How to make foil banners

I had a request from a member of the One Ring to write an article on how to make the foil banners you can see in my last post.

So, here's a guide to the process, which is really very simple.

What you need

To make the banner, all you need is:

• a metal pike/length of brass rod
• superglue
• tomato puree tube foil
• a sharp knife/pair of scissors

Method

1. Cut off about 1 inch of the metal pike/brass rod to make the crosspiece. Cut out a triangle from the metal foil, with the short end being just under 1 inch long:

2. Cut a semicircle from the top of the triangle:

3. Fold the ends of the triangle round the crosspiece and superglue in place:

4. Insert the main banner pole through the hole as shown below and shape the banner around the pole, and superglue in place:

Done! It's as simple as that!

The finished banner

Haradrim Commanders

As I mentioned in the previous post, I ordered some Perry Miniatures Muslims from their Crusades range to act as Haradrim command models and heroes. Like the Wars of the Roses figures, they are excellent.

These are pictures of them pre-painted to show my slight conversions and additions.

Firstly, the two banner bearers and a hornblower:

I added the cross-piece and used tomato puree tube foil to create the banners, simple but effective.

Here are the two captains:

The one on the right has had his small axe swapped for a sabre to compliment the Haradrim style more.


This character-filled miniature is a Turkish captor with a prisoner looking uncomfortable underfoot. I will use him as Dalamyr the Corsair with a poor Gondorian captive:

Finally, here is my version of the Golden King of Abrakhân, created from a seated Seljuq Turk Emir and his court, and two oxen. Whether or not sitting on the backs of two oxen would be feasible in the real world or not, I was pleased with the result!

This picture shows how the King is removable as I pinned the throne to the oxen's backs. The rope was made from a thread of string, twisted and superglued.

This royal attendant adds a little character to the piece - I call him the Ferrero Rocher Man!

Another mini I put on the base to add character is the drummer - it has no affect in games, but looks nice. He's probably there to keep the oxen in step!

Here are the two guards who stand on either side of the King to protect him from attacks. In game, I'll pretend they have two-handed weapons.

This miniature was a difficult one to decide what to do with. If used in the historical context, he would have been an advisor leaning over to whisper plans in the Emir's ear. However, since my Emir/King's throne is not on the ground, but high on two oxen's backs, the advisor had no-one to whisper to. Then I thought of having him lead the oxen with a rope attached to the yoke, which is passed through a hole I drilled in his hand behind his back. He is now, instead of whispering, shouting: "Make way for the King of Abrakhân!"

Gandalf, Aragorn and Pinnath Gelin command

It's been a while since I last posted due to being on holiday, but I had plenty of time to do a bit more painting! 

I've painted Gandalf, Aragorn and Legolas (pictures of the latter will come soon):

I spent more time than usual on layering and highlighting on Gandalf and Aragorn, and I was pleased with the result!

Some more men of the Fiefdoms:

Here is a captain who will lead a warband of archers, hand raised and ready to signal a volley:

And here is the mounted banner bearer. I was pleased with the White Tree design, which isn't very difficult to do. It's really just semi-circles working outwards from the centre.

In other news, I've ordered some Muslim leaders from the Perrys' Crusades range to be Haradrim commanders. I have an interesting idea for how to use a seated Emir, so watch this space!

Hope all you viewers had a good summer!

Reinforcements for Pinnath Gelin

I got the Perry Plastic Mercenaries box, which are, like the first box, excellent figures.

I have painted the first of the captains, and this one sports a rather flamboyant feather on his helmet:

These are the other four captains I made from the set. The third has spare command arms from the War of the Roses Infantry box set.

And here are two musicians: a trumpeter and a drummer.

Here are all the figures I built from this set. I used the spare arms I had left from the Infantry box to convert some more pikemen and have a few more two-handed weapons.

I also painted some more of the Infantry box figures. Here is the captain with two-handed weapon and his banner bearer:

These are the two banner bearers from the Infantry box. As you can see they are the same apart from the stripe at the end, which is to distinguish between units in battle.

Finally, another of the metal horsemen:

Pinnath Gelin Pictures

Here are some pictures of the army of Pinnath Gelin that I have completed so far!

First up, the warriors with two-handed weapons:

Some shots of the whole army so far:

And finally, these are the models in the army I have yet to paint:

If you're interested in these figures, they are from the Perry Miniatures Wars of the Roses range, which can be found here: Perry Wars of the Roses range.
The warriors on foot are from the Plastic Wars of the Roses Infantry box set. The horsemen are from this set and this set. Hirluin the Fair (the king on horseback) is from this set.

Frodo for the One Ring July Painting Challenge

I've entered my first ever painting challenge over at the One Ring! This Frodo was from the Finecast Fellowship. I managed to acquire the set for free because my friend bought it and Gimli had a horrible big lump of resin obscuring half of his body. I advised my friend to visit our local GW and ask for a replacement. They gave him a new box and let him keep the old one, which my friend gave to me!

So without further ado, here is Master Baggins:

Pinnath Gelin warriors painted

I finished painting my warriors of Pinnath Gelin (Perry Wars of the Roses plastics) with two-handed weapons today. I still have to base them and I intend to have pictures up soon!