Roadside Shrine

 I picked this little shrine up from Bicorne Miniatures on Saturday and got it painted yesterday. A nice piece of scatter for 17c European tables.

Blow Wind Blow Part3

 I've finished the windmill ( apart from applying flock to the base).

Overall I'm quite happy with it. The sails are a bit on the small side, but any longer and I think they would have been a hindrance to transport and storage.

I'll set some pictures up on a proper tabletop one day, but here it is on the unholy mess of my workbench.

A Bavarian pikeman lays claim to the mill on behalf of the Emperor.

I added a worn millstone from Debris of War .

The ladder and tiller came out fairly well.

I was pleased with the brickwork, painting a light colour to represent the mortar and then dry brushing brick red

I've just watched a very good video on

 YouTube about the siege of Leiden in 1573. The defenders moved windmills

 from outside the walls and reassembled

 them within to provide flour.

I'm just chopping up some coffee stirrers to make some artillery bases , so hopefully I'll be posting those soon.

The Gallows Tree

 While I was in the terrain making mood, and the primer on the windmill was drying, I knocked up a couple of pieces that would have been seen all over Europe in the 17c.

Here are a couple of examples of paintings with gallows evident, and if course there's the well known Magpie on the gallows by Breughel.

Here's my version so far.

There is a bit more of a twist on them than is visible in this picture, just to show the warped wood as in the last painting above.

Also a leaning crucifix. 

Hopefully these will add some flavour to the 17c tabletop.

Blow Wind Blow Part2

 I've finished all the modifications to the windmill kit, so it's ready for priming.

I added more bits of balsa to the sails as I thought they still didn't look organic enough.

Front and rear 

and the 'axle' end was made from the end of an old paintbrush.

The ladder, tiller and tilting mechanism are completed.

I then coated all the additions with Modpodge for extra strength and to hopefully disguise any visible printing ridges.

I was pleased to discover this was a common design in England as well as Northern Europe, so it will be usable in ECW games too. Ready to undercoat now. I'll attach the sails after painting, and add a few extra details.

Finally Sunrise from the Growlery (my mancave ) window this morning.

Blow Wind Blow Part 1

 Having painted loads of TYW figures ( which I will get around to showing you), I have begun to think I need some bespoke terrain. Something like this windmill for instance, painted by Sebastian Vrancx in the early 17c.

I had already purchased a secondhand windmill at Lincombe Barn Tabletop sale a few years ago, but while the top part was ideal, the base wasn't.

I think this model was from the old Ian Weekly range, cast in a kind of hard

 foam. I originally bought it for goblins to live in, but that project will have to wait.

I suppose I could have made the lower part and ladder I needed, but I found a 3d printed windmill kit on eBay which would work perfectly. 

So here we are so far 

Windy helps with the repairs adding an extra step.

The lower half with some alterations to make it more like the Vrancx painting above, such as adding risers on top of the brick foundations, and extending the central post.

I added some spars to the sails to make it a look a bit more ramshackle. The original print was very neat and tidy, and looking at other paintings of windmills or the time the sails often look warped and rotten.

(Note the bright colourful clothing of the rustics. Not everything was black and covered in crap as modern Hollywood would have us believe).

After the glue on the spars had dried I added some furled sails made from some linen tied with thread. I'm not a windmill expert, but I think the sails are rolled aside when the mill isn't in use, during storms or times of battle.

The next detail was the 'tiller' ( I must get a book on the proper terminology, but this seems the right word), with which the miller turns the mill to face the wind. The 3d one that came with the kit was straight, but in all the paintings I found, it's curved through the ladder . Happily the resin the kit was made from bends easily when held in hot water.

Now I've got the headache of fitting it through the steps....

To be continued....

The Fellowship by Hinchliffe

 Blogger behaving oddly ATM, and only allowing me to post pictures over a week old...so apologies if you've seen this already on my Instagram page @broadsword_miniatures.

I think these were released as a set by Hinchliffe for a short while , but all have individual codes. Old school quirkiness, long arms ( a Peter Gilder trait), Gimli towers above Legolas and one of the hobbits is much smaller than the others. All available now from Broadsword Miniatures individually or £17.50 for the unpainted set . I've also just received my backdrop book from Handiwork Games, which is an excellent product, put to use here.

RIVER PROGRESS

 I just need to add the gloss varnish to the water, and then add the flock promised from The Last Valley, and it's finished.

The reeds are pieces of doormat dipped in Citadel Ork flesh contrast paint,
then drybrushed. I painted in a few lily leaves as well.

Next project will hopefully be this tower from White Dwarf 53 , which I aim to have ready by September, the 40th anniversary of the Thistlewood battle in WD45.

THE RIVER TEST

I'm just trying out a sample stretch of river. I'm looking to recreate a slow flowing English lowland river, so was looking for a browny green effect ( notto represent all the sewage being pumped into it😡 but I daresay it could).

A quick test piece with a wood next to it to give me an idea of what the banks will look like when flocked.

THE BARON DE BELLEME

 I've been rising at sparrows to try and get painting done first thing, and I've managed to knock out a few figures for my Robin of Sherwood project.

The Baron de Belleme is the devil worshipping antagonist in the first series of Robin of Sherwood, and he is attended by a couple of slinky witches ( one of the perks of the job).

The Baron de Belleme by Conquest Games.

Witch one, who comes to a sticky end in a later episode.

Witch 2, Lilith (original eh?), who later enchants Robin and resurrects the dead baron.

a bewitched Little John as servant of the Baron

a random villager, very old Citadel model, much smaller than modern figures, he'll do as a teenager.

A pig rustler... possibly 1st Corps figures, but I cant remember.

A Foundry peasant.

An abject groveller, no doubt a victim of Gisburne or the sherriff (Midlam Minaitures?)

I'll add flock to them all when I have a big enough batch to make it worth while getting the flock pots out.

I'm enjoying painting random figures, doing the skintones first in batches of 4, and then each moidel individually. I can get a couple a day finished.

The mill and river project is progressing, but I'm tring to get hold of flock dfrom The Last Valley who don't answer their messages sadly.

The mill so far.

RIVER SECTIONS UNDERWAY

 I cracked open my only pack of DAS clay yesterday morning, and finally started making some river sections for my Robin of Sherwood project. Needless to say I didn't have enough, but another 3 packs are arriving today, so I should be able to finish the bank's, before starting adding texture and details. 

The sections are jigsawed out of 3mm MDF. I aim to make a section with a built in watermill . The resin mill building is on the far right, but I'll be changing the roof to a thatched affair with either DAS or milliput.

Having an hour spare, due to DAS shortages, I dusted off some primed figures and started on some flesh tones.

A few villagers, and the Baron de Belleme plus servants.

 With luck, I'll crack on with these this morning before everyone else gets up .