28mm Scratch-built Tavern

Last week I started building a tavern for my 28mm villager models. She's not interested in gaming, but I think my 7-yr-old daughter and I will like playing with this "doll house." The top and front will remain open to allow access to the rooms (although I am leaving space for a possible front wall in the future). I'll scratch-build a bar, but I think we'll be buying metal 28mm furniture, barrels, etc. from Mega Miniatures. I already own a 28mm Medieval/Fantasy barkeep, inn keeper, cook waitresses, drinking patrons, etc.

Apart from the hardboard base, the materials have all been free! I picked up a discarded blue insulation sheet from a home renovation a few years ago (I drew in flagstones with a pen to create indentations for when I paint). Knowing that my family is craftsy, my neighbor gave us a few unwanted sheets of foam board. The half-timbers are stir sticks from a coffee shop. I have been collecting these stir sticks whenever we go out for coffee. I pocket the sticks after use instead of throwing it in the trash! Obviously, this takes a good while to build up enough materials. Re-using this garbage is good for the environment too!

I have been measuring and cutting all the complicated pieces ahead of time, and my daughter will helped glue and assemble. We'll be painting the finished construction together.

Check this out: When I cut out the whole for the door it was randomly the right width for 5 stir sticks! So, the door fits perfectly. I'm thinking about how to handle the windows. Either I'll do something complicated with cut holes and plastic "glass," or I'll just glue on a bunch of closed shutters.

The inspiration for the floor plan comes from an old PC game, Ultima VII. "The Modest Damsel" on the island of New Magincia had a simple square layout I like. You can see from this screenshot where I will be placing the bar. The bedroom in this image can also be a store room in my model.

Happy Halloween (in 28mm)

Happy Haloween folks. Both of these models come from Mega Miniatures. The witch was part of their 20 model Fantasy Town Folk set. I never thought I'd paint her, but then I had the idea for the Song of Blades and Heros game: Pilgrims vs. a witch and her monsters. I went for a bright red dress, rather than the typical black ensemble. The fire is molded plastic from an old 1/32 Marx playset.

Headless Monsters

"Another evil being best suited to terror and destruction, the Headless is indeed a creature of nightmares. Many a traveler has fled in abject horror at the sight of a headless torso bearing down upon them." —Ultima IV guide book

"This ensorcelled creature appears to be a living ambulatory, beheaded human being. It is unknown exactly how it compensates for its apparent lack of sensory organs, but it manages to do so quite well." —Ultima VII guidebook

These three headless monsters are the latest addition to my collection of Ultima-inspired models. For those unfamiliar, Ultima was a series of medieval fantasy RPGs for the PC, popular in the late 80s through the 90s. I was very fond of Ultima VII: The Black Gate (1992) and Serpent Isle (1993). I have slowly been collecting and painting models suitable for the world of Britannia.

I first considered the headless in an August 2008 post. About a year later I ordered Pulp Figures' naked Neanderthal Warriors set*. The animated poses more than make up for their simple appearance (no fancy clothing, armor, etc.) It almost seemed a shame to chop off their heads, but I did! I used some very small clippers, filed, and then filled in a few cut marks with green stuff. These models need alot of flesh paint. I used a mix of Citadel Elf Flesh, Bestial Brown, and some Graveyard Earth to bring the brightness down. I didn't glue any grass on the bases, because I expect these monsters to spend much of their time prowling the dungeon.

* I beheaded only 3 of the Pulp Miniatures Neanderthals. I'm keeping the other two along with a clothed set of Neaderthals as part of my small prehistoric miniatures collection. I plan on clothing them in hides and furs using green stuff.

Trees and Woodsmen

I finished a couple tree stands this week. I used Woodland Scenics tree armatures mounted on hardboard. I scattered used dried loose leaf tea (Irish Breakfast) to represent leaf litter. The leaf bits tend to flake off, so I sprayed the boards with matte varnish.

A close up of my Black Tree Design woodsmen and leaf litter. These two are from their "Good People of the Land" sets I and II.

The trees have a peg that fits into the root base. The plastic base is glued to the board, but the trees just rest in the hole. This allows them to be removed if need be (although it does leave a stump in the way).

For more tree-building articles see Iron Mitten and Cursed Treasures.

Vendel Miniatures Mastiff

To accompany my recently finished pilgrims I have painted a Vendel Miniatures mastiff. I came across an interesting passage about the colonists' mastiffs while reading The Skulking Way of War:

"The English had great difficulty killing these predators [wolves] because of their cunning and their ability to outfight even greyhounds and mastiffs. William Wood said that wolves were the 'greatest inconveniency this country hath' and that 'many good dogs have been spoiled by them.'" (page 61)

Although I have read that North American wolves are thought to be more aggressive than European wolves, this passage doesn't speak very well for the mastiff!

King Philip's War, by Eric Schultz

I presume the majority of people choosing to read about King Philip's War (1675–76) do so out of an interest in local history. As evidence of this, the authors on this conflict appear to all be New Englanders. My schooling in Pennsylvania completely skipped the subject. We were taught about the landing of the Pilgrims (one generation before King Philip's War), then we jumped ahead 150 years to the American Revolution. I wonder if school kids in New England learn anything about it—I suspect not. It rather spoils our fond Thanksgiving story. I, of course, knew relations between the Colonists and Indians eventually deteriorated, but I was surprised at how sudden the two groups went from guarded tolerance to mass bloodshed. As soon as the first generation of English became established in the New World, their land-hungry children set about killing off the native inhabitants.

Eric Schultz's King Philip's War is a fine book to start your research. Back to the whole regional interest thing: To get a copy of this book I had to make a request through interlibrary loan. The nearest available copy came from a library in New York. That's right next to New England, but 400 miles away from me!

The text is divided into three parts. Part I sets the scene with events leading up to the conflict, then gives a chronological general history of the war.

The middle bit, Part II, offers greater detail on each of the ambushes, battles, and incidences. This section moves from location to location using modern landmarks to aid the reader. I am completely unfamiliar with the area, so this organizational format wasn't so helpful. To use this section I picked an event first and then used the book's index to find the right page.

Part III offers first person narratives of the war. Benjamin Church lead a company of rangers. He wrote of the surprise attack on an Indian town known as the Great Swamp Fight. Mary Rowlandson gave an account of her capture by Indians. The author picks out only a few of her passages. There are several editions of her journal, which I intend to read next. Finally, Captain Thomas Wheeler provides a harrowing account an Indian ambush, the escape of the few survivors, and the Indian siege of the town to which they had retreated.

What I would like to find is a book that clearly sets out the combatants. Numerous English and Indian personalities are mentioned in this text, but there is no list describing the people each man represented: Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, Connecticut, Narragansett, Pokanoket, etc. I'd also like a break-down of the various leaders: colony governors, generals, chiefs. Maybe that's a chart I should draw-up myself!

Brigade Games Pilgrims 2

I just finished painting my first set of Brigade Games King Philip's War Pilgrims (this is my first post, but the models are from set #2). I wasn't sure how uniform the men's costume should be. I went for brown and black colors for woodland camouflage. Perhaps the New England milita wore proper uniforms, but these Pilgrim models appear to represent rangers in irregular attire. Indian stockings and moccasins are mixed in with the European clothes, so I presume the variety of colors is appropriate.

The blue of the the sword-wielding officer is based on a plate in Osprey's Colonial American troops, 1610-1774, Volume 2. I don't have the book yet, but there is a preview on Google Books. He wears a buff coat made of leather. This was an effective defense against Indian arrows, but not a well aimed musket shot. I had thought the model wore a cloth vest, so I'm glad I figured that out before it was too late.

Next I'll be painting the first set of Indians. They're primed and ready to go. After that I'll do Pilgrims set #1.

References:

Colonial American Troops, 1610-1774, Volume 2, by René Chartrand.

See the Snowshoemen reenactment group for Benjamin Church's "uniforms."