ECW Colonel

My brother mentioned, after seeing other command figures, that he'd like an officer waving his hat if possible. Strange request I know but I aim to please. He also keeps mentioning that I can chop and change a number of heads and then give them a scarf to hide the joint (yeh, easy peasy!).

So one of the last figures to be altered is this chap shown below. The modifications are only slight. The right hand and thumb were both remodelled and repositioned to give a more natural look and pose. The hat has also been sanded down to give a more uniform appearance.

Looking at the head of the figure I, at first, considered leaving him bald. Then I thought of adding hair with greenstuff but at this point I remembered visiting the Oliver Cromwell museum in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. There they have numerous relics from the ECW. One was Cromwell's enormous hat which looked normal (for the period) but was made from iron and covered with felt. It must weigh several pounds and looked very uncomfortable to wear, although less inconvenient than having a sword or halberd splitting your head in two. Also on display, if I remember correctly, were iron skullcaps. Obviously these would have been worn under the regular headwear and would offer a degree of protection from injury.

Therefore I decided to give this colonel a similar look. The cap was made by simply smoothing down a plastic Monmouth cap. I'm quite pleased how the figure has turned out. Only thing left to do is now paint it of course.