Modified WoTR Foot Men-at-Arms WIP, Perry Miniatures - Part 7 of 10

Greenstuff

After seeing previews of the latest Perry Miniatures release (light horsemen) I noticed that some of the riders had turn-down boots. I remembered seeing the same distinctive detail in an old Osprey book 'The Swiss at War 1300–1500' with illustrations by Gerry Embleton. 

With this figure I liked the resulting clean look using standard parts straight from the sprue but as my plan was to have as many unique miniatures as possible I realised a simple way to achieve this was to add the boot detail using greenstuff.

This figure was previously shown made up out of standard parts. I decided to add turn-down boots just to add a little variation to the overall look.

For this musician the turn-down boots effect was created once again with greenstuff. It's hard to see but I also cut away the knife from the left hand side of the figure and replaced it with a sword and buckler.

Just to be different instead of new boots this figure has been given a quick makeover with the simple addition of a head band made from greenstuff.

Modified WoTR Foot Men-at-Arms WIP, Perry Miniatures - Part 6 of 10

One of the more complicated figures I produced for this set, but similar in principle to the first one in this series. The original weapon from the right hand was removed and the arm/hand was cut away from a standard poleaxe piece.

Red circles indicate modified areas

Red circles indicate modified areas

The small crucifix was removed from the breastplate simply to change the look. It surprising how the eye will pick up on small details such as this when similar figures are placed next to each other. 

Red circles indicate modified areas

I was running out of similar left arm pieces so had to think up an option that worked for this particular arm. The remaining left arm piece is bent and sits tight against the body which isn't normally a natural pose for someone walking. However I thought I could make it appear the figure was resting his left hand on the sword pommel which now looks more relaxed. To achieve this the pommel of the sword had to be removed in order to enable the sword to fit into position.

Modified WoTR Foot Men-at-Arms WIP, Perry Miniatures - Part 5 of 10

Not a modification as such, more of an addition. For this standard bearer figure I picked a sleeved right arm and realised it would be easier to add a sleeve made from greenstuff to the left arm rather than trying to remove or replace the detail from the right arm.Once this decision was made the rest was relatively easy to create. To give the impression that the figure is wearing a surcoat I removed all the plate detail from the front and back of the figure (view Post 4 to see the figure with an unaltered main body). 

Red circle indicate modified areas

Red circles indicate modified areas

Modified WoTR Foot Men-at-Arms WIP, Perry Miniatures - Part 4 of 10

Another very simple modification to make, this time remodelling the figures left arm. As the standard left arm was originally intended to hold a polearm it crossed over in front the figure's body. Therefore this needed a relatively simple job of cutting the left arm into three parts, altering the angle of the upper arm and rotating the left hand outwards.

Red lines and circles indicate modified areas

Modified WoTR Foot Men-at-Arms WIP, Perry Miniatures - Part 3 of 10

This is a slightly more complex alternation but using the both arms from the original weapon set. The original arm weapon combination comes as one piece (as shown below). It's quite difficult to describe how this was achieved but hopefully the photos will be of help.

Red lines and circles indicate modified areas

The left arm and sword were separated from the right arm and then the left hand was cut away and angled and rotated so that the sword rested against the figures left shoulder. The pommel was recreated using a small blob of greenstuff.

As the armour for the the in this set are so distinctive I used the right arm as well. The upper and lower right arm were both cut away so the the elbow would point backwards in a more natural looking position.

Red lines and circles indicate modified areas

After looking that the figure I decided the right arm didn't look quite right so I cut off the forearm and angled it downwards. The resulting gap was infilled using greenstuff.

The images below show a figure made up of unaltered parts straight off the sprue to show the difference. I have since altered the appearance of this figure as well but will detail that it in a later post.

Figure showing standard parts

Figure showing standard parts

Modified WoTR Foot Men-at-Arms WIP, Perry Miniatures - Part 2 of 10

Weapon Switch

This small modification is probably one the easiest of all the examples shown in this series so if you're reluctant to modify a figure, with the thought of ruining it by hacking away with sharp instruments (it's never stopped me), then this may be the best option for your first attempt.

This mod simply involved removing the original weapon and replacing it with a warhammer which was taken from (if I remember properly) the mounted Men at Arms box set. As the original weapon was a sword it had quite a prominent pommel which I shaved down.

Red circle indicate modified areas

Red circle indicate modified areas

To secure the shaft of the warhammer (or similar weapon) you can sharpen the end on the shaft then bore a suitable small hole into the hand, using either a hand drill or a sharp scalpel, taking care to follow the line of the original weapon. Insert the shaft into the hole and then hopefully the replacement weapon will be less likely to break off.

The figure shown below has appeared before on this blog before and was part of the initial batch of figures I started (I managed to paint a grand total of two figures before getting distracted). As the original hammer had broken off this time I used a mace.

Yet another a simple modification for this standard bearer with the original weapon cut away and replaced by an axe taken from the Mounted men at arms box.

Red circle indicate modified areas

Red circle indicate modified areas

With the figure shown below I switched the head of the polearm from the original curved axehead. I also re-positioned the arms so that they would hang in a more natural looking way. The gap created at the back of the arms was filled in with greenstuff.

Modified WoTR Foot Men-at-Arms WIP, Perry Miniatures - Part 1 of 10

After visiting Leicester during the week of King Richard III's reburial I decided to focus my attention, for the time being, on my long neglected Wars of the Roses (WoTR) collection. I didn't quite realise that this project had been gathering dust for so long (over five years in fact) so it seemed an appropriate time to reduce this particular pile of boxed plastic. 

Michael Perry has done a pretty remarkable job of creating several sets of plastic miniatures that are both compatible and therefore very versatile. With the various weapon and helmets combinations you can produce dozens of figures and not have two alike. However saying that, I'm an awkward bugger in that I like to have truly individual figures and these plastic sets enable me to have just that. With a few modifications you can create for yourself a distinctive group of miniatures that are unique, something not really practical, although not impossible, with metal figures.

With the following mini-series I'm going to attempt to detail some the modifications and alterations I've made to produce a number of Foot Men-at-Arms units that feature of the increasingly popular Lion Rampant rules. Although not specificity written for the WoTR the rules are flexible enough to cover the period. The author, Dan Mersey, has even written extra rules and unit stats (to include handgonnes for example) that deal directly with any issues you may find if you are tempted to play the period.

In the rules a unit of Foot Men-at-Arms consists of six figures so I have attempted to create two units that are unique. Some of the resulting minis have very basic alterations whilst others required a bit more time and effort to achieve. All the figures detailed in this and the upcoming posts are taken from the Perry Miniatures plastic box sets namely:

Wars of the Roses Infantry 1455 - 1487

Mounted Men at Arms 1450 - 1500

Mercenaries European Infantry 1450 - 1500

The figure detailed here is probably the most complex of the ones I've made for this mini-series as both arms have been chopped about and altered. You have to remember that the armour has to match both the left and right arms, which is also pointed out on the instruction leaflet. Although this may sound obvious it is easy to overlook this simple detail when you find a seemingly suitable looking arm and forget to check to see that the armour matches the other arm.

Red lines and circles indicate modified areas

I had the idea (or thought I had) of making this figure more distinctive after I had made a few pieces of battlefield debris including discarded helmets and weapons which will decorate the bases of my mounted knights, the helmets being hollowed out using drill bits and a scalpel. I had also previously spotted a bare head (helmet-less) and thought I could make a knight holding his sallet, giving the impression that he was having a bit of a breather. It's surprising to note just how many important knights and nobles received head injuries in battle during the medieval period, Lord Clifford 'the Butcher' being just one notable example and of course the future King Henry V received a arrow in the face at the Battle of Shrewsbury 1403.

Red lines and circles indicate modified areas

In order to achieve this look I took a right arm piece and removed the polearm. The right arm was then cut into three pieces so that I could align the arm properly, using Blu-Tac to hold the pieces in place to test out the best position. As the right arm is elevated slightly, to allow space for the helmet, this created a nasty gap under the armpit which had to filled with greenstuff. I used the same material to produce the fingers of the right hand which had been cut away with the weapon.

Red lines and circles indicate modified areas

The figure was now without a weapon so to rectify this I took a standard right arm, straight from the sprue, which was originally holding a poleaxe but this time I cut away the hand leaving just the staff. This was then glued to a suitable plain left arm piece. As the poleaxe crossed in front of the body I cut through the left forearm and rotated the left hand outwards.

I thought I was being clever making all these modifications to this figure until I found a metal Perry figure tucked away at the bottom of a storage box. As you can see it's almost exactly the same as my effort. Thinking about it, I had obviously bought this figure a while ago, mentally registered the nice design and then put it to one side, eventually forgetting that I had even bought it. When I made up my version I was unintentionally copying the original almost exactly.

Spot the difference.

With added besagues

After finding the Perry figure I noticed it had besagues (circular plates designed to protect the armpits). Seeing as my version was practically identical I decided to replicate that as well (in for a penny, in for a pound). This was achieved using small blobs of greenstuff and making the indentations with a metal scribe.