Beware. The Doones ride.

[Captain Blood]

Allow me to present the first of the Doones. Drawn from assorted Bicorne ECW cavalry packs, in their Dutch coats they seemed more 1680s than 1640s, and the pistols made them look like highwaymen rather than regular cavalry.

So now I have a little 1685 sub-project, loosely based on Blackmore's swashbuckling romance 'Lorna Doone', which handily wraps in the Monmouth Rebellion.

I've another four or five of these cavalry in Dutch coats to paint. I've cast them as the lawless Doones - an outlaw clan of robbers, reivers, rustlers and renegades.
Feared and hated, they terrorise Exmoor from their secret, hidden lair in Bagworthy Vale...
(Pronounced 'Badgery' Vale, as any Devonian will tell you  )

I tried to get a little bit of Exmoor into the bases: a collapsed drystone wall, a peaty pool and a lichen festooned branch from an old tree...

[Mad Doc Morris]

Most excellent! Brilliant choice of colours and lots of charactre. Looking forward to seeing them in a skirmish game report (you know, you should do it)!

I'd like to add that your entries here inspired me to do my own 17th century project in 2009, rather the Thirty Years' War. Thought it would fit the 400th "jubilee" of the Catholic League.

[Operator5]

Damn fine painting as usual Cap'n.

One of these days I will actually get all my swashbucklers done.

[cianty]

Awesome pictures! Lovely minis and scenery! 

[Malamute]

Wonderful stuff captn. Can't wait to see the game, BLAM09 perhaps

[Furt]

Stunning! Especially like the blond haired green coated fella. Very Nice.

[dodge]

Those are great,

everything,

you did that flippin eyelid thing again , how do you do that, and the creases in the faces

I'm envious and now more determined than ever to get this right those results are great 

dodge

[Ruarigh]

Beautiful paint jobs. Would you like to paint some of my lead for me? 

My only comment would be that the horses' eyes look like they have too much white. It does not look so bad in the distance shots but close up it does not look right to me. They should be more like this picture:

Also, in one of the pictures, I noticed that the horse appeared to be a bay but only had black legs on the front. I have never encountered a bay with only two black legs. Instead, all four should be black:


I hope you don't mind these comments and I feel bad posting them since the painting is stunning, but having grown up around horses it niggles when things appear not quite right.

Cheers,
Ruarigh

[Lowtardog]

You talented sod

[Ray Rivers]

Also, in one of the pictures, I noticed that the horse appeared to be a bay but only had black legs on the front. I have never encountered a bay with only two black legs. Instead, all four should be black:

Horses which have black legs, referred to as "stockings" if they reach the knee or above, do indeed normally have all four legs marked.  However, there are always exceptions:



And when it comes to "socks", all bets are off.  A horse can be marked with anywhere from 1 to 4 socks and of differing colors as well.

[Ruarigh]

Horses which have black legs, referred to as "stockings" if they reach the knee or above, do indeed normally have all four legs marked.  However, there are always exceptions:

And when it comes to "socks", all bets are off.  A horse can be marked with anywhere from 1 to 4 socks and of differing colors as well.

Socks and stockings are white, at least in the UK. That is what I grew up with.

Black legs are not stockings but a part of standard bay colouring. I have never in 40 years working with horses encountered a horse with markings as shown in your photo, but on the basis of it I accept that you can have black front legs without the same at the rear. I do think that it would be odd not to have stockings at the rear though where the black colouring should be.

[DFlynSqrl]

Fantastic work Captain Blood.  I like the natural look of your bases especially.

[Aaron]

Superb as always. The horses look particularly well done to me, especially the muscleature.

[Captain Blood]

Thank you gentlemen, for the kind and constructive comments 

I'd like to add that your entries here inspired me to do my own 17th century project in 2009, rather the Thirty Years' War. Thought it would fit the 400th "jubilee" of the Catholic League.

Excellent news Mad Doc! That's what we need around here - a bit more swashbuckling, and a few less zombies 

you did that flippin eyelid thing again , how do you do that, and the creases in the faces

dodge

C'mon Dodge... You can do it. I know you can do it. Painting eyelids and not mad staring eyeballs is the easier - and IMHO - the more effective option.


Ruarigh and Ray - thanks for the horse-lore. I agree I haven't got the eyes quite right - too much white around the outside, but if you do all black eyes with just the highlight, they look like devil horses, which is not the desired effect... 

In terms of markings, socks, stockings etc, I confess to a cavalier disregard for the laws of equine nature. I just paint what looks randomly pleasing to my eye (ditto all my recent crop of ECW regimental uniforms, flags etc... None of it is 'accurate'. Just decorative).

Truthfully, almost all the horses I see in the fields round where I live are some shade of VERY dark brown.
I don't think I've ever actually seen any wargames horses painted this glossy VERY dark brown shade of real horses - 'cos they'd look a bit uninteresting on the tabletop.
Almost all wargames horses are painted in various unrealistic shades of 'bright' brown. Certainly all mine are. They look better that way.

But I'd rather not get into a horse argument. Please 

Thanks again 

[Ruarigh]

But I'd rather not get into a horse argument. Please 

Sorry. I shan't mention it again although it has also struck me that there may be regional/national differences in terminology of which I am unaware, hence our different approach to it. Right, shutting up now.