some medieval customs

[AndrewL]

Dear All,

I just joined the forum, having spent a good while looking and marvelling at the fantastic customs folks have created.

I thought I'd share some of my efforts so far. Like others out there, I only use original, unmodified parts, mainly because I was never any good at painting with very small brushes! Doing medieval armies, this means I have to stick with the armorial bearings/colour schemes Playmobil has provided.

Anyway, here's the first few, and I'll try to put up some more over the next few days.

Comments/suggestions are most welcome, and I hope you enjoy these.

Cheers,

Andrew

[AndrewL]

more...

[AndrewL]

some more...

[AndrewL]

and so on...

[AndrewL]

and so on...

[AndrewL]

more...

[AndrewL]

Last one today, and I just realised I should probably have put this in the 'Customs' section rather than here.

Oops! Sorry about that folks. I'll put the next lot in the right place.

Cheers,

AndrewL

[Justindo]

You've created a very nice bunch of custom soldiers.  I like the diversity and realism.

[AndrewL]

Hi Justindo,

Many thanks!

There's more where those came from, but I think my overall presentation and photography need some improvement. When I find some more time, I'll try doing some more pictures, which of course I'll share!

Cheers,

Andrew

[marco_snijder]

Nice customs!!

Although I never liked those closed helmets much......

Pitty the helmets of picture 5 do not match the colour of the breast plates...

Other than that! All very nice I like-um

[marco_snijder]

Sorry...

I meant these helmets.....

Actually the first one is quite O.K.,

I do not know why, but these helmets look so unnatural/unreal to me....?!?

[AndrewL]

Hi marco_snijder,

Many thanks for your comments!

A couple of things regarding the 'mismatch' between helmets and breastplates on the green/yellow/black castle footsoldiers: I'm probably going to change a few of the helmets to dark grey (what I think Playmobil calls 'anthracite'), so a few more would match. I would also love to get a hold of more of the light grey breastplates from the 4666 'Eiserner Ritter' special, but I don't know the part number... But in any event, I don't think I want to have all of them matching perfectly. That kind of 'uniformity' in soldiers' outfits was rare and hard to achieve in the Middle Ages.

What I've aimed for is keeping the same combinations of colour and pattern for each group, but with as much variation within the general scheme as I can. Works better in some cases than in others.

Regarding the helmets, I agree that the horned and 'animal mouth' helmets (the second two in your list) are quite unrealistic, with the possible exception of very late medieval ceremonial/parade/tournament armour. But the first two are, I think, not too bad. The first one passes as a 'barbute,' the second as a 'sugarloaf' great helm.

Cheers,

AndrewL

[Grant]

Very nice customs. Looks like your ready for the Crusades.

[henry_martini]

Decent customs. After all the time there can still be created somthing new from the knight theme.

[Martin Milner]

Excelllent set of customs and knightly variations, Andrew. The "Dismayed Unicorn" is my least favourite heraldic design, but over the years Playmobil have made up for it with a great bunch, though recent efforts again are a bit weak. You've got a great collection from the strongest period, which I fear we may never see produced again.

I have a similar collection, all packed away at present, that I will eventually to have the room to display, and hopefully have some photostories and battles with next year. For now they're all packed for shipping to the US.