Polish winged hussar in 54mm

My latest project is a Polish Winged Hussar in 54mm from Andrea Miniatures. All in Vallejo acrylics with the exception of some metal areas. The kit came with a paper flag which, in my opinion, was not up to standard so I rebuilt it from scratch using a thin aluminium sheet (cannibalised from a tomato paste tube) and replicating all the heraldry freehand. The standard represents the coat of arms of Sweden’s Wasa dynasty which ruled over Poland in the 17th century.

This took about three months to finish which explains my dearth of entries to this blog. Anyway, hope you enjoy and take care all.

Gonfalonier of the Order of St John, 1565

 This project brought me a bit closer to home as it is a standard bearer (gonfalonier) of the Order of St John or as they are more commonly known, the knights of Malta, during the Great Siege of 1565.  It is a 70mm model from Elite Miniaturas, a Spanish manufacturer which - I suspect - is no longer in operation. The model is painted entirely in acrylics except for the armour.  As it is a metal miniature, I decided to buff the model to a shine using a mini drill polisher attachment and gave it a light wash of raw umber ink. Steel acrylic was then used to highlight rivets and edges and the whole was sealed in gloss varnish to prevent the metal from darkening.  I have to say I was quite happy with the end result.

 

This model also holds a very special place in my heart as it was given to me by my best friend David Grech of Degree Miniatures (a small Maltese enterprise) some months ago. Unfortunately, Dave recently passed away following a long and cruel illness.  He was an incredibly talented person who could do anything he set his mind to.  Dave and I went back a long way and have shared so many modelling, wargaming, and family experiences together.  He was an avid Napoleonic re-enactor, was best man at my wedding and was "Uncle Dave" to my kids.  Even today, almost a month from his passing, I am still in denial that he is no longer with us. May he rest in peace.

 

Mike

Kato Kiyomasa, samurai general in 90mm

 It's been a while since my last post. Not because I didn't feel like or because I wasn't doing stuff.

On the contrary.

When I finished my 54mm knight Owain Glyndwr (see my last blog post), my eyes fell on a plastic tupperware container which had been languishing in the remote corners of the war chest for years and years on end. Inside the container was a 90mm metal model of a mounted samurai general which I had built in my late teens or early twenties and in time bits and pieces started coming off.  Luckily, though, I saved all of them and having given up of any immediate repair, I stored the lot in the container and left them there, all forgotten.

So six months ago I opened the container for the first time in decades, checked that all the pieces were, indeed present and set to work on restoration. I have to say at this point that this model is one of a series of samurai models from Poste Militaire. These were all the rage in the eighties and today are looked upon as classics. This one is a sculpt of samurai general Kato Kiyomasa - apparently more renowned for his prowess of hunting tigers than for his generalship - by Ray Lamb. I don't think these eighties' models are up to the standard of today's sculpts but they are still very nice and imposing pieces. One thing I had noticed in the past was that the horse's hind leg had buckled under the weight of the metal (the whole thing with base weighs in at just shy of 1.2kg) so one of the first things I knew I had to do was to reinforce the legs with brass rods drilled as far up the legs as possible. The whole thing was stripped down to bare metal and rebuilt from the ground up. This is the result.

This is what I had muddled through forty years ago. Poor Kato !

All stripped down

Had to reinforce the legs or they would have buckled once more

I thought of putting a roadside lantern on the base so I scratch built one

This project was a marathon during which I met quite a few hurdles but which I thankfully managed to overcome. I hope you like the end result and thank you all for visiting and commenting.

Hope not to take so long before my next post!

Mike

Another 54mm figure - Owain Glyndwr, Prince of Wales

 

Owain Glyndwr (or Owen Glendower, or Owyn Glyndwr) lived between the 14th and 15th centuries and was a Welsh nobleman who revolted against the English and succeeded in ending their rule in Wales. In 1405 he proclaimed an independent Welsh state which lasted a full five years (!) before the English under Henry IV invaded and reconquered Wales once again. Henry V later twice offered Glyndwr a pardon but was rebuffed on both occasions.  Glyndwr, who had in the meantime adopted guerilla tactics against the English,  disappears from the radar around 1415 and his ultimate fate seems to be a bit of a mystery as no further information about him is known after that date. It can be said that Owain Glyndwr was the only Welsh Prince of Wales and no other Welshman matched his political and military achievements. My grasp of Welsh history is limited so feel free to put me in the pillory if I have strayed 😄

Pegaso have produced an excellently-sculpted figure of a mounted Glyndwr in 54mm.  The mount is draped in a caparison bearing Glyndwr's heraldic coat of arms of four rampant lions as well as a dragon, that eternal symbol of Wales. Owain's shield bears the rampant lions as well while the dragon is reproduced on his tabard. It is quite an intricate figure to paint and I was apprehensive that I would not be able to do it justice but I have to say that I am happy with the final result. The figure took just short of three months to finish and is entirely in acrylics except for the armour which is airbrushed Vallejo Liquid Silver and lined in Tamiya Panel Liner. Ink is also used in places.

Thanks for visiting and commenting.

 

 

British Coldstream Guardsman in 54mm

Yet again, another 54mm figure from Pegaso.  This time it's a private of the 2nd Coldstream Guards at Waterloo. Not a very demanding figure but it is very well sculpted and the parts go together well. The figure forms part of a commemorative boxed set of two figures, one French and one British.  I have also included a picture of the two figures comprising the set.