From SidneyR: The Guild of Metal Founders, Laarden 1688, for the "Gallery of the Ancestors" (68 points)

 

"Old halberds, if well cleaned, never rust.  For our past is our future, and our future is our past".

Captain Conelis van Blom, Captain of the Guild of Metal Founders,

Laarden, 1688

In my last post, the painted Banshee transported me back to "The Gallery of the Ancestors", which I had skipped over in February.  In that Chamber, we find a small company of militia from the "Guild of Metal Founders", one of the oldest guilds in my (very self-indulgent) fictional Flemish Free-City of Laarden, in 1688.

The Company of Metal Founders uses older weapons from the City arsenal, many of them old enough to have been wielded by the Company's grandfathers in their struggles with the Spanish and French in the early seventeenth century (...an, as yet, unpublished campaign in the annals of the Laarden civic archives, dear Challengers).  So we have guildsmen armed with halberds (always a popular choice), arquebuses, partizans, pikes, and armoured with steel breastplates.  

The antique weapons jostle for attention alongside late seventeenth century fashions, such as an officer's elaborate periwig, French-style coats and the huge embroidered standard of the Guild.  

Completed by the Laarden School of Seamstresses (....and yes, that's another future vignette, one day!), the Guild's standard depicts the Angel Gabriel and a terrifying Demon, both claiming patrimony over the founding of one of the great cannons of the Free City of Laarden.  

What the cryptic meaning of the standard precisely means is unknown, except perhaps to the Guild Elders - and the Elders are as tight lipped about that hidden meaning as they are about their near-alchemical methods of iron and steel founding. 

The clothing worn by the guild militia is not uniformed.  Perhaps, dear Challengers, this is a respectful glance back to the days of the early seventeenth century before military uniforms were common.  A degree of unity is created by some fancy red feathers in the hats of the company which - no doubt - have been paid for by the Guild's funds at the start of the campaign.  

I had a lot of fun painting the guildsmen, but also experienced a couple of disasters as well.  The figures are a mixture of Dixon Miniatures and Wargames Foundry, with some conversion work to get a couple of pikemen to wield halberds instead.  I added bunches of lace and feathers onto  the figures with greenstuff to create some form of uniformity among the figures.  I also tried to bring the figures together by panting them all with a base of either dark red (Vallejo Red) or dark brown (Vallejo Flat Brown), and then varying the colours of the Company's stockings, cuffs and hats to match the main colour.

The standard was half painted before the Challenge, during last summer, but for some reason I'd only done half (one side).  So I finished the standard, trying to match the painting on the new second half to the completed first half.  I found this much tricker than expected, mainly because I could not remember the shade of red on the plump demon which I had used last year!

The disaster happened when I varnished these figures.  My usually trusty varnishing methods went wrong, leaving a thin 'dusting' on the figures.  No doubt some of you might have had this depressing experience over the years.  It was, I admit, pretty soul-destroying, but I was cheered up very considerably by fellow Challenger, Mark Backhouse, who encouraged me to re-varnish in gloss, and then to start varnishing again.  Which was a great tip - thanks, Mark!

The second time of matt varnishing seems to have done the trick.  No doubt the influence of the Angel Gabriel balanced up the impact of the mischievous Demon from the Guild's standard at the second time of asking!

I finished off the base with some tufts, which i dusted with a 'paint & PVA' mix for some rigidity and toughness.  Ideally, I'd like to do more figures from the Guilds of Laarden in the future - but they'll need to wait for another Challenge as I'm running out of time in this one!

So, on to the points - I painted 9 figures in 28mm, and half a standard, with some conversion work on the figures.  So the main question is.... how many points for half the standard?  Is a couple of points OK? And a point for the greenstuff-ing?  That would be 48 points, with 20 for the "Gallery of the Ancestors", totalling 68 points (if that's OK).

If it's not acceptable, communication to the Guild of Metal Founders can be established through your usual Angelic or Demonic representative.... 

And, because this is Laarden 1688, here's the hugely self-indulgent Collectible Character Card for the Guild of Metal Founders in the "Enemies and Allies of Laarden, 1688" Collection for Challenge XI.

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