Ordonnance Archers WIP part 2

Part two in this series has me tackling some guard archers of Louis XII.

The depictions that I have so far been able to find have them in red and yellow livery with a crowned porcupine on their breast and back plates.

As a challenge I have decided to create a dismounted unit, here are the fruits of a fortnight of patient sculpting;

In every depiction I can find they are shown in sallets, with or without a visor and occasionally with plumes on the front so there's plenty of scope for some more variation with the rest of the unit.

The 'dolly' is a Perry plastic foot knight with archer arms added.

To begin the fauld and tassets required some deep filing, then the area from the mid waist to just above the knees was filled with green stuff.

Once this was dry I then sculpted the skirt front and back.

There's some more detail on this process here.

Another drying phase and the arms were done individually. It was quite hard but once you're in the zone so to speak it gets addictive. The best advice I have had is to be very patient, and to get the right shape first then sculpt detail. Other than that it's just practice.

So above is a completed dismounted figure, here are some more reference points;

From a basing / gaming perspective I have considered these to be an early dragoon. They were essentially used as mounted infantry leading up to 1513, or rather they are depicted so for sure in 1507 so I guess further to my last post on the French Ordonnance archer of 1513 I have made another distinction. I will still have some mounted versions of these to mingle in with the other sculpted mounted chaps in the last post.

Anyway, all dragoons / mounted infantry require a horse holder;

I still have one sleeve to sculpt and I might try my hand at a porcupine emblem on the breast plate but it's going well so far.

Cheerio for now

Stuart.