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About three weeks ago I posted a piece on TWW entitled 10mm Cardinal about, surprisingly enough, a 10mm Renaissance Cardinal figure I made. Someone said, okay make some 10mm Tang Dynasty figures then, and I have made four infantry figs and am working on some cavalry, but the point here (at last!) is that while rummaging through past sculpts for a 25mm Tang infantryman I made many years ago I came across these:
I can’t remember the exact scenario I was planning but they were supposed to be for a sort of Wicker Man type theme based on the Mari Lwyd (Welsh hobbyhorse), Border Morris men – not your soft Cotswold Morris -and a possessed Scarecrow.
I never actually got round to playing it – one good reason being the scale creep I let overtake me as I made these.
They were supposed to be augmented by 28mm commercially available civilian figs but a) I couldn’t find enough and b) this is my figs next to a 28mm Hoplite
Now I’ve found them again I can feel the urge to complete and play this – but do I sculpt new true 28mm size figs or go mad and make the other figs I need in this ginormous 35/40mm size? (The Mari Lwyd is meant to be huge, it is a horse’s skull on a pole – and in this scenario also possessed).
Decisions, decisions!
Fascinating! I wish to seen more about all this. 🙂
The Morris Dancer though… not having grown up with English culture he doesn’t seem all that scary…
The traditional Morris Man is probably the scariest thing in English culture.
Myself not being English either, the first time I heard about Morris dancers was probably their Discworld adaptation in Terry Pratchett novels, after reading it I wanted to understand what they were.
http://www.argad-bzh.fr/argad/en.html
https://www.anargader.net/After a bit of a hiatus – Green Stuff out of stock, likewise RTV101 rubber I got round to having a go at resizing.
The first three above
Another Morris man and the policeman and scarecrow cast up.
I’m going to have to remould the first two as I managed to get bubbles in the silicone, and the scarecrow comes out with a little round ball at the top of his hat (more clown than scarecrow – not the look I was going for), and both he and the policeman have either a small roundshot between their feet or they are more scared than they should be at this stage in the proceedings.
I haven’t cast anything up for a while now and the rubber seems stiffer than I remember and requires a more vigorous mix with the catalyst. I presume this has put air into it and the bubbles don’t seem to rise out as easily as they used to ( I think. I may just be more cack handed and out of practice.)
There’s a vicar with cross raised, warding something off and a farmer/squire with shotgun done as well and another Mari Llwyd which needs reworking as it is shorter but the head seems way too big. There’s a WI style woman armature made and a lady of the manor and a female police officer sketched so we’ll see how thy go.
Anyway, more practice and then I’ll have a go at casting the 10mm Tang dynasty stuff I’ve been playing with.
Never cast 10mm before, the bubbles may be bigger than the figures!
Nice work, an interesting project, I suspect it might fit in nicely with a version of a Very British Civil War
https://jimssfnovelsandwargamerules.wordpress.com/
As it happens, a Mari Lwyd is available commercially. Not a figurine unfortunately, but as a nice little pin badge. I’ve been so taken with the image of the hobby-horse that I just had to buy one. It arrived this morning, photo attached. It’s one inch tall from bottom of foot to top of ear.
Full disclosure – I have no connection to 1000 Flags!
Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen
Well that jogged my memory!
Thanks for the comments – much appreciated.
I had a few problems with ‘sticky’ plasticine on the masters and I had a ‘pause’ while I looked for an answer. I lost bits off a couple of the masters and wondered whether I should simply make one offs for things I would need. (eg I probably only need one vicar). Then real life intervened.
I have dug the ones I completed out and played an introductory solo narrative game and I shall get back to sculpting and painting the rest now.
Locals report an unusual appearance in the ‘Abbey Field’. Nobody puts a scarecrow in there – there are no crops.
Constables Williams and Jones turn up to check everything is okay as the sun is going down. The local squire appears to be having one of his evening ‘revels’
That’s odd thinks Williams. There’s another scarecrow over there. And Tommy Hughes has grown a bit in that Mari Llwyd costume.
The dance is coming to some sort of climax, and why is the squire wearing that weird costume and a sword?
In the gloom of the Abbey ruins, something unspeakable stirs.
Poor old William and Jones, where’s an exorcist when you need one?
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Second question was the Tang.
Even more difficult.
Sculpting in 10mm is mad, my sculpting is average at best on a good day with a fair wind in larger scales. In 10mm – yuk!
Add in the mould making and casting difficulties and these went on the same back burner as the folk horror stuff. Still, here are a few which need redoing when I take off my boxing gloves and use a magnifying glass.
There are a couple of horses done as well and I was going to cast them and sculpt different riders but I didn’t want to break them with the problems I was having. I might have another go now the weather’s colder and if that works I’ll try again, and try and improve on the quality.
My advice would be don’t hold your breath and buy Assyrians and pretend they’re Tang – probably closer than these!
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