Medieval Crane (Scratchbuilt)

As far as I know there aren´t any medieval cranes of this type in 1/7nd scale. There´s a small crane (and a lovely model it is too)  from Fredericus-rex but no big ones with the "Mousewheel" on the back.
So...if you want one and you can´t find it...make it :-D

The lifting arm I made a bit smaller than designs I´ve seen on the web. Wether this would effect the balance I´m not sure, but it seemed more logical to have the arm almost directly opposite the longer arm which winds the rope up.

No more heavy lifting for this bod. The ropes (left and right) from the supports to the lifting arm are to stop the arm falling forawrds.

It works :-D The wheel at the top of the arm is made from two small washers and a piece of biro tube (the bit with the ink)

The bolts are made using the heads from pins.

The most complicated bit of construction was the "mousewheel" The outer rims are made from 3 layers of card (Cereal box) and the runners from coffee stirrers. The problem was glueing each runner to both (or even one) of the outer rims, getting it square and in place at the same time.
I tried several methods...luck being one of them until I came up with this;

A piece of insulating foam with parallel  slots cut at the right distance,  Easy eh?
I´m not 100% pleased with the outcome of this crane. The result is a bit more "live and learn" and there´s a couple of bits I would now do differently ..for example, it´s missing a brake for the "mousewheel"  but it will do until I´ve got time to build another.

Hello to Maverick Jones from Kiron Games blog

Orc Warband

I think I´ve just about exhausted any possible conversions from the Ceaser Orc Warriors set.

The whole warband together.

Archer with a flail (Minart Hussites) and axe orc with a halberd (Redbox Men-At-Arms and retinue) and head swop

As they have so few archers of thier own and don´t like to rely on shields for protection they drive prisoners amongst thier lines to put off enemy archer fire.

The torch is from the Zvezda Medieval Peasant Army set and the sword is from the Atlantic Gladiators and Christians set. 

The boss orc and his Goblin Bodyguard

New recruits for their warband have been spotted in a dark grotto..all from Dark Alliance
Wargs
Orc light warg riders
Orc Heavy warg riders
Orc warriors set 3


Hello to Robin ( redrob ) from Atelier-Robin... Whatever he paints turns to gold....his Ele dio alone is worth a look...

Blue Dragon

This is a wedding present for an old friend. The dragon is from Warhammer, the Dark elf range and is called Darkelf Dreadlord on Black Dragon.
The kit contains Dragon armour and a multi pose dark elf but all I was after was the dragon.
Not a bad kit as it goes..fitted together well, the joins are virtually undedectable without any work to cover them up.

I didn´t like the idea of the black dragon as on the boxart..so he/she ended up a blue one..with a slight gold sheen

The kit gives a choice of two heads...this one seemed the best.

The base was a bit of a problem. The one provided hasn´t got enough weight to keep the Dragon balanced..the slightest touch would tip it over, so a larger one had to be found. Choice! Round or square!?
Or combine both ideas and have hexagonal one!!  :-D

I took a chance with the water effect (I´m not very good at creating water for dios)
I mixed some plaster of Paris with woodglue and just smeared it on the base (an old picture frame) and then stuck the plastic rock base into the mixture. As it dried I used a toothpick to make the choppy water effect...
A couple of "pre-basing" pics in different light levels.

A recommendation, Alex´s models at Attention to detail blog
If no-one has seen his work I can only suggest having a look...he is IMHO a scratch build artist of the highest degree of skill and accuracy. I can´t even imagine how anyone can have the patience to construct a motorbike chain in 1-1 let alone in 1/6th scale, but Alex does :-D

Hello to Jehan from Lántre de Jehan blog...Lovely 28mm bods..especially (I´m Biased) his dark age and medievals.

The Grimm Brothers

From a rare Medieval Journal called  Daemonum et dæmonia 1132

"In the days when only few men could read..and fewer could read there is recorded a mysterious event in the Dark forest far to the north of Styrow-On-The-Foam.
On a stormy night, triplets, of whom all were male,  were born to a lowborn couple living in the forest.
At first the woodsman and his wife were overjoyed  but within days of their birth, the 3 sons took on a strange appearance.  Thier eyes yellowed, thier ears appeared longer than those of normal man born children.  
When on the mothers breast they bit visciously, often drawing blood which seemed to throw them into a frenzy of excitement.
Within the first two weeks they took to eating meat with a relish but shunning vegetables.
The Woodsman, worried, decided to seek advice. His wife begged him not to leave her alone but to take her with him.  He assured her he would return soon and that the long journey was not possible for her and their young sons. He left his home to journey to the town to find a wiseman, his feet spurred on by a cold fear gripping his heart.
Upon hearing the tale, the wiseman hurried back with him..but, on the evening of the third day,  as they  neared the woodmans hut, a thick mist rolled in as if spilled from a giant cauldron, turning the early evening air almost as black as night.
The pair slowed thier pace, advancing   towards the hut cautiously, the woodsman gripping his axe, the wiseman muttering protective charms.  As they moved forward,  rustlings could be heard from the bushes, dark shapes seemed to  rush from tree to tree.
Finally they reached the hut, the door of which stood wide open. Upon entering they found........."  


At this point the pages from the journal are missing..but myth and story tell of three brothers of execrable appearance who live in the woods..three brothers whose mother was human and father was of demon form.

Happy Halloween :-D

Pirates (Orion)

A mean bunch of Pirates led by "capn" Jack Dore.
I´ve slightly converted a couple from the original poses, the bod digging now is part of the gun crew, and I shortened the hair on the female being taken prisoner.
This lot will take up life in the world of Bodstonia...well,  maybe the skeleton won´t take up life there... :-D

The females in the crew.

The cannon is a two piece thing and the barrel looks a bit long but it´s still a nice piece.

They seem pretty successful..loads of treasure and grog.

"Capn" Jack Dore

"ARRRH me hearties!"

Confusedly looking for buried treasure

What is he doing!? Blowpipe? A straw for sneaking ale from the barrel?

The winner of the "shove the barrel along the ground whilst laying on your back" comp and the looser.

 fffff

Medieval Builders (Set II)

 

The second set of builders from Valdemar, created by Alex. At the moment they are based using woodglue to attach them to the bases but they will, when I´ve finally got set 1 finished be part of a buildingsite dio...making a house or putting a siege machine together.

The set has 13 bods, 3 work benches and a set of tools

The carriers and fetchers. The wooden beams are made from balsawood cut to size. The two with the beams on thier shoulders can be paired together to carry one long beam, but...if you look, they are out of step with each other, and if anyone has tried carrying something with someone else and you both go out of step you´ll know how difficult this makes the task.

Using woodplanes. The woodspane is made from finely copped up guineapig bedding

Masons. Unfortunately I broke the chisel meant for the kneeling bod and I replaced the hammer for the standing mason with a rounded wooden masons mallet made from a bit of sprue

A couple of woodworkers

 

Man with a saw and the boss. The bod with the saw is, I think, supposed to be twined with the bod (far right9 in the pic above, but seeing as both of them have thier right arms drawn back ????

 As always with Alex´s bods..it´s the faces!!!

Medieval Haymaker

A mini-dio for the 10th painting comp at the Valdemar Forum.
I don´t have much chance ..not against one of Mich´s Dios...he does some incredible stuff..well worth looking at on his site, Michdioramas
Still..it isn´t the winning..it´s the taking part.. trying to  create something original that fits within the guidelines.

The guidelines for the comp are;
Make a battle diorama (2 figures or more) , the bloodier the better
At least one ValdemarMiniatures figure
Deadline 1st of december

My idea is to have a peasant getting his own back against one of the kingsmen....:-D
The Haymaker  delivers a Haymaker   ;-D

The blood I recreated by hanging the bod upside down and  adding a small piece of silicon, gently pulling it into thin threads with a pin as it dried and then painted it red.

The Knighthood

As these are dressed in early medieval armour (Lamellar armour) and not high medieval knights, I thought it best if they were to be part of the teutonic orders. I was going to use a classic templar flag but I like the look of this one which represents  the (Vogt) Bailiff  of Roggenhausen. They were levy to the teutonic crusades but the armour would fit to the period, and with no other markings, heraldry etc, they can be mixed with other medieval bods.

The soldier recieving the knighthood has had his surcoat torn at the left shoulder and is holding it up with his right hand. Wether a Bailiff (Vogt) could give someone the titel of  knight I´m not sure..

The set Comes with a set of gloves and a helmet

A servant (of the "king") and a knight reading out the deeds for which the soldier is being knighted. Judging by the fact that the Vogt has one arm in a sling, maybe the kneeling knight saved him during  battle.