Toy Soldier Art

Knightly Fun

These are some of the crudest miniature knights I have ever handled. They come from the Castings Inc #5677 Mold "Knights of the Round Table". They are lumps! The armor has almost no definition. Talk about a challenge! The trick was to paint them well enough for our castle. A little a paint makes me wonder just how lumpy they were. However, all of the detail is a matter of paintwork. There is one other trick.

I drill a hole into the top of the helmet. After the knight is painted, I add a piece of chenille. (Some of you know it as colored pipe cleaners). Voila! The knight has a plume. With these knights, I have to file the emblem off the shield so as to have a flat surface to paint. I used a variety of symbols on the shields. Knights like this came before the establishment of organized heraldry. They represent figures circa 1100 - 1250 CE.

These are knights from a Castings mold, but they are from an older and more realistic model. I have made weapons for them. You can see that some have had chenille plumes added, while others have plumes that were "molded on." I had to remove the molded plumes when using chenille. This is a good basic pose and it is easily adapted.

Another Castings Inc pose, not from the Deetail series. This figure has a lot of detail, even if his legs are spindly. The pole weapons are made from thin metal and wooden sticks. The shield is an embossed brass button. The mace is a flanged bead on a pointed stick. Only one of these fellows has a plume. Color variations are a matter of technique. I like to paint some of them black, and then drybrush or "rub and buff" the highlights. The amount of steely shine depends on how thickly I do the highlights.

Here is a closer look at the last type of knights. You can see the small details. Actual size is about 60mm ( 2 3/8 inches) Both were painted black, and then highlighted with metal color.

I get the impression that this particular suit of armor is especially suited for a mounted soldier. No horse, no problem. They still look pretty good!