Tudor Livery Banner

This is the last unit of archers from the Perry boxed set which still has 6 unpainted billmen waiting to go, and all for £15, excellent value!

For this unit I have chosen to use a livery banner rather than a personal standard. This one is taken from a woodcut of the battle of the spurs and I think it works rather well, particularly alongside the livery jackets. The research I have made into the 1513 campaign has two more detailed descriptions of standards; namely Sir Rhys Ap Thomas who commanded the light cavalry and Sir George Talbot who by all accounts terrorised the French population, his hunting hound badge is mentioned a few times. Further to this I have descriptions of red and white livery banners charged with the Beaufort portcullis, a fleur de lys, and a tudor rose, along with quite a few varaints of the St George cross so there's plenty of scope for the next boxed set.

I have experimented with a couple of green and white livery jackets which are mentioned in two sources alongside the 'whyte garded wyth green' which is the mainstay of the majority of the infantry so far.

I have also painted one of the fletchings on each arrow red; this indicated to the archer which side should face away from the bow when the arrow was nocked with the two uncolored fletchings flat against the stave - I don't know whether this was the case with all arrows but it's a nice detail to add and looks good on the figures.

I must add, by way of sharing my frustration, that I had 3 unsuccesful attempts at a dead figure and just gave up in the end; - my strategy was to take a running / advancing torso, squish it a bit and have splayed arms with the head to one side but i couldn't get the legs flat without snapping them - they each looked like an falling dive - any suggestions?