Hi to you all

The medieval period of history is of conflict , innovation in weapons and a popular period in our hobby so it was good to receive a release from Medieval Forge Miniatures which depicted a warrior from this time.

Close up of the face by James Rice

Books are as always available and here are a few I have to hand



The period was a time of much change in armour and knowledge of weapons , including many horrific clubs and maces ....some similar we saw in use in the trenches of WW1.

Infantry also used shields called Pavise...sometimes plain but very often highly decorated

Our subject has a variety of weapon and armour options as well as a shield/pavise

Here are some great reference pics of both weapons, armour and pavise

Continued in next post

Nap

Lets have a look at the release here:

Details of the release:

Title:European Infantry 15th Century

Reference: A-008

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Lt Gray resin

No of parts: 20

Casting: In House

Sculptor: Igor Gulyaev

Box Art : James Rice


Received in a strong cardboard box , parts in bags and 2 underneath the foam base for safety in transit , on the top and base clear colour pictures of the painted version by James Rice



Parts are as here:



Consisting of Torso , 2 arms a choice of 4 armoured gauntlets , 2 elbow pieces of armour, helmet , weapons including a spiked ball mace , a bladed polearm top and the lower section , sword , 5 straps


Straight away the casting quality shines through showing the sculpting to its best advantage so pre will be minimal consisting of:

• Removing well placed casting formers from the smaller parts and then fitting pieces in position
• The Helmet has a resin piece to carefully sand away underneath
• The Pavise has a small excess resin to sand away
• Torso has 2 casting blocks to take away underneath

All you need to do then is decide which version you are going to model....lots of options !!!!

Going to begin with the larger of the pieces , namely:

Torso

The sculpt is absolutely packed full of detail work from the studded armour, to the chainmail , to the headwear ( coif ) he wears over his head.

Working from the lower edge, we have several belts being worn , all with good undercuts , folded over and under , 2 variants of buckle

Clothed with a studded chest piece or brigadine , the studs are nicely done with the small straps all being the same ...whats good to see is that its been torn and repaired in places , this mercenary soldier has been on campaign for a time

The upper arms are protected by chain mail.shoulder pieces ..well represented, there are 2 locating pins for the arms themselves

Across the chest there is the pavise strap , pulling into the coif on the right shoulder

The coif he wears sits over the shoulders , torn and very worn and repaired , button work is good

Under his chin there is the helmet straps , again pulling into the material

The facial features are wonderful , unshaven , teeth being gripped together , great jowls and lots of lines at the eyes , nose is well done as well , eyebrows raised with his brow furrowed ...the top of the head is plain ready for the helmet







Helmet

Many variations were worn in this period all with varying style , our subject wears one of the types seen in images and references , providing wide cover for the head , a good shape and with damage on the crown and around the rim , studded around the base of the crown .



Continued in next post

Nap

Now to the remaining resin pieces

Pavise Shield

A nice addition to the model , large and again textured with knocks and cuts over the frontage ...but not overdone , at the rear the covering has been stitched into place , these are well done , the centre section is raised to the front ...what I like most is the fact this is a blank canvas so you could go as simple or as decorated as you wish ( plenty of references here in the first part )



Arms

As you can see the detail work continue the arm is fully armoured after fitting the elbow pieces , under the armour he has quilted sleeve , the straps holding the well defined armor in position , as usual good buckle work

At the fitment point there is 2 holes that marry well with the pins on the torso , the wrists also have a hole to match with your chosen gauntlet



Elbow piece's

Well shaped and simple to fit into position , in place making the arms fully protected where needed



Gauntlets

We are supplied for 4 to look at and choose ...

one for the mace as here



One for the shield to be carried



And 2 for when you choose the polearm



As you can see from the pictures various styles are being depicted from the actual gauntlet shape to the armoured finger protection ....needless to say the details are all there...... studs , stitching on the leather gloves and the finger work is good....whatever you choose they all look very good in position

Weapons

3 types are provided with the sword being carried in the scabbard just showing a small amount of this with the handle itself in place , a good shape to this , decorated by a cutout trefoil on the edge , there is not locating pin so a simple use of a small drill to locate with a pin to torso



The next a spiked ball mace...my favourite ........ looking very dangerous and very well cast , the spikes are sharp !!! ...fitting the mace is easy but I would suggest pinning as well



The last a polearm , again one of many variants used with a beak like hook ( used to drag knights off horses as well as a weapon in its own right ) and a large and again sharp main blade , knocked on the edges from contact , 3 holes in centre ( a small matter of drilling through if required ), coming in 2 pieces , fitting well together both poles are textured with a good wood effect again with cuts and damage



Straps

Small pieces but again all well sculpted , you will see where they go in the pictures that follow( ie: used when shield is being carried etc



A small reminder of the options available :




Final thoughts

Not a period I would choose but that's certainly changed after seeing this release , extremely well sculpted and cast , detail work is excellent with facial features being of particular note, I like the weapon and gauntlet option as well , packaging was good with a good colour reproduction of the artwork of James Rice

I have no hesitation in recommending this piece to all

For more details and to order contact:

(https://www.facebook.com/profile.)

FB link to the owner Dimitry Fursov

Email:

Forge-m@mail.ru


Medieval Forge Miniatures are members here under that name so a PM is also an option

Thanks to Medieval Forge Miniatures for the review item

And of course all of you for looking in

Happy modelling

Nap

To end this very pleasurable review lets look at some more images of James Rice's artwork, before that a reminder




Now some pictures of another version from the FB page from the modeller called showing a nice shield version as well

Сергей Кунц

Enjoy ...whatever you paint

Happy benchtime

Nap

Clean up is minimal definately worth supporting this company

Nap