Okay. okay, not entirely spot on – or close – but I decided to paint up these fine 15mm Dark Age Early Saxon’s from Splintered Light Miniatures in the ‘style’ of the Night’s Watch from Game of Thrones.
(Imagination says they are a troop from an earlier – or later – period than depicted in the TV series – so there!)
I also decided to play around with my Silhouette cutter and make a bunch of shields.
You can see from this early test run an attempt to produce one of the Night’s Watch shields that carried their oath (far right). Didn’t work.
So I thought a simple crow image would be more effective. In the process I opted to do a few ‘alternatives’ that, if not useful for these guys, I could use at a later stage.
The planned Photo paper printed shields and auto-cutting of the Silhouette worked out pretty well. One draw back, which was anticipated, was the need to double up the shield thickness by using two shields stuck together. And the need to paint the edges and back.
An unexpected draw back was the effect of white tack on the shield fronts that I used to stick them down while painting the backs. This meant having to paint in the black afterwards again. Bother!
That aside, here is the finished unit;
As an aside, I painted up a random miniature at the same time and decided to use one of the Silhouette shields on him (also a Splintered Light mini).
Intended uses for the Night’s Watch? Any Dark Age games (SAGA, upcoming Blood Eagle?), Frostgrave, Mordhiem, Dragon or Lion Rampant or any other fantasy or historical game I fancy. (Having said that, hostorically I do not think early Saxons (or other dark age force) would have carried such a uniformed unit livery. But then, I did it again with this sub-Roman unit. Hmm, black vs white – was that a coincidence?
Great post! I wish I could paint as well as you, and I’ve been at this hobby since the 70s.
You said you cut the shields out with a Silhouette cutter. Which one do you have? I have been thinking about getting one, but its not clear, other than the price, which one to get.
Hi Christopher. Thanks for dropping by and your kind comments. Since the 70s? Then you pip me by a decade. As you will know, especially at 15mm, it’s less about the brush work and more about the technique is it not.
I bought a Cameo. I thought I was getting a deal off eBay then got battered by customs which hurt a little. As with cost vs value it’s all about how much use you will get from it. It certainly does what it says it does on the tin so it’s about use. I’ve had mine for about 6 months and used it for Graffam model buildings and cutting out things that by hand are a pain or too repetitive for words (stencils for airbrush, shields, base blockers). There are a load more uses too. I’d say I’m border line on getting my monies worth so far.
As with all such things it’s best to try it first if you can. Or better pool resources with fellow hobbyists and share as it’s quite portable in that way.
Thanks again.