Hi from the bench,

Its nice to see Sarnia Miniatures in the news again so following on from my review of the 1st release here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/de-wiart-from-sarnia-miniatures.113867/

And my update on the new releases here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/sarnia-miniatures-news.115024/

As well as the owner's ( Peter Gilson- nic eto see you on PF !!) announcement of the new website here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/sarnia-miniatures-new-website.115060/

In this review I will be looking at a ECW subject ...

King's Lifeguard of Foot

Lets have a bit of background on the regiment:

The Lifeguard was among the first regiments raised for the Royal Cause, with recruiting begun in June 1642, while the King was at York. By June 27 there were reported to be 1,000 foot, probably including some of the Yeoman of the Guard amongst the regiment, being intended as a “guard for his Majesty’s person.”

The lieutenant colonel, Sir William Vavasour (killed 1659), had been a colonel of a foot regiment in the Scots War (Second Bishop’s War) of 1640.

Some of the junior officers (such as Captains Thomas Leigh and Thomas Mynne) had seen service on the Continent or in the Scots Wars, while others had fought in Ireland, with having acquired Irish wives. Of course, as was natural for regiments raised during the Civil Wars (on both sides), many officers were simply country gentlemen having no previous military experience.

There is some reference to the Lifeguard already being in a red uniform at the battle of Edgehill (23 October, 1642), where the regiment would have presented a fairly uniform appearance.

Thomas Bushall, made a major financial contribution towards equipping the Lifeguard and three other regiments, and was later thanked by the King for “cloathing our liefe Guard and three regiments more, with suites, stockings, shoes, and mounteers when wee were readie to march in the ffield.”

At Edgehill the Royal Banner was gallantly rescued by Captain John Smith, of Lord Grandison’s Horse. The Life Guard also lost its colours for a brief moment during the final engagement, but these were recovered by Sir Robert Walsh. Though broken for the day, the Lifeguard was not destroyed. In managing to recover its colours, and more importantly the Banner Royal, the regiment regained its high morale it became noted for, and being so highly regarded that it was one of the main regiments held in reserve, which was a testament of its reliability.

In 1643 the Lifeguard remained quietly in garrison at Oxford for at least 4 months . On July 15th, the regiment received issue of clothing and other items, as “all the common soldiers then at Oxford were new appareled, some all in red (coats, breeches and monteros) and some all in blue.”

The Lifeguard was present at the battle of Cropredy Bridge (28 June 1644), as it was one of the regiments that garrisoned Oxford, although no details are known of its part in the battle.

In 1644 when the King marched into Cornwall for his Lostwithiel campaign, the Lifeguard went with him. At the various actions in Lostwithiel, the Lifeguard was heavily involved.

The Earl of Lindsey was among those who accompanied the King on his forced march to Bath on the “sad night” after the battle, from which the effective command of the regiment passed to Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton.

More recruits were being absorbed into the Lifeguard, since on October 11th, the Earl of Bath wrote to his wife that, “your servant Tom Bold is now in a company of the Life Guards in a red suit and montero which they wear.”

At Naseby the rank and file was captured almost to a man, with many being wounded. The Lifeguard prisoners were marched to London on June 21st, along with the ten captured colours of the regiment and the King’s own standard, along with the rest of the captured King’s Army, escorted by the Green and Yellow Trained Band Regiments of London.

The colours included these:








Obviously as often happened in the period civilian clothes was worn along with military items like a gorget , this is what we have on the release , fine clothing slashed as the fashion with a neck protector and a rather jaunty looking hat with the addition of a flamboyant feather ...or two!!!

The sculpt is based on the illustration in the Osprey Elite series (Eli 25) book on the ECW Infantry

Reference and reading books are easy to find here are a few:



The main reference for the piece:

For further reading from Osprey have a look at:

Continued in next post

Nap

Lets look at the release

Title: English Civil War Officer , Kings Lifeguard of Foot

Reference: SM10/003

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Gray Resin

No of pieces: 3

Sculptor: Peter Gillson

Casting: In House

Box Art: Peter Day


This is numbered 3 from Sarnia , if you look on the site there is no No 2 ...this is being released soon !!!

Peter is sculpting these releases as stated and is learning fast with every release so all credit to him , he is also learning the dark art of casting so again credit to him ...rather him than me !!!

Working with Peter we have another of the same namely Mr Peter Day ....he of the brush painting the box artwork in his own distinctive and in my opinion nice style ....so a thanks to him for the artwork .

As with the previous release it was received quickly from Guernsey which Mr Gillson resides ( lucky fellow ) and well packed in the same sized cardboard box ( with the resin being wrapped in bubblewrap as well ) .

After I had ripped the box apart in my eagerness to see the resin I found it consisting of just 3 ..the bust, the hat and a base .



Also included is a small information sheet with a front and rear view of the painted piece.




Thinking of Prep now ...

With only 3 parts this was going to be quick and easy and consists of:

Main Torso...Remove casting plug from head and sand smooth , I also sand and generally tidy up underneath as well as drilling a hole to pin the base in position.

Hat...Remove casting block from under brim and sand edges , then dry fit to head , then fit into place ( a slight bit of filler was needed

Base...Sand around the underneath and around the edges and fit to underside .

Then WASH the resin to remove any casting residue

Main Torso

Peter has sculpted the piece closely in relation to the main reference ...we have a rather dapper and well heeled Cavalier smiling with a well styled facial hair , with of course long hair as well .



Wearing his civilian finery consisting of a slashed coat , these are showing the undershirt across the chest and the sleeves , the coat held in place by small nicely rounded buttons .

At the neck we have the gorget providing some but not that much protection "but a gentleman has to be ready" !!!, nice edges where it meets the clothing with studs on the gorget .

Over the shoulder we have wide collar laced at the edges quite nicely done , at the centre there is a small neck tie , i will probably rework that area ( easy enough ) and add thinner cords and tassels ...just me not essential .

The sleeves are just the tops with slashed , both sides have nice undercuts at the edges

The facial features are good with high cheekbones due to the smile and grin , features like the nose and eyes are well done and he sports a rather nice moustache and small beard at the centre of the chin.

Hair is long as stated , and also a good area , the head is angled ready to take the hat at a jaunty angle.



Hat

Wide brimmed as the fashion its sits nicely onto the head as per the illustration , I have to say that I am impressed at how thin the brim is so a well done to Peter for the casting of that .

Adding the final flourish we have large feathers , sculpted onto the hat and these are shown well with some hanging slightly over each other at the top .

The feathers are held in place by a band of material around the hat , this has folds around .



Base

This is the same as in the 1st release and good to see one provided ... a simple pedestal type with 3 tiered surrounds , fitting well onto the underside , I will donate this to my spares box as I prefer to use a brass rod .

Final thoughts

I say WELL DONE to all involved in Sarnia , a good release , minimal prep , and will paint up nicely , plenty of colour variations are possible , and now we have website as well which is good news .

Recommended

For more details contact him at :

plgillson@hotmail.com

or via a personal message here ( username PLG )

now we have the website as well : www.sarnia-miniatures.co.uk

Thanks to both Peter's for the sculpting and the artwork

....also of course you all for looking in

Happy modelling

Nap

Thought I would share some pics from the website

Firstly the unpainted bust built :

Now the box artwork in 3 views by Peter Day

And a couple of the other release from Sarnia ...this time a fantasy piece ...go to the website for details on all the releases available ...at a great price as well .

Nap