Forward!!

Few weeks since the last update but I've been reasonably busy with one thing and another. These guys represent the second rank of my Vorhut (I'll be putting together a command group once I pick up another mercenaries box.) I've been really impressed with the metal Perry models, the detail on them is amazing. I've aimed to add a few of the Swiss heads to each rank.

I'm pretty pleased with the results so far. Next up is rank three and then, yep - you guessed it, rank 4... I'm aiming for something around 30 models in the unit overall. Until next time...

Send in the Firepower!

So I've been quite busy over the last week or so and finally pulled my finger out and got this handgunner unit finished at long last!

Quite happy with the results and my Gewalthut finally has some much needed supporting fire. I've got a nine man crossbow unit as well, which is waiting for a lick of paint - however these will have to wait for a while as it was my birthday yesterday and I have something new to paint....

These guys will form the centre of my Vorhut (Vanguard) I want them to look more dynamic than my Gewalthut (as they'll be first to reach the enemy) I'll be beheading just under half of them and giving them the metal Swiss heads - to get the right 'flavour' for the unit. More updates soon!

The Painting Machine Rumbles Back Into Life!

Well, it's been a very long time since I've posted anything on here. I'd like to say it's because I've been ridiculously busy but that'd be a bit of a lie.. To be honest I seem to have just fallen off the painting wagon for a while but I feel it's about time to pick up a brush and continue with my Swiss.

Before the new stuff however I have actually done a few vaguely interesting things over the last few months. Me and my Girlfriend went up to Leeds for the weekend and I managed to drag her over to Towton for a brief look at the battlefield.

I didn't have the heart to force her around the battlefield trail (which has only been in place a few months I believe) but I'd definitely recommend having a look if anyone's ever around there. It looks like quite a picturesque area, hard to believe the bloodiest battle on English soil was fought there half a century ago!

I've also been over to Rhodes for a week, which has a massively impressive old town - built by the Knights of St. John and besieged by the Turks in the fifteenth and sixteenth century.

As you can see it's pretty substantial! All I can say is I definitely wouldn't want to be besieging this place - hardly surprising the Turks gave up and went home in 1480. There are quite a few well preserved castles dotted around the coast which are very well preserved as well.

Well, onto the painting then. Nothing too impressive just a couple of the handgunners I said I'd paint all those months ago.

So, just three more hangunners to finish the unit. My birthday's also coming up so I've ordered some of the metal Perry pikemen to kick off my Vorhut. I'm thinking these will have a more dynamic feeling than my Gewalthut, as they'll be the first to get to the enemy - so lots of levelled pikes etc!

On a final note I also ended up painting (well repainting..) something completely random - A Waffen SS grenadier in camo smock, but I'm fairly happy with the results.

Well, as I seem to say everytime - Watch this space...

Gewalthut triumphant!

So, after a little hiatus I've finally done something worthwhile and completed my Gewalthut! It's only taken nigh on six months but I'm pretty pleased with the finished product!

I think it makes a pretty impressive unit on the battlefield and should be a nice centrepiece to the army (Could be a while before that's finished....) The bases were done with a few tester pots of emulsion I picked up from Focus (Seems a waste not to take advantage of their misfortune and make a few savings really!). The grass tufts are from the army painter range and I'm really impressed with how they work, they're ridiculously easy to put in place- basically idiot-proof, which is lucky when I'm using it. Now just two more smaller pike blocks to do - the Vorhut and Nachut - and I've got a few ideas on them already.

Here's a taste of what's next:

Yep, skirmishers - I think these should be a nice change of pace from pike blocks. Admittedly I've cheated with these as I did them round Christmas time... But you get the idea. I glued together the rest of the handgunners and crossbowmen this morning so hopefully they'll be making an appearance here soon! Watch this space!

Finally!

Well it seems ages since I last updated here. Probably because it has been ages! Mainly because very little has happened on my painting desk over the last few weeks. However, with it being the bank holiday and all that, I decided it was time to pull my finger out and finally get round to finishing the last five Swiss pikemen who have been so forlornly waiting to be painted. I'm glad they're finally done as it means I can get all 35 based up and get on with something else (which admittedly will probably be fairly similar....) Anyway, here they are:

They're nothing too special - but it feels like quite an achievement as I've been painting this unit for what seems like forever. Kind of makes me wonder why exactly I want to do another two pike blocks... Think I might move onto skirmishers next.

Painting metal studs is incredibly dull...

As I mentioned in the last post my next batch of models are wearing brigandines, and I set about painting them with about the same amount of enthusiasm as I would have had for watching paint dry... And dull they were too. The rest of the models were finished in about two days but when it came down to the brigandines I suddenly discovered many more interesting things to do than paint, not helped by the arrival of this..

.. This is the new Warbow I've been waiting on for a few weeks to be made, and as a result the prospect of pretending to be Robin Hood outside in the sun certainly appealed a lot more than painting hundreds of tiny rivets. However I eventually managed to get back to the painting table (because my arms were too sore) and finish the models and I'm quite pleased with the results:

I'm pretty pleased with the two guys to the right in cantonal colours, as I managed to get the rusted/dirty effect I was aiming for on their brigandines. The one on the right is wearing black as I basically couldn't be bothered to do much shading/highlighting. One more batch awaits and then it'll be basing time! And after that I might try and put together some skirmishers for a little 'variety'..

If There's One Thing I Really Hate Painting...

...It's got to be Arming Jacks, Aketons or any other form of padded armour. It seems to take forever and half the time ends up looking rubbish anyway. This is partly my excuse for the recent lack of updates, the pictured figures have been lurking on my painting table for quite some time - waiting for me to summon up the requisite enthusiasm to finish them off. I also started a new job last week so with one thing and another I haven't had much in the way of painting time.. However, from my current estimates, there are about seven figures waiting to be painted before the Gewalthut is ready to be based. Anyway, enough waffle.. here's the next batch of three pikemen:

The guy on the left is painted in Uri's canton colours while the others are fairly generic really. The one on the right looks like he has no eyes in this picture, I can vouch that he has though. Overall the jacks could have come out worse really - I'm just glad I don't have to paint many more in this unit. Sadly the next batch are wearing brigandines, which I also hate painting massively so don't hold your breath for the next update!

Standards and Pikes

Hey guys, another small update for your delectation. I've painted up the final cantonal standard bearer, this one from Basel, and also another pikeman - so nothing too exciting.

For the model on the left I used the body from the command sprue, but I wanted to make sure it looked suitably different from the leader I've made, so I painted him up in fairly dark browns. I also thought I'd throw in some variety and try a blue turban - I'm pretty pleased with the results. The guy on the right uses a standard body and the command arms in the more gothic style armour. When I first did the armour I wasn't particularly happy with it but it all seems to have come together nicely in the end. He carries the banner of Basel taken from the Perry's flag sheet.

A better view of the standard - I probably took the photo a little too soon after painting it with matt varnish, which is why it looks a little shiny..

And now for something... slightly different..

After a request from Bedford I've taken a couple of pictures of my Towton themed Yorkist army to show you guys. They have been painted up to represent Lord Fauconbrg's retinue at the 1461 battle in the snow. Admittedly my painting has improved a bit from some of the earlier pieces!

This is one of my bill units (there's one more - but it doesn't look as good). I decided to model them as if they were advancing into an arrow storm, hence why the musician's clutching his throat and why two members of the second rank appear to be throwing some dodgy dance moves. Hard to see in these photos but I threw a few of the mercenary heads into this unit, as I was waiting impatiently for the metal Swiss heads to be released.. The banner is a livery banner I concocted myself, but I'm fairly sure should be reasonably accurate to a point.

These guys are probably one of my favourite units. The majority are Perry metals but I've also added a few plastic models in harness from the 'bow and bill' box. Before I put them together I'd been reading about the mass grave that had been found at Towton and that one of the theories behind the buried men's demise was that they had been caught while fleeing and executed by the victorious Yorkists. As a result I converted some of the plastics up to be either dead or in the process of being killed, hence why that guy is kneeling down. I have tried to place the front ranks in such a way as to look as though they are watching what's happening in the centre.

This is the Burgundian contingent. I'm not even sure if there are any records of Burgundian mercenaries fighting at Towton to be honest, but I remember reading recently that an early handgun barrel had been excavated near the battlefield - not too much of a stretch to imagine Burgundians being hired for the campaign, since Edward IV and the Dukes of Burgundy were fairly good mates it seems. They're all Front Rank and the handgunners have had a few headswaps with Games Workshop Empire models to get a little variety in. The St. Andrew's Crosses are sculpted from green stuff.

Here's Lord Fauconberg himself with his favourite drinking buddies. Again the models are all Front Rank, sadly I haven't managed to get round to get hold of Fauconberg's personal standard as of yet.

Finally here's something completely unexpected -  a phalanx of Immortal Spartans. I bought these sometime last year and this is all I've got done so far. Sure one day I'll end up back doing them again though! I couldn't resist a quick pic though, since they're right behind my WOTR stuff.

More Pikemen!

So it was a bit of a frantic one last weekend with one thing and another - but I've managed to fit a little bit of painting in during the down time. These are the last two guys for the front ranks of the Gewalthut.

The pikemen on the right I've painted up in Basel's cantonal colours and the musician on the left is in the black and yellow of Uri (partly inspired by a picture in the Swiss Osprey book). I'm not sure how keen I am on having the drummer in my Gewalthut, it kind of feels like they should have something a bit more special. As a result I'd like to get my hands on a hornblower of some sort - I know Essex miniatures do one but I much prefer the Foundry one (or the bagpiper guy) but I'm not willing to pay out ridiculous amounts in postage for a single pack. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled I guess.

I can only apologise for the crap quality of this picture (you should see some of the others!) but my camera decided it didn't want to focus properly for some reason. Here's a rough idea of what my front three ranks should look like. Obviously the green bases are a bit of a let down but they should look much improved once they're painted up!

A Little Update..

Hi guys, just a pretty small update this time.. most updates from now on will probably be fairly similar. I've come to the conclusion that batch painting large amounts of models at once really isn't for me. Instead I'm going to stick to doing two or three models at once, as I actually enjoy this a lot more and it's not like I have any sort of time constraint on this project - it can take pretty much however long it needs. So on that note I present two more pikemen for your viewing pleasure

I managed to paint these two up in an evening as they don't have any of the fancy Swiss feathers or anything. They turned out quite nicely and, more importantly, they weren't a drag to paint!

A New Batch of Pike!

So I spent most of last weekend painting up some of the Swiss stuff I got through last week. They literally seem to have taken forever but I'm putting this down to the fact that I haven't batch painted in months and that I'm a massive perfectionist (which is getting quite annoying.) However after hours at the painting face I present you with the first new lot of pikemen!

These guys will be making up the front and second ranks of the Gewalthut (hence the pikes being lowered.) I'm really pleased with how they turned out in the end. The metal Swiss heads look a little hard to paint up when you first get them out of the box. But once they're undercoated it's quite easy to pick out the detail.

Here's a close up of three. The model on the right is the one I converted from a plastic billman and the other two are metal.

These two are metal again but were given head swaps with the Swiss seperate heads. I'm really pleased with how they came out in the end, especially the one on the right. Anyway, I'd best get started on the next batch I guess!

A Few Frantic Days of Gluing Later...

So after recieving my Perry Swiss models through the post on Wednesday I've spent the last couple of days putting together what will eventually be my Gewalthut - I'm intending for this unit to be 35 models in total, based as five ranks of seven models but with the potential to reduce it down to five ranks of six if needs be. Overall the models have been pretty fun to assemble - the metal heads are a bit fiddly to glue on but I think this is always the case really. Here's two preliminary photos of the Gewalthut:

Apologies for the orange glow - it was sunny outside so I shut the blind without realising it'd make everyone look like they'd been tangoed.. You get the idea though - I'm hoping when the unit's painted and based it should make a fairly large and imposing centrepiece for the army with the various cantonal standards in the middle. I've also taken a picture of the plastic mercenary bodies with the metal heads to give you an idea of how they look together:

As you can see the heads fit very nicely on the models (as you'd expect really!) and add a very Swiss flavour to the models straight out of the Schilling Chronicle. As I said I also did a little bit of conversion work on the metal armoured pikemen I recieved.

In retrospect photographing them before undercoating would have been a much better idea really, but forgive me I'm new to this blogging thing! I basically sawed the old heads off and used a bit of greenstuff to fill in the gaps - they turned out quite well. I ended up drilling out the lower hands so a pike would fit in them which was less difficult than expected, the only problem was that a few slips meant some models needed greenstuff nose jobs afterwards, which was less than fun.

Finally I converted up a few front rank pikemen. I didn't particularly want the levelled pike models as they're a bit of a nightmare on the tabletop. So using, the plastic bill arms from the first Perry box and a couple of wargames factory Viking open hands (those models aren't good for much else), I converted up a couple of models.

The converting process was pretty fiddly but I'm pleased with the result. The one on the end is one I prepared earlier, when I was waiting for my other stuff to arrive. Right, now it's time to get down to some serious painting!

Some New Arrivals.

Just a quick one really. I returned from work earlier to find a nice surprise waiting for me: My Swiss stuff had finally turned up from the Perrys. To be fair though it's certainly been worth the wait as all the models look great. I have one pack of the seperate Swiss heads (36 in total), which I'll use to convert the plastic mercenaries, and also a pack of the armoured pikemen with weapons at 45 degrees (picture below - though to be honest the pictures are better on the actual Perry twins site)

The casting on everything looks ace - a few mould lines here and there but they should be quite easy to get rid of. The only problem I can see is that some of the pikemen's lower hands are cast fairly solidly, so I'll probably have to try and get my hands on a smaller drill bit than the one I have currently to drill them out. I'm also planning on beheading a few pikemen and giving them Swiss heads instead, so there's a little variety in there. More updates to follow soon.




And so it begins....

Hey guys,
Welcome to my new all singing all dancing blog! I've been keen on the idea of doing a Fifteenth Century Swiss army for a while but didn't fancy taking out a bank loan to buy models from Foundry. As a result the Perry's releasing their Mercenaries box has been a Godsend. I've begun putting together an allied force focusing mainly on the four cantons of Berne, Uri, Basel and Lucerne (Mainly because these are the flags which are conveniently provided in the box..)

Since Christmas I've been waiting on the release of the separate Swiss heads that the Perry's have been promising for so long - and hopefully these should be making an appearance later this week (fingers crossed) so this project should hopefully be able to properly take off! However here are a few Swiss models I've been working on in frustration since Christmas..

Cantonal Standards - (L to R) Berne, Lucerne, Uri

Gewalthut Command

Various Pikemen (Couple of Assault Group models thrown in)