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Page 3 of 5
Making
banners and standards, and replacing the plastic banner and staff
A feature of the 6th
edition Bretonnians I usually replace are the plastic banners that are included
with each of the boxed Knights, Men at Arms and Peasant Bowmen units (Figure 5a
below). By replacing the plastic banner, I can uniquely customise my Bretonnians
and maintain their medieval theme, simply by using a very basic but effective
modification, as described below.
First,
using either a pair of side cutters ( GW cutters are fine for this) or a sharp
craft knife, cut away the plastic banner staff immediately above and below the
banner bearer’s hand (Figure 5b above). Next, using either the MiniCraft power
tool or a pin vice (the GW Hobby Drill is suitable for this step) and a fine drill
bit (Figure 5c), bore a pilot hole through the banner bearer’s hand. Then use a
drill bit with the same diameter as the wire (Figure 5d) replacement banner
staff to enlarge the hole in the banner bearer’s hand (Figure 5e).
The
next step is to make a replacement banner or standard, using lead or aluminium foil,
and a staff, using either soft or hardened wire.
Mark out a banner
shape onto a flattened sheet of lead or aluminium foil (Figure 5f), using a
fine tip marker pen and straight edge, such as a steel ruler. Next, using a sharp
craft or utility knife and straight edge, cut out the banner shape (Figure 5g).
To
make a suitable staff for a medieval style banner, I use 0.25mm2
copper wire and 0.10mm2, or similar size, brass wire. I cut the
copper wire to a length of 6cm, which is about the right length for the main
banner staff. As a general rule, the base of the main banner staff should be
level with the banner bearer’s foot, whilst allowing sufficient length of
banner staff above the bearer’s hand to support the full depth of the chosen
banner or standard shape, plus a gap of 5-10mm between the top of the bearer’s
hand and the bottom edge of the banner or standard. Therefore, if the banner
bearer is a Man at Arms or Bowman, the base of the staff should be resting on
the ground. However, if the bearer is a mounted knight, then the base of the
staff should be resting level with the knight’s foot in the right-hand stirrup.
For
a 3cm-square baron’s or duke’s banner, I cut the brass wire for the banner
staff cross piece to a length of 4cm.
Now comes the most
difficult step, and that is to drill a hole through the copper wire into which
the brass wire will be fixed. To make this process a little easier, I use a
needle file to make a small groove in the surface of the copper wire (Figure 5h).
This groove helps to prevent the tip of the drill bit from slipping off what
would otherwise be a curved surface. I hold the copper wire firmly with a pair
of square-nosed pliers while drilling the hole with a drill bit and pin vice
(Figure 5i).
Once
the hole is successfully drilled (it takes a bit of practice to master this technique),
the brass wire cross piece is fitted into the main copper wire banner staff, so
that about 1.5mm of the brass wire protrudes beyond (Figure 5j). Either a small
drop of superglue or solder can be applied to the joint between the two lengths
of wire, to secure them in place. Now fold the foil banner around
the wire and apply a small amount of superglue to fix the foil to the staff
(Figure 5k). At this stage you can gently bend the foil to make the banner or standard
look as though it is fluttering with movement.
Once this
step is complete, carefully thread the staff through the hole drilled through
the banner bearer’s hand (Figure 5l). Fix the staff in place with a very small
drop of superglue. You can now paint the banner bearer, banner and staff, apply
any decals and then a finishing coat of varnish. And voila! you have a
customized Bretonnian Banner or Battle Standard Bearer, as pictured below.
Incidentally,
it should take no more than 20 to 30 minutes to carry out all the steps, I’ve
described in this section; that is to:
1. Remove the
plastic banner and modify the banner bearer’s hand to take a replacement banner
staff made from copper wire.
2. Make a
medieval style banner and staff; even adding the Fleur de Lys from the top of
the plastic banner to the wire banner staff, as illustrated in Figure 4 (G).
3. Fit the
medieval banner and staff into the banner bearer’s hand.
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in the Editor and choosing the right forum category when editing articles.
, is to give the surface of the lead / aluminium foil a light rub over with either the fine grade Wet & Dry paper or fine grade Wire Wool, so that it lightly scores the surface of the foil and provides a 'key' for the paint to adhere to better.
) so this has been immensely useful in helping maintain the existing aesthetic style of the older models!
