Friday 3 August 2018

Harps and Lions

I've been as sick as a dog over the last few days, so with nothing to do between coughs and splutters I sat down to finish something for my friend, Rob G. I've been heavily in debt to him for ages.

Rob has a magnificent collection of vintage Hinchliffe English Civil War figures, which also happen to have been what my first wargames army was based on, so I was delighted when he asked me for a flag to go with them.

It is the Royal Standard of Charles I. Back in the day I longed for a flag like this from the moment I saw the version being carried by the King's Lifeguard of Horse in the classic 1979 Asquith-Gilder Osprey Wargames volume, The Campaign of Naseby 1645.

Rob supplied the pike, which is a little thicker than the wire I normally use. The flag dimensions are 3cm x 7.5 cm for each side of the fly, plus 4mm added for the hoist. It's made of my usual fizzy-can metal, and the colours used were all Humbrols. The yellow parts were something new for me - Humbrol 99: Lemon Yellow, which has much better adhesion than the Humbrol 24: Trainer Yellow I've been painting with lately. It's also a lot brighter.

This is my second attempt at this flag. The first attempt turned to custard because I tried to hurry it. For the second attempt everything was tried out first on a piece of paper.

Conversions to follow in the next post. I would have done some of these today, but we had a city-wide power cut. Every now and then NZ likes to remind us that we're out on the frontier out here. The next stop is Mars.


Yours,
WM



26 comments :

  1. You Sir have a steady hand ! , I couldn't even attempt all those Leopards etc - well done

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    1. Neither could I, Tony, the first time round. In round two I kept trying to convince myself that 24 was really not a very large number.

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  2. Thats a beautiful standard, well done. Initially I thought t was a commercially produced standard.I perked up when I read about the Hinchliffe ECW army as I have returned to this range to build my armies. They are still a great range of figures.

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    1. I think so too, Robbie. I still have my old army -- including the ones I never painted. When I've finished Hintonspieling I intend to go back to them.

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    2. Robbie, just followed the link to your blog - beautiful Hinchliffe's, I've always liked them. For all their flaws they do seem to capture a sense of movement. Your painting style suits them really well - I'm ashamed to admit I use a black undercoat approach. The speed at which you paint is beyond me, my Hinchliffe ancients took decades to reach anything like completion. I would show my appreciation by commenting on your blog but have no Google account.
      What rules do you use for ECW, FKaP? I did play-test them at one point but they went in a different direction from what I liked. I assume like so many doyens of the UK wargame scene you live in the terrifying distant far north?

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  3. Words almost fail me sir...

    Absolutely gorgeous...

    All the best. Aly

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  4. Matt, that is truly stunning, the level of detail is astonishing. It will look great fluttering above the head of Charles 1. I'm glad you got to see Robs Hinchliffe ECW's 'in the flesh'.

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    1. He'll need a hefty trooper to carry it, 'Lee. It's ginormous! I could get about three of my normal flags into it.

      My attempts to paint flags like this back in the 70s were very sorry affairs.

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    2. Since Rob has just outed himself as the custodian in the comments below, I can say that I never saw a lovelier army than yours, 'Lee.

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  5. Thank you Aly. It's rare indeed for me to stray from Napoleonics, so it was a refreshing change.

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  6. Now I understand "shock and awe". Simply magnificent. It makes me really happy that I have reestablished contact with my commercial flag supplier......Well done,Sir.

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    1. I had to do my best for old Charlie boy, Archduke. I mean, just look at the outrageous audacity of it - claiming all of England, Scotland, Ireland and France! In the end, of course, he held none of them.

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    2. I just painted this flag as well for a sprucing up of an army I picked up at a local convention. Mine was no where near as well done, with the fleur de lis mere crosses and we won't begin to discuss the lions...

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    3. My lions look like enraged bears, Dave, and the Leopards wouldn't look out of place in a David Lynch movie- or at least that's what Wellington lad said!

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  7. Amazing brushwork!

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. It was high-stakes stuff for a while there, Stokes. It was when adding the gold that flag number one went bung. I did each side on two separate days, with a few long lie-downs thrown in for good measure.

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  8. I'm now desperate for Concorde to be brought back into service to whizz it to me with all speed - it looks stunning!!!
    You're giving me too much credit for the ECW army, it was put together by Lee and can be seen in all its glory on his 'Going back to the ECW' blog via the link on the Unfashionably Shiny site. I just took advantage of his moving out to Spain and having to leave it behind to pick it up for a pittance.

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    1. It wouldn't work, Rob. There's nowhere long and flat enough in NZ for Concorde.

      'Lee cared more about the army going to someone who would really treasure it. He made an excellent choice.

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  9. Fantastic. This is gorgeous.

    Looks like my next flag is going to the 9th Prussian. I am using a Douglas British figure with a cast in flag. If I can get anywhere near what you are achieving I will be pleased.

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    1. Cheers, Mark. As the 9th RIR's flag, if the 9th ever had one, would have been completely unofficial you can paint anything you like onto it!

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  10. That´s a really brilliant flag. Chapeau!
    "My lions look like enraged bears, Dave, and the Leopards wouldn't look out of place in a David Lynch movie"
    Not at all. They really look the part. I´d be more than chuffed to get them looking half as good as yours.

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    1. Cheers, Paul. I don't think I could have done this at 1/72nd scale!

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    2. Wow!! Gorgeous. Lucky is your friend.
      R

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    3. Cheers, LG. I owe Rob rather a lot for all the French draught horses and riders he gave me. I had to nag him before he'd let me do anything by way of repayment, however. His kindness and utterly infectious enthusiasm are what generate his good fortune, I think.

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