johnnybach
Major General
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2010
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One of my favourite "Knight" makers - was Freddy Ping (1902-1977). Around 1975, however, he made a Knight figure of Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, along with his wife Agnes - and daughter-in-law Beatrice, all on one base. Sir Geoffrey was preparing for a tournament and being assisted by the two women - who were handing him some of his weapons and armour. A picture of this was to become Freddy's Christmas card for 1975.
I first saw this picture in Peter Greenhill's marvelous book - Heraldic miniature Knights (1991, page 940 - and fell for it instantly!
Is that gorgeous - or what?
The piece itself is based on a an illuminated illustration in a very old book - The Luttrell Psalter (commisioned by Luttrell around 1320 - and now in The British Museum). Here it is from a picture in one of my favourite books, "Knights".
As can be seen, the original illustration - and Ping's rendition of it - depict Sir Geoffrey astride his caparisoned warhorse - being handed a golden Great Helm and lance - by his wife Agnes, whilst his Daughter-in-Law Beatrice waits to hand him his shield. All of the figures are clothed in their respective liveries - which also display the Luttrell Coat-of Arms freely on almost every conceivable surface - including the dexter side (right) of his female relatives ( which was customary, at that time - circa 1320)..
So it was with these illustrations in mind, that I set to thinking once again .............Now, just how could I get to own something like that???
Well - I first began looking at various knight Toy Soldiers - and eventually - a Timpo mounted figure on horseback seemed to offer a reasonable chance of converting to something like what I wanted - with several modifications along the way. I found a version of "Ivanhoe" - from their old "knights In Armour" range dating from the 1950's - and this was to become the basis for my set. Here's one I found on the Internet, below.
Clearly - a bit of work needed to convert him - but the basic shape seemed to be okay for what I wanted to do.
A recent visit to Dorset Soldiers - with a prior interchange of e-mails to explain what I wanted - with Giles Brown, the owner - and I returned with many of the bits and pieces that might help me make up my own version of Luttrell et al.
Both horse and rider are seperate pieces - so I tackled the horse first. I removed all four legs ( which were a little short), and after straightening and lengthening three - and putting a bent knee into another - re-pinned them back to the body - to appear as a standing horse. At the same time - I lengthened the horse caparison, by using some pill blister pack foil - cut to suitable lengths and reinforcing with Milliput. The fan shaped display on top of the horses head - came from "The Spare parts Department" of Dorset Soldiers - whilst the saddle cantle was raised by using some more Milliput. The whole thing was then primed - ready for painting.
Next came Luttrell - who quickly lost his head - to be replaced by another "spare" from an Archer - who was wearing a basinet (as the original was). The right arm was originally cast-in by Timpo - with hand on hip (so that a lance could be held there - see above). i removed this - and then pinned it back on - so it would appear that Sir Geoffrey was reaching for his helm from his wife Agnes. Other parts came fro Dorset - or were fabricated/modified by me from bits and pieces in my Spares store box. The figure was then sprayed with primer.
The two women were both castings of "Medieval Ladies" by Dorset Soldiers - both coming with tall conical hats. I kept one as it was - just because I liked it, to become Beatrice - but removed the other hat from his wife Agnes, and resculpted the head with help of mini-saw, scalpel and Milliput. Lance, helm and shield were more Dorset spares - and the arms of both women were modified to suit their respective figures.These final two figures were then primed - and a base made up in a suitable shape to hold them all in similar positionsto Ping's masterpiece - BUT - not yet fixed in place - as I wanted to paint them all first.
All figures were then painted separately - as it would be difficult - if not impossible - to do it after all were in their eventual places. I used mostly Humbrol enamels - with some Revell colours BEFORE they were eventually fixed in place on the base. Final touch-ups were done once they were fixedin place - and Voila! - I now own MY version of sir Geoffrey Luttrell getting ready to joust - with his wife and daughter-in-law's assistance.
Here's the first couple of pics. of what I produced - with more in the next post.
jb ( to be continued).
Another view:
I first saw this picture in Peter Greenhill's marvelous book - Heraldic miniature Knights (1991, page 940 - and fell for it instantly!
Is that gorgeous - or what?
The piece itself is based on a an illuminated illustration in a very old book - The Luttrell Psalter (commisioned by Luttrell around 1320 - and now in The British Museum). Here it is from a picture in one of my favourite books, "Knights".
As can be seen, the original illustration - and Ping's rendition of it - depict Sir Geoffrey astride his caparisoned warhorse - being handed a golden Great Helm and lance - by his wife Agnes, whilst his Daughter-in-Law Beatrice waits to hand him his shield. All of the figures are clothed in their respective liveries - which also display the Luttrell Coat-of Arms freely on almost every conceivable surface - including the dexter side (right) of his female relatives ( which was customary, at that time - circa 1320)..
So it was with these illustrations in mind, that I set to thinking once again .............Now, just how could I get to own something like that???
Well - I first began looking at various knight Toy Soldiers - and eventually - a Timpo mounted figure on horseback seemed to offer a reasonable chance of converting to something like what I wanted - with several modifications along the way. I found a version of "Ivanhoe" - from their old "knights In Armour" range dating from the 1950's - and this was to become the basis for my set. Here's one I found on the Internet, below.
Clearly - a bit of work needed to convert him - but the basic shape seemed to be okay for what I wanted to do.
A recent visit to Dorset Soldiers - with a prior interchange of e-mails to explain what I wanted - with Giles Brown, the owner - and I returned with many of the bits and pieces that might help me make up my own version of Luttrell et al.
Both horse and rider are seperate pieces - so I tackled the horse first. I removed all four legs ( which were a little short), and after straightening and lengthening three - and putting a bent knee into another - re-pinned them back to the body - to appear as a standing horse. At the same time - I lengthened the horse caparison, by using some pill blister pack foil - cut to suitable lengths and reinforcing with Milliput. The fan shaped display on top of the horses head - came from "The Spare parts Department" of Dorset Soldiers - whilst the saddle cantle was raised by using some more Milliput. The whole thing was then primed - ready for painting.
Next came Luttrell - who quickly lost his head - to be replaced by another "spare" from an Archer - who was wearing a basinet (as the original was). The right arm was originally cast-in by Timpo - with hand on hip (so that a lance could be held there - see above). i removed this - and then pinned it back on - so it would appear that Sir Geoffrey was reaching for his helm from his wife Agnes. Other parts came fro Dorset - or were fabricated/modified by me from bits and pieces in my Spares store box. The figure was then sprayed with primer.
The two women were both castings of "Medieval Ladies" by Dorset Soldiers - both coming with tall conical hats. I kept one as it was - just because I liked it, to become Beatrice - but removed the other hat from his wife Agnes, and resculpted the head with help of mini-saw, scalpel and Milliput. Lance, helm and shield were more Dorset spares - and the arms of both women were modified to suit their respective figures.These final two figures were then primed - and a base made up in a suitable shape to hold them all in similar positionsto Ping's masterpiece - BUT - not yet fixed in place - as I wanted to paint them all first.
All figures were then painted separately - as it would be difficult - if not impossible - to do it after all were in their eventual places. I used mostly Humbrol enamels - with some Revell colours BEFORE they were eventually fixed in place on the base. Final touch-ups were done once they were fixedin place - and Voila! - I now own MY version of sir Geoffrey Luttrell getting ready to joust - with his wife and daughter-in-law's assistance.
Here's the first couple of pics. of what I produced - with more in the next post.
jb ( to be continued).
Another view:
