Project Update

Following on from the last post I have managed to take a couple of pictures of the project so far. I have rebased virtually all of the miniatures I had already completed. I am pleased with the how they are shaping up. Several of the command stands I am placing on 60mm diameter circular bases (plenty more of those to complete!). I think I'll use 80mm diameter bases for C-in-C stands.

The command stands shown belong to the Earls of Oxford and Surrey. The other flag, although a little difficult to see is that of Sir Rhys Ap Thomas. On the paint bench are six stands of French Pikemen/Long Spears. Whilst I am still working towards the Exeter project I have taken a diversion to paint up some French and Breton. My next post will be about these Franc Archers.

Back in business!

The last time I picked up a paintbrush that was smaller than half an inch was back in August of last year. A lot has happened in that time, but very little with my War of the Roses project. However today I was able to get hold of some free timber and have constructed a rudimentary bench/table from which to work from in my studio/workshop. It's a bit of a shambles at the moment but I have clear space to work. The lighting of the photograph isn't great as I took the photo this evening (keen as mustard me!).

I now have to meet my deadline of completing 15 miniatures a week which I know is going to be a challenge at times, but hey it's just good to know that I have a permanent place setup to paint my miniatures.

Plastic Men-At-Arms on the Horizon

I saw this picture over on the TMP website. I am glad Perry Miniatures are progressing with this kit. Even though I have plenty of billmen and bowmen, I do still need some more Men At Arms. I do find them the easiest and quickest to paint!

It's going to be a little while before these miniatures are released, which is just as well, the lead/plastic pile is diminishing at an incredibly slow rate at the moment.

Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond WIP

My wife and I have now moved into our new flat and although there is still some sorting to be done ( not too much) I have been able to sort out some time for building and painting collection. To kick off the autumnal painting season I have chosen to paint some more cavalry, this time the infamous Earl of Richmond, Henry Tudor.

The models behind the Earl are more of the mounted men-at-arms. I started them quite some time ago, so they have been picked out for completion. I am a little unsure as to what to paint on the herald, I suppose technically I should paint the heraldic arms of Henry, however, having come from France I may paint him in the livery colours of Henry Tudor. If I go for the heraldic coat of arms, I'll need a steady hand and some new eyes, it's achievable but I am a little concerned about the end results. I don't want blobs of colour to represent the coat of arms of the Richmond!

As for standards and flags, the men-at-arms will carry the heraldic flags of the Earl of Richmond, and sir William Brandon, Henry's standard bearer at the the Battle of Bosworth Field. I have the Freezywater flags which I will overpaint to keep the colour balance with the miniatures themselves.

My next step is to finish undercoating the rest of the models and then proceed with painting the horses before moving onto the men themselves. I recently took a look at the work of Captain Blood's War of the Roses miniatures and I do like the way he has painted his lances. I may attempt to do these lances in a similar fashion, so as to add to the pageantry.

Back on track...

Well it has been some time since the last post. Nothing new there! Real life has been extremely demanding of late and I have had to concentrate on other things. However, I have had a week off and have been able to spend a little time trying to finish off bits and pieces.

I am still working towards painting Buckingham's retinue. If you take a look at my counter I have completed the billmen and all the Men-At-Arms I'll need. In between painting the models required for the skirmish I have rebased Oxford's retinue of bowmen, including the man himself and his retinue of billmen.

What I need to acquire  next is a carry case for the cavalry, more bases and movement trays. I have a clear goal, it's just a case of finding the time. As for photographing the models, I will have to sort something out, the facilities I have just aren't good enough here at home. As soon as I get some more photos I'll post them up.

A basing odyssey

Over the last ten years my approach to basing miniatures has developed. As you can see from the last post I have now found a method which is aesthetically pleasing, well to my eyes anyway. However this really has been a trial and error approach with plenty of research mixed in.

The old days...

I then developed my basing style to this only a few years ago...

So you see it has been a well trodden path of experimentation. I have now finally arrived at the 2p bases which not only provides as decent base for these models but it quite a lot cheaper than many commercial bases.

That said I will need to shell out some money to acquire some movement trays. This will be achieved in one of two ways; the first will be to buy 2p movement trays from Warbases.co.uk. The alternative is contact James from http://www.oshiromodelterrain.co.uk/index.html. He has fabricated some Perspex rings for Captain Blood to create his own, streamlined movement trays. Which ever way I use I will be much happier as I feel the way the models will be presented on the tabletop will feel far more authentic. The other positive of basing the miniatures individually is I have several carry cases with foam for individual models lying dormant.

The final basing dilemma is what should I do with basing my cavalry on single bases?

Salute Painting Competition 2013

I have been thinking about what to enter into the painting competition for Salute this year and after some deliberation I have decided to put together a diorama. If I get the time I will put another entry in too. The diorama is going to be based on the retreat from Ludford.

The idea for the diorama will feature a baggage train winding its way along a medieval track under the watchful eyes of the Earl of Salisbury. I will be using some of my Perry Miniatures collection to achieve this work. I hope to be able to use the same models in future games so I am going to have to be creative about the basing. When I get the chance I will post some pictures as the work progresses.

The following information has been taken from www.waroftheroses.com.

'After winning the battle of Blore Heath, the Yorkist faction regrouped at Ludford bridge at the town of Ludlow and started to advance towards Worcester. They quickly fell back when they encountered a larger enemy force led by Henry VI. The Lancastrians ended up taking a position opposite the Yorkists across the Teme river. That night a significant amount of the Yorkist army deserted which led to a full scale retreat the next morning. The catalyst of the defections was Andrew Trollope, captain of the Calais troops. Trollope switched sides after accepting the king's pardon. After the engagement Richard returned to Ireland and the earl of Salisbury fled to Calais.'

2013 and beyond

Well, things have been slack in the last of 2012. Fortunately the world didn't end on the 21st December but it did give me the impetus to get working on the project. I have built the entire Tudor and Stanley hosts, which I am really pleased about. Painting of these units will be sporadic as my work is going to be unbelievably busy for the foreseeable future.

It's highly likely that I will be attending Salute this year with a couple of friends. We are planning to put something into the painting competition. I am looking at something medieval. Should I have the opportunity I'll post something up here.

For 2014 we are planning to take a demo game to Salute, hopefully it'll be Bosworth Field. Well that's it for now, I wish you all a Happy New Year and I look forward to what this year has in store.

John De Vere 13th Earl of Oxford

Well I have finally got something to really post about. It has taken some time to get to this stage, however I would like to present my version of the Earl of Oxford. The models are all plastic bar the Earl himself. I have used a mix of foundry and citadel colours.

The flags are from Freezywater. Originally I was just going to cut them out and stick them onto the models but having seen some other blogger's work I decided to overpaint them to give them a better overall look. I am really pleased with the results.

I know I haven't based the models but I am going to wait until the rest of the retinue is finished before I go through that process.

Painting the Pile

Having finally settled on the games system I intend to use I have organised myself a painting schedule! I am going to try and get twenty models painted a month. Now that may not seem that many but real life gets in the way quite frequently and I have other responsibilities.

I have 272 infantry, 108 cavalry and 3 'gonnes' and crew to paint for refighting the Battle of Bosworth Field, At this rate which to be fair is quite slow, should be ready by the end of the year which means I might be able to get the game in at the Christmas club meet! I am not holding my breath as these types of deadlines usually fall away for various reasons but I remain very hopeful.

In terms of the miniatures I have this represents a fifth of my infantry, virtually all the cavalry and about a quarter of the cannons within my lead and plastic pile.

Currently I am part way through painting William Stanley's retinue and I have started Oxford's too. I hope to have these stands completed by the end of this month.

I am still working on the basing, for now I am using Gale Force 9 'grit'. I will probly leave it at that for now. Once I have painted an entire ward I will paint the bases, apply static grass and some of the silfour grass I purchased from Salute this year.

Earl of Oxford's Retinue

Well I have finally got the project under way! I have now built the the retinue for the Earl of Oxford but as yet it is only undercoated. I'll post a picture to accompany the post tomorrow. The retinue consists of four stands of 4 archers, two stands of 4 billmen and two stands of 2 M-A-A. This includes Oxfords stand.

As of yet I haven't decided how I will finish the bases, so I'll keep pondering. If anyone has any bright ideas feel free to comment.

A Rather Daunting prospect!

Having finally got back home from my travels I have been sorting through the collection. Here are the plastic boxes in all their glory. I had forgotten just how many boxes I had purchased for this project.

I have also photographed the metal miniatures in their boxes. The picture isn't too clear, however I 'll be opening them up quite soon to starting building the contingents. First up will be John de Vere, the Earl of Oxford and his retainers.