Sunday 19 May 2013

Burgundian Men at Arms - another contingent.

These Burgundian men at arms have been lingering around in a semi-completed state for far too long, so I decided to finish them off.



Previous postings on the blog, some months back now, contain info re the casualty figure and the horse tack variations. There were five men at arms still to be done and I also decided to change the flagbearer for a metal Perrys scurror, instead of the plastic one I'd already finished (who'll be relegated to be a second rank coustiller).




Part of the reason they'd been left unfinished was that I wanted to add plumes to the majority of the men at arms that I still need to do. Charles the Bold's ordinances decreed that all men at arms should be attired with blue and white plumes on their sallets and on the horses head. Not all contemporary illustrations show them wearing plumes, but they add to the visual appeal and give them a degree of 'uniformity'. I have some old castings of plumes that I've been using up for several years now, but I commissioned Oliver at Steel Fist Miniatures to design some more for me, along with orb plume holders. I'm currently using a few that were cast for me and we're currently sorting out a production mould so that I'll have plenty of them to use. Where the horses are barded and wear a chamfron, I'll add plumes on too - perhaps replacing some of those on the Perry plastics for more variety. I think that the plumes do enhance these figures really well.





A flag for the Ordonnance Company will be added later; I've not decided which one to portray yet, but somehow medieval figures never look fully complete without their flags and pennons. These bases will also be supported by a rank of coustillers. As Michael Perry has announced that Perry Miniatures will be making a box of plastic 'light cavalry' (with a sample 3-Up green currently on their website following Salute show) these will be ideal figures to form the bulk of the coustillers. This means of course, a delay before I can get going on them - so more men at arms will have to be prioritised. I hope the wait for plastic 'light cavalry' won't be too protracted...



14 comments:

  1. Glad to see you are back to this project! this is yet another push towards me taking the great leap forward and starting my swiss cavalry units, but i am not really sure where to start. how do i keep them looking distinctly swiss?

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    1. Interesting question.
      Looking at the Berne Chronicle illustrations as a possible guide, the Swiss mounted troops (who were a mix of Swiss Confederation and troops of the duke of Lorraine) are shown armed as 'standard' mounted men at arms - that is full 'white harness' (ie plate armour). There are some stylisation of them - which could be followed (or ignored as 'artistic licence' by Schilling); such as some shields (to denote leaders in the Chronicles I think), plumed turbans, unbarded mounts and a few figures wear 'bends' with Swiss crosses.
      Maybe a few threads to follow there? I may try some of those myself in due course.
      Best of luck with them.

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  2. Another lovely unit. Gorgeous stuff. Another nudge in the direction of the 1450-1500 period...

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  3. Superb, a great looking unit!

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  4. Another excellent unit Simon - the sense of movement you achieve seems almost effortless, some really good poses there.

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  5. Stunning paint job on a grate looking unit Simon !!!

    Best regards Michael

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  6. Yeah, some lovely clean work bere.

    FMB

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  7. I do like the drama and movement you are able to get on your stands.

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  8. back to the Burgundians - yeah!

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  9. Stunning work on these men at arms!
    Phil.

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  10. great unit, a real sense of movement in the basing.
    cheers
    oliver

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  11. Just an amazing collection!

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