Sometimes I buy some of the wooden shapes from the catalogs just for the heck of it, to see what I can make out of it. The barrel beads make good bearskin hats and abdomens, and ½ of the beehive bead makes a great turban (although they are a paint to cut in half ...). Today's little project came from buying some angel wings.
At first I thought I would use these for my larger 42mm figures, given that the wingspan is 2 ¼". However, the more that I was looking at it and measuring it, along with some 28mm Roman cavalry I am making, the more I became convinced that they could be used in that scale too.
By cutting the wing at an angle, it looks just like the wings from a Polish Winged Hussar. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the wing and into the body in order to pin it for strength. It is attached to the same type of button plug-round head plug-spool figure I created for the Romans.
I also decided to try a little experiment with the spool in that I sanded out enough space so that it could straddle the horse figure. Definitely a lot more work than simply lopping off the bottom of the spool, sanding a smaller indentation, and then using craft foam to make the legs. I do like the look from the side when the figure is mounted, however. Maybe a little more experimentation with the tools will yield a faster way of removing the excess wood other than just sanding or grinding it down.
Another little experiment was sanding down the bottom edge of the button plug so it is rounded, making it look a little better as a head. I also sanded the top of the round head plug, which forms the top of the torso, to increase the surface area contacted between it and the button plug, making gluing easier and stronger. It is worth the effort and actually takes less effort than pinning.
As it stands I already have a 15mm Polish army to go along with a Cossack one, so this will probably serve as a knightly figure for a 28mm HOTT army.
A terrifying spectacle!
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