William the Conqueror (1 Viewer)

johnnybach

johnnybach

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A fellow Treefrogger (zblang), Zach, came up with what I thought was a very good idea. He wanted to have made up a complete set of Kings and Queens of Great Britain since William the Conqueror famously defeated King Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066. This struck a chord with me - as I had been looking for quite some time at some Norman Era castings at Whitetower Miniatures with this idea in mind. The owner - Mathew Thair didn't do a William I casting - but my want was like an itch - that just refused to go away.

Anyway, to cut a long story short - I contacted Matthew and asked him if it would be possible to convert one of his mounted castings to look like William. The answer was - YES - apparently quite a few of Matthew's customers had asked the same question before me - and a head with a Crown on one of the existing Norman castings seemed to be the answer - and Matthew said he would make me one - and also send me a few bits and pieces - to help me decide what to actually make up.

Well...... a few days later, along with my other order............ what seemed a bucket load of spare Norman bits arrived - and I made up the piece shown below. I used a pic that I found on the Internet as a guide for William's face....................... this face actually, complete with forked dark beard:



Matthew had cleverly modified a head, by slicing off the top of a Norman helmet - and grafting it onto a Crowned Head - that is another part of his range - for me to use as William's crowned head. I added a black forked beard made from a piece of milliput, using my picture as a guide - and then commenced building. I chose a suitable horse from the range offered by Matthew - and decided to go with one of the three cloaks that he also so generously sent to me. I added a Norman long shield - and decided on a sword raised aloft as his weapon arm - again from a generous assortment from Matthew. As there was no such thing as Heraldry at this early point in History (1066) - I selected a suitable Norman design from the Internet - and painted it onto the shield in similar complementary colours to the cloak and horse furniture - with a dash of Gold and Silver added to suit our new King - who now looks like this:










And thus was born my version of William Ist - aka "William the Conqueror". My thanks go to Zach - for the idea in the first place - and Matthew Thair of Whitetower Miniatures for the castings and extra parts.

I like him - and hope you do too. johnnybach
 
Very nice Johnny. As an ex-pat growing up overseas and mostly attending British schools I learned a lot about British history. How about one of Harold meeting his grisly end?

Brad
 
jazzeum said:
Very nice Johnny. As an ex-pat growing up overseas and mostly attending British schools I learned a lot about British history. How about one of Harold meeting his grisly end?

Brad
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I'll keep an eye out for a suitable casting Brad! (ouch!):D:D
 
Very good job Johnny! Now we need him to make up Alfred the Great! Very interesting era. What other figures are you working?

Dave
 
DMNamiot said:
Very good job Johnny! Now we need him to make up Alfred the Great! Very interesting era. What other figures are you working?

Dave
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Oh Dear! Here we go - Harold, Alfred - where will it all end.........:D: Glad you like William, which I really did - just to see whether it would work out - and I didn't intend to make up any more Monarchs for a bit - but it turns out that Henry V is now in my stash.

I made up this figure of Willie - to be my START point of the line of British Kings and Queens. I have plenty of choice going forward - as there have been 43 Monarchs since 1066 - whilst Harold and Alfie are earlier - so won't be seriously in my sights anytime soon. Besides - some guys in the USA have just finished telling me in another thread, that I won't have any room for more soon, and should be "downsizing", apparently. {eek3}

So - must stop rambling .........what other figures am I working? I have some Polish Winged Hussar Flats underway - but just realised that they are in a different country to me at the moment - so they will have to be on hold.

I've just obtained six old Stadden castings, which is very exciting. I never thought that I would ever find one - and then found six ( one of whom is Henry V)!!.........So a French Knight is currently underway from them - along with another Knight from Whitetower Miniatures to convert, which should keep me busy for a while. I also have two mounted cowboys just begun. Then I have a nice order due to be picked up from a certain Dorset gent soon - so will have a good bunch of surprises there too. I won't tell you what they are for now - but they are all nice - and I promise I'll show them all as they progress in due course. That okay - as a starter??:D

Here's Henry V - as yet unstripped - in front of one of his predecessors in the King job! I'll probably start him off soon too :D

All the best Dave - jb

 
johnnybach said:
I'll keep an eye out for a suitable casting Brad! (ouch!):D:D
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Shameless, John, shameless! :D

A Stadden mounted figure is quite a catch, congratulations! Were they all mounted figures, or just our good King Harry? I look forward to seeing this new project go forward.

Prost!
Brad
 
theBaron said:
Shameless, John, shameless! :D

A Stadden mounted figure is quite a catch, congratulations! Were they all mounted figures, or just our good King Harry? I look forward to seeing this new project go forward.

Prost!
Brad
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Hi Brad. You wait for years for a Stadden to come along - and then six arrive at once! Here they are below. My great friend Trooper positively identified them as genuine, and were once upon a time produced at Tradition of London sometime before 1960. Trooper tells me that these were really an experimental figure by Tradition - in that they were modular, and that various heads/arms/weapons and even horses were available - so you sometimes find these in various forms. This was apparently confined to the knight figures - and was eventually phased out and never included any other figures. You can still see what remains of some of the parts in the much reduced range of figures offered today in the Tradition range.

They are generally in fairly good condition - with a somewhat flaky white primer still applied ( which I'm taking off - to replace with a new priming coat). I've done some homework since finding them - and they are as follows (L-R)

First is Sir Henry de Percy (Hotspur), wearing the Cap of Maintenance on his Great Helm.

Next to him ( and really the odd one out in this group), is a Norman Knight in chain mail carrying the long shield and wielding an axe.

Next is Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable of France from 1370 until his death in 1380 - a Breton Knight with swan ornament on his helm ( I'm working on him at the moment). One of his nick-names was "The Black Dog". Sounds like my kind of Knight!!^&grin

Next comes Sir Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick - still produced by Tradition as a mounted Knight - but a different casting, nowadays.

Sir William de Clinton is next - with head effigy atop his helm. I've stripped him already - to reveal the modular concept quite clearly, as his helm is quite a different mix of alloy to the rest of him - and clearly shows up in the metal laid bare.

Last of all - we have Henry V - which is a delightful find for me - as I've been looking for the right casting to come along for quite a while. I wanted a mounted figure to join the rest of my "Agincourt" knights - and now I have a Stadden figure of him. It just doesn't get any better ( unless I had found an original Courtney, perhaps;)!!!).

I'm going to paint them one at a time - the better to savour them, and currently researching suitable heraldry for each, where that applies (Norman figure really precedes Heraldry - so like William - I'll be looking for something suitable). So have a look - as found - for the last time below. Enjoy.:D jb

 
WOW Johnny those are some amazing finds! I have seen a few of them over the years but not many so to find six at once is a great moment!

Looking forward to seeing them painted

Dave
 
DMNamiot said:
WOW Johnny those are some amazing finds! I have seen a few of them over the years but not many so to find six at once is a great moment!

Looking forward to seeing them painted

Dave
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I know Dave - I'm still pinching myself - and checking them every morning - in case it was just a dream!^&grin I would think it's every Stadden Painter/collector's dream - to find some like this - and at a very reasonable price too.

I'm going to treat each one, individually, as a project - and not attempt to paint them in a "production line". I just want to savour each one - as I doubt whether I'll find any more like this again very quickly.

Bertrand Du Guesclin is underway.:D
 
What a great find! Of the mounted Stadden figures I've seen over the years, I don't recall having seen these in person, only in photos in the old "Tradition" magazine. These are great figures! And if you want to put together a larger display, I think Tradition's current knight kits would fit in well with these.

As far as heraldry goes, are you certain that William didn't use the two leopards passant as his emblem? I think he also carried a banner with a papal cross, underscoring that his claim to the English throne had the blessing of the Pope.

This will be fun to follow, because after regimental flags, there's nothing as colorful and varied as medieval devices.

Prost!
Brad
 
theBaron said:
What a great find! Of the mounted Stadden figures I've seen over the years, I don't recall having seen these in person, only in photos in the old "Tradition" magazine. These are great figures! And if you want to put together a larger display, I think Tradition's current knight kits would fit in well with these.

As far as heraldry goes, are you certain that William didn't use the two leopards passant as his emblem? I think he also carried a banner with a papal cross, underscoring that his claim to the English throne had the blessing of the Pope.

This will be fun to follow, because after regimental flags, there's nothing as colorful and varied as medieval devices.

Prost!
Brad
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Hi Brad.

William's FLAG as the Duke of Normandy DID display this device - as you correctly describe it. However, there was no automatic transferral of that to either his shield - or any article of clothing ( such as the familiar Jupon) at that time (1066).

One of the first ( some say the originator) of the idea of having a "Coat of Arms" was Richard I - aka Richard the Lionheart, who died in 1199. He DID have such devices on his shield and clothing. ( And MY Richard - does show these armorial devices - on his Jupon, Shield and horse caparison). Later still, this became far more formalised - with the employment of professional "Heralds" - who studied the different devices - and could advise on who was who on the battlefield. They also mediated in disputes over similar Coats of Arms - which eventually led to the whole system being formalised - and a central body being set up to govern the awards of Coats of Arms - which actually continues to this day, with The College of Arms in London.

William was earlier than all of this (1066), which was yet to come - so even though I was tempted to show him as "The Duke of Normandy" - and give him a red shield with two Leopard (Lions , passant guardant) - as seen on the present day Flag of Normandy - I'm showing him after being crowned as "King of England" ( he hadn't pacified the Welsh --- yet!:D). I therefore resisted - and made a Norman style shield up from images found on the Internet. He succeeded to that title in 1035 - BUT He wasn't JUST The Duke of Normandy - He was King of England from 1066 until his death in 1087.(Claiming that his predecessor - King Edward the Confessor had promised he would succeed to the English throne.). My piece is intended to show him as King - he was crowned on Xmas Day 1066 at Westminster Abbey , and riding home wearing his crown.;)

So - as Richard was really the first to do it - if I make any more earlier than him, (Richard) - they wouldn't necessarily and/or historically have had or worn "Coats of Arms", per se.

Hope that makes sense?

As far as the Stadden/Tradition figures go - yes - they are wonderful - and certainly the best "find" I've ever made. I already own a couple of more modern Tradition figures - which are currently in France - so I'm looking forward to seeing them side by side myself. That will have to wait until I take my car over though - as I checked out the airline I use - and they say that any sharp metal objects run the risk of getting confiscated - or the carrier chucked off the 'plane, so I won't risk taking such "dangerous goods" {eek3} in my hand-luggage. jb.
 
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As I'm probably hi-jacking my own thread on William the Conqueror by showing unrelated Knight items here - I'm going to re-open my Knights of Agincourt for the appropriate Stadden figures - and show a bit of progress on them, there. jb
 
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