..apart from the one signalling with his lance (at the back to the left)

The boss and his mates riding the "sedate" horses

I´m really getting into Normans..the shield designs you can more or less make up yourself...great fun :-D

This set is available here

Hello to Tim and ian-willey...Thanks for following :-D
.I can´t find any links to blogs or whatever you both may run...so if it´s a problem at my end..please feel free to add the link in the comments section..
................a little bit later on...........
Thanks for adding your blog link Ian, I´ll update and I´ll repeat the link (which is The Blog with no name) on the next "Fresh" post.

Medieval Bombard 2a

2011-10-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

The Mainly Military Bombard with crew added.

The man voted the "most likely to go deaf during this battle" award

Medieval Bombard 2

2011-10-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

Just when you think there aren´t any more to be had..another one pops up..This was sent to me by jmchasco..who runs a nice little blog and web shop called 1/72 Miniatures...I will be "hanging " around there as well in the future :-D
This two piece Resin mini dio is made by Mainly Military. I´ve never heard of them before but they do quite a range of houses etc..

I´ve added a bit of static grass and some Noch flowers

The set up comes with sacks..

.....and cart with cannon balls already attached to the dio. At first I thought this would make it difficult to paint but it was quite easy..half an hour in total.

It has ice little details like the broken boards shown here. Wether this was deliberate from the sculptor or not, I don´t know but I do know that Ye olde health and safety wouldn´t be too happy about it!!

I could have drilled the barrel out..but why ruin such a nice little piece..

Here with an Orion Medieval siege troops bod.

And here, the gun taken off and used as a field gun.

Strelets Sarmatian cavalry

2011-10-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

This set is still in the master sprues stage and hasn´t been released yet but I have the fun and privilage of getting to have a bash at painting it now....Many thanks to STRELETS for allowing me the honour to do so. :-D

The whole colourfull gang

Boss and his mates

Missile bods. I managed to cut the front of the javelin off and had to replace the whole thing with a pin.

my two favourite bods from the set...:-D

Based for Impetus (sorry, pic a bit dark)

A nice set, which I guess could be used for Sythians and others. The riders need thier legs bending slightly outwards to fit them on the nags but it´s not a real problem. Very little flash and some nice details, especially on the horses. The Kontos could be a wee bit longer but it also would pose no problem if either in the set were to be replaced. The only real problem I had was finding any pics on the web as a reference to paint them..
A great partner set to these, would be some female warriors.
Both Herodotus and Hippocrates report on them being a large part of the Sarmatian army as is confirmed by sarmatian graves found with females in military clothing

Jars, vases, amphorae and more

2011-10-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

From BAUEDA WARGAMES, who do some lovely stuff...their tents and buildings range is great..like this medieval tent

These lovely pots etc, are new and are for 28mm but some are definately usefull for 20mm...

...and these are for 15mm but certainly usefull for 20mm

Nag conversion

2011-09-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

A bit of cross breeding using the front end of a nag from the Zvezda macedonian cavalry (top row the one on the right) and the back end of a Zvezda Republican Roman cavalry (bottom row the one on the left)

And to anonmymous´s comment from my last post, you are probably right about the basing, we can´t be good at everything, but at least I have the guts to put my name to it.

Strelets Norman Archers

2011-09-28T09:37:00.000-07:00

Another little bit of my Norman army finished and still following the principle of no repeat bods in any armies.
I like the way the set is divided neatly (per sprue) into 4 armoured archers, 4 unarmoured firing and 4 reloading..makes for a good looking firing line. The set has a lot of potential for jumping the bods forward in time a few centuries and putting them in a 13th, 14th cent army..a head swop here and there ...:-D

The 4 armoured including a crossbowman

The 4 unarmoured firing

The 4 reloading

Hello to Springinsfeld from Mercurious Atticus
He writes, " A True Relation of Strange Proceedings in a Somersetshire Loft" His LotR army is amazing!!!
Hello to Alberto. who has two blogs...A Wash of Bourbon and El Brazo de Nelson. 1/2nd and other scales on both blogs..his latest, Swashbuckling and Musketeers in 28mm is fun...the use of bottles as weapons :-D

Crusader cavalry

2011-09-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

Wilfreds Huffing and Puffing has helped!!!!! :-D
Made using Italeri, Zvezda and Valdemar..I still need to add a few, Johaniters etc.

Hello To Lorenzo Calvi..thanks for following. :-D

Crusader Infantry

2011-09-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

Looks like the poor sods have been adandoned by the cavalry and are making a last stand on a sand dune!!
Bods from Italeri, Zvezda, Revell, Airfix, Valdemar and lots of conversions.
Nearly all the spears were replaced with florist´s wire.

Keep sounding the signal Wilfred...help will come!!

Strelets Normans on the march

2011-09-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

As usual, a great set of original poses, and this time the spears were attached to the sprue at only two places, as can be seen here They all carry different bits of kit, bags sacks etc and all seem pretty relaxed..as if they are on the march and not advancing into battle. Some of the standing armoured poses would make a good commanders unit.

The whole mob together

The unarmoured bods. The two carrying the chainmail shirt ..I can´t see whio they might be carrying it for. but it´s a good idea anyway.

The armoured bods

I´ve gone for a red and white scheme, ...I´ll do this for the rest of the infantry.

"where´s william with the wine!!??"

Hello to Der Feldmarshall from the Der Feldmarshall blog. He says he´s a lover of Little toy soldiers and if you look at his blog you will see why!!
Hello to Loch...thanks for following..you friends connect isn´t working.

Medieval artillery

2011-09-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

The artillery park. .Finished apart from a Trebuchet and crew

Hello to INFO...thanks for following :-D

Squeak Little Piggy

2011-09-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Two of the grunters from the Airfix Farm Stock set painted up to look like Tamworths..a rare breed that is as close to medieval pigs as you can get..and the Bacon is bloody wonderfull!!

Here´s a pic of a real Modern Tamworth...BIG PIG Eh!!?

Here´s a pic of a medieval one becoming a bacon sandwich.

Hello to Popa Christian...Thanks for following..if you have a blog it ain´t showing the link

Strelets Roman Transport 2

2011-09-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

The second set. This time the wagon didn´t need any alteration but I did a head swop on one of the bods, just for fun. Again I´ve painted the set up in a medieval mode..which is pretty easy to do., roman peasants are similar to medieval peasants. The two Bulls and two donkey/mules that come with the set are to be used in a future project.

The guy in the middle seems to have had a pretty bad fall!!!

Finally, I have a Bob builder ! (from the TV series Pillars of Heaven)

There´s a choice of either a stretcher with a wounded bod or the treasure chest. The bod at the back has had a head swop with one of Zvezdas meideval peasants. It wasn´t really necessary, the original head is perfectly suitable.

The happy couple. The baggage is , as always, toiletpaper.

The whole group on the march.......

...and added to set one, marching off to seek new horizons.

Obviously they have forgotton wether they have turned the gas off and are going back..to make sure

I´d like to give a head up for a new Forium, the American Scale model Manufacturer´s forum. The guy who runs it, Chris, is a nice bloke and the Forum covers all scales and eras..so get over there and register :-D

Medieval Bathers Painted (Pt 1)

2011-09-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

Finally, another set in the waiting list started...the medieval bathers created by the master sculptor of 1/72nd scale medievals, Alex. I´m still deciding what type of a base to use...wooden flooring perhaps?

Red Box gangsters and Police

2011-09-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

Finally, both sets finished :-D Cars from various makers

Cops and robbers

The law abiding citizens

The not so law abiding citizens

Baby face nelson (or machine gun kelly) and accomplice

Ma Baker and gang or a granny with shotgun and bounty hunters

Hoodlums with Moll, I´ve shown them before now they are all finished they are getting a second airing

Bonnie and Clyde

Sergeant O`Grady and the boys

Don´t call me scarface!!

Gladiator battle group

2011-09-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Inspiration from the new spartacus series .If anyone hasn´t seen the series "Spartacus - blood and sand" then I can highly recommend it...The 300 X ten in terms of gore..over the top fight scenes with buckets of blood!!!Roll on Spartacus - Gods of the arena and Spartacus - revenge

This lot were made up using bods from Italeri´s, Orion´s and Pegasus´s Gladiator sets.

Extra heavy inf ala Rome Total war...a bit unpredictable but they don´t give ground!!!

"Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife and I will have the corniest lines film history"

"red, it´s a lucky colour, the gods smile on you"

"fresh from retirement, the Tiger from Gaul!!"
I have just found out that the actor Andy Whitfield who played Spartacus in the Blood and sand series has died age 39 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, on the 11th of this month...very sad.:-( .IMHO he had a great future ahead of him.

Medieval Pilgrims and travellers

2011-09-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

Another set coming up from Alex, this time a set of Pilgrims and travellers, but first the start of a new set, based on the 1957 film, The Seventh seal. ( Det sjunde inseglet) starring Ingmar Bergman and Max von Sydow. If Alex can produce the two, death and the knight Antonius Block playing chess against each other then I´ll eat my hat :-D

Death (Bengt Ekerot)

Jof (Nils Poppe) and his wife Mia,(Bibi Andersson) with their baby son, Mikael,

and now the Pilgrims and travellers :-D

My favourite character of the set so far...I´ve named him Puck

Ancient Egyptian Army

2011-09-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Made up using Atlantic´s The Egyptian Army and Egyptian cavalry (which I converted a bit)
Caeser´s Ancient egyptian warriors, Egyptian army, Nubian warriors and their Ancient Egyptain Chariots
The command is from Atlantic´s At the Pharoah´s court set

Atlantic bods as the spearblock

Massed Nubian and egyptian archers

Chariots from Atlantic and caeser

Scratch made drummer