Dismounted Horse (2) - 'Mounted Conversions'

I'm planning to have two regiments of horse dismountable for various scenarios. A regiment of 9 would dismount as one man on horse back, one man dismounted holding a horse, plus one officer and 6 troopers on foot.

I had two extra dragoon riders left and used these with some horses I cast from a SYW mould of a walking horse. The horses required changes to the saddle cloth and addition of pistol holsters. The riders had the front detail removed and filled up to make it more breastplate like, then I added cross belts, new heads and finally gave them a pistol and carbine to hold.

The finished conversions ... The two extra horses are for the dismounted horse holders which I've yet to convert. A side view of the mounted figures...

These can be used for my dismounted horse or for scouts, double whammy !!

No Wheels on my Gun ??

Sir Warwick Hunt, the Parliamentarian commander, is planning on reducing Wardour castle to the the south-west of Sarisbury. To that end he has sent for a large gun. A cannon has been found and is on its way. A dodgy wheel has halted its journey, on the border with Hampshire. At a small village the local blacksmith and his assistant try to remedy the fault ....


[figs: All Hereck and Goros except bearded blacksmith which is Eureka; gun is 54mm Call to Arms]

Dismounted Horse Troopers (?)

I'm toying with the idea of modelling dismounted horse. Not dragoons, troopers from horse regiments dismounted for action in siege lines or on a raid/attack on garrisons and supplies.

For a dismounted regiment of horse (9 figs in size) I was thinking of having one figure mounted with a pistol, one dismounted holding a horse, plus one officer and 6 troopers on foot.

At the moment there are no commercially avaliable figures that fit the bill, looks like major conversion jobs will be required. Figure hacking, arm swapping and remodelling with green stuff sounds like a lot of fun. I think I need to identify some figures to start from and try out conversions.

Village - Tithe Barn

My project for the weekend was to build a tithe barn for the village, as I wanted to find a use for the buttresses I saved from the remnants of the church kits I cut up. So I did a bit of research on the web. Tithe barns can be very large structures, sometimes as big as the parish church. I opted for a bit of simplicity and decided on a barn with one bay each end with central doors each side.

I built the walls out of foam board, making an inset for the doors. Below you can see the basic building structure with the doors and buttresses trial fitted to one side; beside it is a 40mm figure for size comparison

I made up the roof with cardboard. I used my favourite method for buildings, printed papers. These were cut to size and stuck on. The doors were painted and glued in place. After that I added tbe buttresses and painted them up to match the stone paper. Below you can see it the tithe barn finished on its base, about to receive a delivery ..

I want to add two more half timbered buildings to the village - I've decided to make these myself.

Village Church

Another idea for my village was to add a church. I thought some suitable plastic kit could be used to make one. I had a rummage at my local Toy and Train fair last weekend and bought two Hornby country church kits. It is just about right for a small village church or possibly a chapel (if you left the tower off).

I had a kit-bash session, deciding to cut up one kit to add an extra bay to the nave and create a two bay chancel. I raised the complete structure up on a foamboard base to get a little extra height. The bare walls with a 40mm fig for comparison is shown below ..

I added roofs made using cardboard and tile paper. Walls were painted and the buttresses facing stone painted as well (bit of fiddly job). I put the completed church it on a base and added a wall, plus a couple of tree. All painted up, based with scenics added ....

To check it fitted in alright I put it on my gaming table with the rest of my village buildings plus some visiting troops ..

I want to add a couple more buildings to my village; probably from the Conflix range.

Village Forge

I wanted some more buildings to have enough for a small village or hamlet. On a visit last weekend to a local model shop I found a Conflix Blacksmith's Forge. In order to get the height up I raised the building by 0.5cm using some foam board. The forge was inset into the base. I added a tree, plus a fence made from cardboard.

New Year at Pokesay ..

Sir William de Willoughby and his wife prepare to have an early evening meal in the grounds of Pokesay Castle. It appears the roast calf is nearly ready .. The family's pet geese have also come along to see if they can pick up any scraps.


[figs and accessories: Eureka 40mm Musketeer range and Irregular Miniatures]