So I was cracking on at a pretty fast clip when I started tackling this MiniArt box. I'd just finished the Hussite Wagon set, was feeling confident that I could keep my hobby mojo moving along when I started clipping this box.
It threw up a few head-scratching moments, truth be told. Firstly, the shields. I just don't know how to source or even print or scan those pristine decals that folks use on their vikings, knights & flags...
So....this is where it gets a little how's yer father... I decided to tackle some of the more ornate designs by hand.
Luckily, my missus has a steady hand and we actually, for the first time, spent a nice little evening together chatting and painting the shields. I just googled 'French Shield designs 100 Years War' and we went from there. Even my son wandered by after his bed time and asked to paint one up. Noice.
The results aren't great, if you're going to judge it by button-counter standards...but I reckon the colours just pop out for the old three-foot rule.
The rams & wagons were a bit fiddly, and some of the parts needed a little bit of persuasion to fit together, but nothing that an experienced modeller couldn't handle. I'm just a bit of a dolt with scale models most of the time.
I went for the same sized basing as the Hussite wagons I had assembled a few weeks ago. I would have liked to have used the figures with the halberds to be based individually on separate bases, simply so that I could use them to bulk up my units, but the poses on these figures were so specific to the wagon/ram, that I figured they should be based in a 'diorama' like base with the wagon.
The 'Ladder' guys posed the same problem. They're great little figures, I love their poses, but they are so specific to the scene, that they had to be based with their ladder....meaning...they're only going to be used - just like the ram guys - for some kind of siege scenario or game.
Fixing the weapons into their tiny little hands was little nerve racking. The axes and halberds were much thicker than the recesses in the figures, so the hands needed to be snipped and prized apart. I based these guys on a trimmed down paddle-pop stick, stuck to a magnetised strip.
As always, digital photography reveals all my painting short comings. Oh well.
I've been clicking around in my current COVID mind fog trying to find a scenario or medieval game that has rules for sieges.
I know, I know.
But is there anyone out there in this hobby that hasn't 'put the cart before the horse'? If so you can stand up and throw stones...
At least the box contained a few spares...a few archers & crossbowmen that could be thrown into my growing collection. A bonus too, the eight Pavise/Shields on stands that I based separately. These will come in handy as markers for those games like Lion Rampant/Kings of War in which certain units can 'upgrade' to Pavises.
So there you go...and yeah I'm currently writing this on day 5 of COVID. The first few days were rough, and it's been interesting trying to isolate from the rest of my family, but thankfully we are all fine.
All the best. Hopefully the next time I update here I will have some gaming to write about...
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