“Charge those pointy things! “
~ Attributed to Prince Rupert
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| Pikeman of Prince Ruperts, Wooden Wars style |
Wooden
Wars: English Civil War pike commission
While trying
to get Galleys Guns and Glory out the door, I’ve been lucky to get a couple of commissions,
and I have to admit I’ve been jazzed by the challenge of each of them. This post is about an English civil war pike
man in plate. This was a fun piece to
do, and a challenge to make the armor translate on a flat surface.
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| Really this fine fellow could be used for 30 years wars as well. |
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| Sword is a separate piece, as is the plume. This gives both depth and options. |
Pointy bits and lots of plate
I prototyped a few different designs making the plate
a separate piece, but in the end the breast plate and tasses looked best on the
model. I did the same with the helmet which could have gone either way- but
kept it on the model for ease and strength. If I had more time to create this
piece, I might have gone with a woolen cap as the base and had several helmet
types to add on. One of the things that
excited me about this commission is that I’m working on doing a Napoleonic heavy
cavalry model, such as a Cuirassier. This is good practical practice.
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| Always interesting what "blends in" when painted. |
Keeping in
line with my other models, the back piece is separate and gives detail of the
back plate and jacket skirt. Here I
deviated from my normal designs and made the sword and hangar separate- because
it just looks cooler!
The pike is 146mm tall, which is double the height of
the soldier if you measure from feet to eyebrow. I worried that if it were much
longer it could become too fragile- and these things get balls tossed at them
don’t forget. The current height “reads” pike especially to those who don’t
have them.
Painting NMM
I seem to be a bit of a masochist when it comes to
painting my Wooden Wars models, as I don’t like using metallic paints. I kind
of have it stuck in my head that the designs are based on period prints and
etchings and as such I keep to the idea of print at the time. When I started painting the armor on this
guy, I covered it all with a thinnish base coat of REAPER Rainy grey. Honestly
I could have just stopped there- it looked great all one color with the etch
lines coming through and contrasting a bit with the reddishness of the burnt
wood.
If I were doing simple paint jobs
I could call it a day. But I wanted to push it further. I went back and forth a few times on the
armor building it up and bringing it back down- and although the outcome is
good, I don’t think I hit the right notes yet.
Luckily I know where I can get more to paint J
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| this model was painted by the gentleman who commissioned the piece I believe he is done up as one of the white companies. |
If any of you out in Blogland have some good tips on
large surface metal NMM- please comment! Entice me enough and I’d be happy to
send you a model with which you can show your technique!
Cheers!
