28mm Perry miniatures 1st Crusade Norman Command Group of Bohemond (orMarc to his mum and dad !)

Status: Sold £80.00 on ebay.co.uk

 Here at  last is the first of several command groups and units from the perry miniatures first crusade range.
I have given Bohemond a dappled grey horse, his standard  is based on some research that seems to support his family may have carried a banner. The de Hauteville family expanded across southern Europe and the the near east from their home in Normandy.The family went on to conqueror huge territories in Italy,Sicily, Malta and Antioch. Malta and Antioch' s flag may originate from this red and white checkered pattern as they were both conquered by  Bohemond and his family.

All these figures are mounted individually on 20 x 45 mm base with steel paper on the base so they attach magnetically to to movement tray.

28mm Gripping Beast Saxon Thegns x 10

Status: Sold Privately £90.00

Below 10 Saxons Thegns  completed and based.Thats the last of that box set and the last Saxons I plan on doing for a while, but watch out for a Saxon thegns hall , scratch built and up for sale shortly !

28mm Gripping Beast Saxon Thegns x12

 Status: SOLD £106.00

    Some photos of this unit of 12 including command figures,more photos to follow soon.             

 

             

28mm Gripping Beast Plastics Saxon Thegns x 8

Status: SOLD for £72.00 on ebay.co.uk

 These 8 figures are being sold off in in two lots of 4 figures on ebay .co.uk. They will be followed by a further 20 or so Saxon thegns including a couple of  command groups of 4.

I have made some alterations to these figures, most notably adding some studs to the leather shields. Although I like interesting shield designs I think they might have been less common in this period than they are frequently depicted especially among the rank and file. If you look at the Bayeux tapestry,by far the most common shield design on both sides are the plain coloured shields with studs. To my mind it makes a lot of sense, a functional utilitarian shield,wooden boards held together with leather and raw hide, studded to hold the Iron work on and possibly as a form of decoration/additional protection. Why spend time or money decorating something that is just gonna get hacked up anyway?  Maybe designs would identify yourself to your kith and kin on the battlefield and bind your tribe/unit/army together. We know that the earlier Roman legionaires or later heraldic colours did this. So what about the Dark Ages? Interesting .

Any way I think the studded leather shields on these guys look great !

And these !

28mm Gripping Beast Saxon Thegn Command x 4

Status: SOLD £52.00

Completed this command group of Gripping Beast plastics,from the box set of thegns. The figures are suitable for Anglo-Saxon Armies from about 600-1100. These are nice figures,well sculpted,pleasantly stylised and certainly some of the best currently on the market for this era.

Perry Miniatures 28mm Royal Horse Artillery 6pdr gun and limber

 Status: SOLD £172.00

These figures sold quickly for a bargain price of £172.00, really fantastic figures at a real bargain price.

With Napoleonics I spend most of my time trying to get the edges of colours as neat as possible.Then shade lightly when everything is in place. Over shading can ruin figures of this period in my opinion, so I tend to keep the contrast levels quite low on the fabric areas and make the graduation of tones subtle especially on the faces.
I  had forgotten how much time you can spend wondering what colour each part of the uniform is supposed to be with Napoleonics.

Took some time trying to find out about the lacing button pattern on the drivers uniform, think I have it correct, based it on a driver of the Royal Wagon train in the Waterloo Companion,except with blue and yellow instead of red and white.

 This unit marks the start of my plan to work on the Armies of Waterloo, concentrating on the area of La Haie Sainte initially.This being a six pounder gun could be one of five in Whinyates battery. I have also started off with a couple of 95th riflemen and future plans include more of the 95th, the 32nd,79th and 28th regiments of foot, 1st royal Dragoons, Kings German legion and associated French units.

 La Haie Sainte as it appeared on a my visit to the battlefield in 2008, sturdy stone construction of these farm buildings and the lack of effective high explosive shells in the 1800's meant these buildings became formidable fortifications.
The 6 pounder gun was raised by 2mm on the base before dispatch. After looking at these photos I realized the figures bases made them about 2mm taller than they should be compared to the gun, so some 2mm MDF was glued to the base and then the gun was glued back on.

Close up detail shows some of the subtle, refined shading that sets these figures apart from ordinary wargames figures.

All five gunners are on magnetic bases that allow them to be removed and replaced with three scenic bases that enable casualty removal.

Above a close up of the drivers, the details of the harness, colours of leather collar, hames and other tack is a matter for some conjecture, various books contradict each other on the details, maybe there was a variation in the field anyhow ? I would be interested in any informed opinion on the subject.

2 x 28mm Perry Miniatures 95th Riflemen, British Napoleonic

Status: SOLD for £21.00

  Finished these two Perry Miniatures plastic 95th Riflemen.
 I have been itching to get some Napoleonic figures done for ages and the Perry's stuff is always a pleasure to paint. These are some of the first of the Perry's plastic range I have had a go at and I am really impressed.The faces have a lot of detail and although some items are less "sharp" (such as plumes on hats) than their metal cousins, lack flash and the additional hours spent sculpting really make for great figures.

 It is always difficult to shade black or dark colours effectively, I opted for minimal contrast on the dark green and black of of these figures which I think has worked really well.
If you highlight such a dark green or black too much you can end up changing the overall appearance of the colour from a distance.

 This pair are currently up for sale on ebay.co.uk, starting bid £19.99