Dark Ages Two-Handed Axemen (Minimalist)

Dark Ages Two-Handed Axemen

I've started painting more figures for my minimalist Dark Ages army. This time it is armored warriors with two-handed Danish axes.

Sorry that the close-up is a little blurry!

Front and side views.

It was a moderately complex build, but it required very little modification to the component parts.

Here are all of the components to the figure.

The figure consists of the following components.

• The head and helmet is a button plug, also called a mushroom plug. It is a plug for holes and is used in furniture making.
• The body is a cylindrical, plastic bead. I would prefer wood as the paint sticks better, but I cannot find a cylindrical one that is the right size.
• The feet are a polymer clay 'bead' that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. Because it is a flat disk it works well for adding height, and the polymer clay is very easy to cut with a hobby knife to shape.
• Because I use a lot of toothpicks as spears for my other Dark Ages warriors, I end up with a number of wooden scraps as I only use the pointed ends.
• Finally, I found a smaller, flat, polymer clay bead that, when cut in half, makes a passable axe blade.

If I have any criticism it is that I need to do a better job of trimming the ends of the axe handle so they don't look like the were squeeze cut with wire snips (which they were). Also, I probably need to put shields on their backs, although that is not strictly necessary.

Another Minimalist Experiment

I have a lot of painted Napoleonic miniatures, but they are all 6mm, and to be honest, they are very hard to discern what they are (Nationality, troop type, unit designation, etc.) so it makes it harder for gaming. Forget about photographing them!

Although I like the two component body design I generally use – a round bead or button plug for the head and a cylindrical or square bead for the body – I want a little more height on the figure. So I continue to experiment with designs with an eye of replacing my Napoleonics, or creating a 'imagination' army.

I started with three flat head plugs. Again, these are used for filling holes in furniture, but being flat-headed, they are intended to lies flush with the surrounding surface. What makes them a 'plug' and not a 'dowel' is that dowels are straight-sided and plugs are tapered.

I started with a 5/16" flat head plug for the body. The widest end is at the top and represents the shoulders.

On top of that I glued a 1/4" flat head plug for the head and hat. If you want a shako, put the widest end at the top; put it at the bottom is you want a kepi.

Below the body glue a 3/16" flat head plug for the legs. The widest part is at the bottom, although I could see putting it at the top also.

Finally glue the polymer clay bead to the bottom of the legs. You can use a hobby knife to trim it to size. It will also give more stability to the figure.

I used an all-material adhesive for all of this. When I am done I will cover it with Mod Podge (glorified white PVC glue) to seal the wood pores – making it easier to paint – and giving more strength to the figure. I am concerned about this popping off of a base, however.

These plugs do not have much of a taper, so the idea of using wood, or plastic tile spacers, for the arms seems like it would take more work trimming off some material so it would lie flush to the body. I would probably use simple dimensional paint for the arms. Definitely will use that for the shako/kepi peak or any ornaments like a shako pom-pom. I would probably drill a hole and use a toothpick if I wanted to go so far as to create a shako plume.

By the way, a round head plug – it is what it sounds like – makes a great grenadier bearskin or round helmet. Flat head plugs also make great Crusader helms.

I used to be concerned about pulling these troops out for public games. Not any more. I may get funny comments like "I am glad to see the mushroom heads are getting some play" or things like that, but I have never had anyone say that would not game because they had to use them.