Category / Uncategorized

by badsquiddogames

Next Round of Nominees (Minis 11 & 12)

Thank you to the contributors (listed below) for submitting these twenty four suggestions. The two most popular will be made into miniatures! Please have a read through them all and have a think about who your favourites are! You will be able to vote for as many as you like, but please only vote for your favourites, ie what you’d REALLY like as a mini.

VOTING WILL OPEN 7PM WEDNESDAY 28th FEB AND CLOSE 7PM SATURDAY 2ND MARCH on our Facebook group

Click here to be taken directly to the poll. Only votes on that will count.

Images: Images are not necessarily how the minis will be dressed, just chosen for an easy glance and public domain, you are encouraged to look up more photos and information, we just haven’t gone in full detail for everyone or it would take a long, long, time!

Notes: Most of the text below is written or sourced by the contributors – you wonderful people via our Facebook group where such decisions take place, some may have more written about them, as that person just submitted more information. Some with low levels of info I, (Annie) have written a bit more to give them a fighting chance.

NOTE ON BERNADETTE DEVLIN: She won’t be in the poll due to being…alive. This sounds macabre! I hadn’t realised til I was typing up. Unless exceptional circumstance & permission, we’re not making any body who is still with us, for a variety of reasons. She slipped through so I’ll keep her in this list though!

  1. Anne Bonny (1670-17??) A female pirate, operating with her lover Calico Jack Rackham. Together with Mary Read, another female pirate, she was captured in 1720, tried and sentenced to death, but given a stay of execution because she was pregnant. 
  2.  Bernadette Devlin (1947 – Now)  Irish. The youngest MP elected at age 21. When asked by an all-male press corps if she intended to apologise to Conservative Home Secretary Reginald Maudling, Devlin said: “I’m just sorry I didn’t get him by the throat.”
  3. “Captain” Nieves Fernandez (1906-1997) Nieves was a school teacher and local businesswoman in Tacloban City, Philippines, who became a legendary resistance fighter after the Imperial Japanese brutalized the people of her town. She organized a guerilla unit that ended up having between 100-200 fighters, and personally killed dozens using a homemade shotgun and her bolo knife. Her trademark tactic was a quick kill with the bolo, earning her the nickname “The Silent Killer.
  4. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (1832-1919) Doctor, Spy (probably), and advocate of women’s dress reform. One of the earliest women in the US to have a medical degree. When war broke out in 1861, she went to Washington D.C. to offer her services as an army surgeon. She was rejected as a woman, but stayed as a volunteer nurse in local army hospitals. She wore a “uniform” of her own design incorporating trousers under a skirt.   Always favoring men’s trousers to ladies dresses, by the end of her life, she’d taken to wearing full men’s suits. She remains the only woman in US military history to have received the Medal of Honour.
  5. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady and social activist (before marrying FDR and long after his death). She was definitely a fighter for social justice, racial equality, women’s rights, and SO many other things.
  6. Eleonore Prochaska (1785-1813) A German soldier who fought in the Prussian army with the Lützom volunteer Jaegers, disguised as a man. Strongly idealized as a chaste heroine and honoured as “Potsdam’s Joan of Arc”
  7. Empress Maude (Matilda) (1102-1167) Queen of England & Normandy, Rightful queen usurped by her cousin
  8. Gerda Taro (1910-1937)  Frontline photojournalist from the Spanish Civil War. Hanno Hardt described her work with Robert Capa: “Taro and Capa helped invent the genre of modern war photography while fueling the vicarious experience of the spectator by offering an approximation of life in the conflict zone.”
  9. Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd (1282-1337) Princess consort of Deheubarth. Led a revolt against the Norman invaders at Kidwelly Castle. She was betrayed by a fellow countryman, captured and beheaded. The Welsh vowed revenge, leading to the Gwent Revolt of 1136.
  10. Isabella of France (1295-1358) Also known as the She-Wolf of France, was the daughter of Philip IV of France (The same Philip who conspired with Pope Clement V to destroy the Knights Templar), the wife of King Edward II and the mother of Edward III.
  11. Jeanne Laisné “Jeanne Hachette” (1454- ????) Axe-wielding peasant heroine of the siege of Beauvais
  12. Margaret Ann Bulkley (James Barry). (1789-1865) Spent most of their life as the male surgeon James Barry, having qualified from the University of Edinburgh in 1812. They went on to work at St Thomas’ in London and then joined the army as a medical officer. While in South Africa they performed the first successful caesarean in 1826. In 1857, they became the inspector general of military hospitals in Canada and did lots of excellent things improving health and welfare. They died in 1865 having been forced to retire from the army medical board in 1859.
  13. Maria Nikiforova (1885-1919) also known as Marusya, Atamansha Marusya, and probably other names as well. Ukrainian anarchist, self-described terrorist sentenced to death four times by two different governments (once before she was old enough to be executed), leader of at least one Black Guard detachment of the Makhnovschina (the Ukrainian Revolutionary Insurgent Army, the anarchists), bank robber, train robber, bomb-thrower, one of Nestor Makhno’s most trusted commanders – and, in fact, more famous at the time than he was – orator and revolutionary.
  14. Marie Catherine Laveau (1801-1881) Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo, herbalist and midwife who was renowned in New Orleans
  15. Marie Marvingt (1875-1963) Athlete, mountaineer, aviator, and journalist. A hell of a woman!
  16. Marsha P Johnson (1945-1992) Pivotal American LGBTQ+ activist. “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”
  17. Melisende, Queen of Jerusalem. (1105-1161) She was one of few women to be queen in her own right in the twelfth century (and even the entire medieval period) and ruled during a transitional period in the Latin East, including the fall of Edessa and the Second Crusade. Moreover, her costume would be interesting because it would likely be a fusion of western and eastern styles, given she was of Armenian and Frankish descent, lived her entire life in the Middle East, but was married to a prominent west Frankish lord.
  18. Milunka Savić  (1889-1973) A Serbian war heroine who fought in the Balkan Wars and in World War I. She is the most-decorated female combatant in the recorded history of warfare.
  19. Nicola de La Haye (1150-1230) Landowner, administrator, constable, sheriff of Lincolnshire. She defended Lincoln castle twice against sieges.
  20. Olga of Kiev (later Elena) (890-925) Regent of Kievan Rus, viking descendant, canonized saint, and vengeance incarnate.  After the murder of her husband, Olga went on a revenge spree against the people that had killed him(and their prince that wanted to marry her). I’m pretty sure her life basically inspired several key moments of Game of Thrones! 
  21. Puabi of Ur (Around 2600 BC) Possibly a Queen and/or Priestess. She was buried with a large number of attendants who were ritually slain to accompany Puabi in the afterlife. Puabi’s skull and headdress, along with some grave goods is in the British Museum. Well worth a visit and to pay respects to Puabi.
  22. Queen Nanny, or Nanny of the Maroons ONH (1686–1760) Jamaican Freedom Fighter. She led a community of formerly enslaved Africans called the Windward Maroons. In the early 18th century, under the leadership of Nanny, the Windward Maroons fought a guerrilla war over many years against British authorities in the Colony of Jamaica in what became known as the First Maroon War.
  23. The Siberian Ice Maiden / The Altai Princess (Around 500 BC) A Scythio-Siberian woman from the 5th C BC, famous for her magnificent burial and tattoos! Sadly, we don’t know much at all about her life, but she must have been remarkable!
  24. Chevalier d’Eon (1728-1810) Fencer, spy, soldier, diplomat, socialite and badass. Presented in all these roles as both male and female, with much very public conjecture on the topic (the Stock Exchange took bets!) but successfully had their gender transition recognised by not one but two national courts (France and England).

Thanks to the contributors: In no particular order… Carole Flint, Chris Cooper, Phil Leedell, Marianne Wells, Mark Jenkins, John Cunningham, Phil Gregory, Nigel Higgins, Adam Aaron, Alias Zug, Jack Hiscock, Michael J. Thomas, Ben Caile, Ben Owen, Magnus Guyra, Judith Burke, Felicity MacLeod Cullen, Christopher M Garcia and Phil Crawley.

Refresh on Nominations

Thank you to anybody else who made suggestions. If yours wasn’t included here, it is most likely because you didn’t submit all the required information needed for the nomination. We do this not to be mean, but to make the project more manageable. Even typing out and ordering the nominations here (and double checking info, finding pics etc) takes a lot of work and time, so it’s to make sure all nominations have been highly considered by the nominee. That was a word salad, sorry. Please don’t be discouraged, there will be future rounds, we’ve unlocked number 13 already, so stay tuned.

For future reference, the MINIMUM to nominate a person is:

“YOU MUST put their birth and death date, name/s, country, and a term that sums them up like job title or what they’re known for.

YOU CAN ONLY NOMINATE UP TO TWO PEOPLE EACH.“

Bad Squiddo Games reserves the right to remove any suggestions from the poll for any reason.

by badsquiddogames

A Short Update on all the Waves

I will do a proper one soon!

Wave 1 is out and anyone can buy, there’s a few of the collector cards left too (Eleanor of Aquitaine, Ching Shih, Harriet Tubman, Black Agnes, Zenobia, Julie D’Aubigny)

Wave 2 is sculpted, master casts with painters and production casts being cast. It was originally listed at December release but that was optimism and many things happened! Marty is currently working away on the artwork too, hence Ada there. Wave 2 is Ada Lovelace, Joan of Arc, Mary Fields and Audrey Hepburn. I’m saying March/April for those. You can pre order them here.

Wave 3 voting should be this week!

Thanks all for supporting this. Once Wave 3 is done we’ll be caught up and ready to really advertise and make a big song and dance about it, but I’ve kept it on a bit of a downlow to make sure all the early supporters were sorted first.

—

I’ve been out of office as a mates mum has gone into hospital and I’ve been helping there as another pair of hands (more to it but not my place to detail!) But hoping to get that Wave 3 poll up at least.

by badsquiddogames

Designing Ada Lovelace

If you haven’t already read about my visit to see actual Ada Lovelace in person, then you should totally go and read that first.

As is now tradition with this project, I ended up way off track, spending a whole evening figuring out what the Analytical Engine WAS, and the purpose of punch cards. Some of you older folks (older, not old!) have helped to inform me on those, as it was a lost tech by my time!

Ada Lovelace by Alfred Edward Chalon circa 1840

Ada Lovelace (born Augusta Ada King 1815 and died 1852) is a very well-known mathematician, recognised as being the very first computer programmer. She worked with Charles Babbage on his Analytical Engine, which was, in basic terms, a massive calculator slash early computer. It was theoretical, so they did not build it, but Ada’s annotations and calculations became the foundation for much of the technology we use today. We can blame her for those danged algorithms, she published the first one in 1840.

The daughter of “mad, bad and dangerous to know” Lord Byron, she was kept away from her father and the arts by her concerned mother Anne Isabella Milbanke, Lady Byron. Fearing the arts would corrupt her into the debauchery of her lineage, Ada was given a very scientific and mathematical upbringing by some of the best tutors available.

Designing the Figure

Ada Lovelace, sculpted by Etienne and Mary Millner. Located on the 7th floor of Millbank Quarter (formerly Ergon House), London.

From the start, I knew I wanted her to be wearing very fancy hair and dress as she was often portrayed wearing, most famously in the painting by Afred Edward Chalon. However, I don’t want her to be static.

Figuring out how to show someone “doing maths” can be quite the head-scratcher – which incidentally was a pose I pondered! But she was far more than any standard mathematician, and I wanted her to be more unique.

The “ah ha!” moment came with the punch cards from the Analytical Engine. Upon researching statues of Ada, I came to the conclusion that others had had the same idea and the same struggles! A fantastic piece by Etienne and Mary Millner, I can almost hear them going “argh just hang the punch cards up behind!”. I feel the struggle.

So let’s get to the Annie sketch. I feel she will work holding the cards up, perhaps quizzically, studying them. Regarding casting, they can almost cascade down her arm, something I am confident that the sculptor will figure out. They would need to be shorter at the very worst, but I think this is unlikely. I’ll get him to indent some holes into them, well – divots, so an ink wash will fill them in for you.

The veil in the painting will be harder to translate to a solid sculpt, as I have noticed from the more enormous public statues they have removed this, and we will too. It works beautifully in paint as it is translucent, but it would be quite a solid block in metal, especially at this scale.

I think this will make a lovely miniature to paint, and people can get really creative with the dress fabric, or if they are daunted, can paint it a solid colour with a wash and have it still look lovely.

Ada by Margaret Sarah Carpenter circa 1836

Regarding the dress, there is another painting which shows her front on. It is a different dress to the purple, but I intend to converge the design to make something which works well. Splay the bottom of the sleeves and add those delicate gloves.

That’s all there is really for the design of Ada Lovelace. Anything else to note? Oh, the weird hand in the sketch! I am very tired and figured I could wind myself up trying to figure out the hand for the rest of the evening, or just tell the sculptor what I meant, and he’ll do it fantastically! Wahey! That’s the process, folks!

I am very much looking forward to seeing a lady in a massive fancy Victorian dress figuring out complex maths thingies. Yes! Are you?

by badsquiddogames

Paying Ada Lovelace a Visit

Magnifique! Church of St Mary Magdalene, photo by Annie Norman

A while back (though I dare not look at the date, I feel it was a few weeks ago, but it was more likely into the months), I decided to visit Ada Lovelace. It would have been rude not to!

“But Annie, didn’t Ada die in 1852?” I hear you cry. She did indeed, but her remains….remain. So I went to say hi.

She is buried in the Byron family vault in Hucknall, along with her father, Lord Byron, and family members going back 200 years. Hucknall is super easy to reach from Nottingham, where Bad Squiddo Games is based, so one very straightforward tram journey later, we were walking up to the Church of St Mary Magdalene. It really is history on your doorstep!

The church dates back to the 12th century, with it being expanded over the years, notably significantly in the 19th Century. The Norman element is very clear on entry and was my favourite part of the building (don’t tell Ada). Who doesn’t love old wood and big stone blocks?

Ada Lovelace – 1843 or 1850 a rare daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet.


Upon entry, we were greeted by a lovely chap whose name escapes me – I shall get it on my next visit and write it down! I’m going to call him George for now. It might have been George. He welcomed us in and gave us a tour of the church, which really was fascinating. I had no idea there had been so much history here all along, and the church has many ties to Newstead Abbey, somewhere else I have yet to visit – though that will be fixed soon! I just about resisted signing up for their volunteer gardener program… this time.

While fascinating, I’ll refrain from going too much into the details of the church as a whole, as this is about Ada Lovelace, remember, but it was superb, with lots of original Norman fixtures and fittings, including a big lead font.

With Indiana Jones fresh in my mind, I think part of me thought we would go down some steps into the vault itself, but of course not. ABOVE the vault, in the sanctuary of the church (I think that is the term, behind where the vicar stands) is where you can access. I asked George if he’d take me down the vault if I slipped him a fiver, but he informed me it was last opened in 1938. I’ll try again on the next visit, though, I might have put the idea in his mind. Maybe a fiver and a cup of tea this time?

A bad scribble showing roughly where the vault is, scribbles and photo by Annie Norman
Inside the Vault in 1938, Ada is in the centre there.
The Proper plans of the Byron Vault

Here, I have attempted to show roughly where the vault lies in relation to the church and where you can get to. So you’re really standing on top of it all. Above are various memorials to Ada and her father, some very recent (he was big in Greece!)

It’s a weird feeling being so close to somebody you have been researching, even though she is long gone ( though apparently, in 1938, Byron was still very well preserved, even the erm…member). A feeling of, is this cool, Ada? I had a quiet word and told her it would be very cool and lots more people would hear her story.

Memorial plaque to Ada Lovelace, photo by Annie Norman

George kindly offered us some tea and cake, and I know to never down church cake, for it’s always especially good. This gave us a chance to chat with some of the ladies who volunteered there and had some enlightening chats about Byron and Ada, as well as the history of the church. I told them about the project and that I would return, tiny Ada Lovelace in hand, to show them all. I hope to get an extra one painted too so I can give it to them as a neat little present. It will be the ultimate test of whether we’ve got the mini right, as these people spend a lot of time around her, they’re basically family at this point!

L-R Lil, George and Annie (me!) Erm, standing on Ada Lovelace.

Who is the “we” I refer to throughout this? My mum, Lil! Yay, Lil! Here we all are in the church; I will make sure to get George’s actual name next time, but he was a brilliant host, full of information and a great sense of humour.

While on the face of it, the visit is not imperative to the figure design, it is for my sense of completion and research, as I like to get out where I can and not just be in books, and hey – it’s an excuse to visit somewhere new! I feel like I have more of a connection to Ada now, and I am looking forward to returning and seeing the lovely people again. It just feels more… rounded, you know? History is out there, in the streets! Or under the floor!

Next up is the design concept for the Ada Lovelace miniature, I’ll save it for the next entry. What do you think of this trip, are you tempted?

words by Annie Norman

by badsquiddogames

Redesigning Mary Fields! [Stagecoach Mary]

Mary Fields approx 1895

Yes, you read this correctly! While we have already revealed a design and notes for Mary Fields, it’s not over til the sculpting guy sculpts! If you haven’t read this first, you should! I listened to your feedback on making Mary more dynamic, and I agree. I was also concerned about her heavy mailing sack adding too much to the cost of the mini and limiting her use on the tabletop.

It’s been a while since posting as I was focussing on getting the first 6 in people’s hands, but it’s a weekend, so I’m doing some overtime to get stuck back in while the mojo is strong. I’m much happier with the redesign, which you’ll see soon, but I would love your feedback.

When I was reading about Stagecoach Mary, I got the impression of such a no-nonsense lady who, despite the preconceptions of many, could be absolutely terrifying. She fought off wolves and bandits, on her own, in the snow! She carried masses of weight in short time frames over mountains! I don’t want her to be standing passively.

Here is the before and after.

Two rough sketches by Annie Norman to design the miniature. Usual disclaimers that the art is purely to convey what goes where, and any anatomy weirds or fabric weirds or ANY weirds will be corrected by the sculptor!

I decided to keep the cardigan, but I’m not 100% committed to it- again – feedback is immense! I liked it from the photo as something quite feminine she might have wanted to hang onto, but it could be swapped out for one of her winter coats, what do you think?

In this pose, she is striding forward in a bit of a stalky manner. Perhaps she saw or heard something when she was driving the stagecoach or tending to an evening fire, and it made her have a look around. She can’t decide if she’d rather find man or beast.

The skirt has been made shorter to show more of the form underneath for you and the sculptor. It could be hitched up, or it could end up being longer again in the sculpt, but it’s something I’ll probably leave to Alan Marsh, the sculptor, to see what works best. Sometimes, it’s only clear during the actual sculpting stage when you have the 3D model physically there. Underneath, I would assume she has the standard-era boots, possibly with the postal uniform trousers tucked in for extra warmth and modesty. Any extra detail such as a pistol or whiskey on the belt would be down to the sculptor as well; a matter of if they would fit anywhere naturally or to keep it simpler.

This design makes me much happier, what do you think? I’m also much happier with my doodle! It works as a more action pose of the famous picture while keeping her trusty shotgun over the posed rifle.

While you’re musing, I’ll make a start on Ada Lovelace!

Annie

by badsquiddogames

Julie’s New Face!

Hi friends! Apologies for the late update, I feel I’ve updated everybody everywhere apart from here – the one place I definitely have to. This issue has held up more progress than it should have, because of my funnily wired brain, but we’re back on track now. Also, I decided (well, my brain decided) I couldn’t progress with the next figures til this had been typed out.

What’s the delay? The first wave of minis are supposed to be in people’s hands already, right? WE HAD A SMALL HICCUP. Just a lil one. Kinda. I turned it into a teaching opportunity, of course!

Before I go into those details further, the shorter version is:

They will be coming very shortly, there were delays caused by changing a part of the sculpt of Julie D’Aubigny and finding a suitable company to print and cut the cards, which are both done, yay! HOPEFULLY, most will ship by the end of this month.

What happened?

It was entirely my own oversight! When designing a miniature, there is much more at play than what simply looks good. The miniature must be able to be cast many, many, times without fault; there is a fair bit of engineering that goes into making sure that works.

First, let’s look at the Version One. A stunning miniature, you will agree, and top paint job, John! This angle shows very well how one “one plane” this mini is. You could trace a straight line from the tip of her sword, up her arm, up her face, right up the bridge of her nose, middle of her forehead, and back down the other side.

In terms of casting, this is a doddle. Figures get more difficult the more “planes” there are. Imagine she stuck her left hand out to point at us from the screen, that would complicate matters. Also, she would be alive.

The issue is… what even is this line? A metal mould is made of two parts of rubber or silicone in big round discs. When the mini is being moulded, the sculpt is squished between the two under the golden combo of heat and pressure to make the cavity, which we later fill with metal to create the cast.

The point at which these two discs push against each other in the moulding process is often called the “mould line”. These can vary from extreme to a mere feather, we like to pride ourselves on being the feather variety! Although sometimes they can be more prominent depending on the figure design.

The sum up of all the above is basically that the mould line was going down the middle of the face. But this project will hopefully teach you a bit about the background of how minis are made and the tribulations we may run into on the way!

While our mould lines are barely visible, nobody likes it down the middle of the face. It’s such an important part. I should have spotted this before she went to casting, but stuff happens!

Julie D’Aubigny MK2, sculpted by Alan Marsh

Of course, I waited until she had been painted, and a huge chunk of her had been production cast already before I decided she had to change. Had this been earlier, we would still be on track – doh!

Was she good enough or not in her current state? I couldn’t decide. The line was minimal, but it was on the face, which is a mega pet peeve of mine in my own hobby adventures, and it wasn’t the usual done thing for Bad Squiddo. But I knew I was fighting against time, as this project is so far behind.

I felt absolutely sick when I approached the caster asking for the sculpt back, as I knew there was potentially a big extra cost of resculpting and money lost on the castings (we can get a bit back by throwing her clones into Mount Doom, though) as well as contacting Alan, the sculptor. It was none of their fault, but I was worried they wouldn’t be happy with my choice. BUT I AM A SILLY. I have worked with these people for years, and they’re lovely, DUH! They were ace, phew!

The best bit was that Julie was almost intact. When a sculpt has been moulded, they’re often broken and sometimes pretty much just crushed to dust! I didn’t want to convert a cast. I’d built it up in my head as this major thing. So I was ELATED to see her pretty much as she was before the moulding. Sculptor Alan Marsh is a dream and converted her easily before shipping her back to the casters.

So how did he fix her?

Decapitation! I believe he chopped the head off to turn it more forward-facing, but it looks like it’s been pretty much resculpted, I am sure the framework stayed the same though. So, the head was chopped off at the neck, rotated, and plopped back on. Then, the resculpting of the face and hair and anything else that was knocked off in the process, as well as a general MOT as she had “seen some things”. Alan noticed part of the hilt was missing, which I totally hadn’t spotted, so multiple eyes are good! That was sculpted back on, of course.

Now, if you trace that same line up the sword and arm, it now goes over her shoulder and up the side of her face, where the hair is. A cheeky little hair of a mouldline in her curly hair is fine; you can scuff it off with a blade, and it’s gone, much better than performing facial surgery.

HOORAY!

This has now been master cast, approved BY MEEE, and is now in the production stages. Poor John Morris has to paint her again, exactly the same as last time, please, John!

The Pretty Cards

The Pretty Cards will be ready once MK2 Julie is painted! Also, I need to finish designing them, I hope to update this blog very soon with those drafts. I was using Julie as a bit of an excuse as I could have been designing the rest, but it has been very busy around Bad Squiddo, and the time has just flown by.

New Printers

The other delay was figuring out how these cards would work. I want them A7 with rounded corners. But when you order from printing companies, they charge SO MUCH just for rounded corners, especially on low number runs (just 100 of each design), it was going to be a problem.

I’m on fire with these stock images today.

Investing in my own corner cutter even seemed an option – a heavy-duty one. I browsed through quite a few of those. They didn’t seem too great, though, really, the manual ones. Then it went into thousands of pounds, so I was back at the drawing board. That was until… I found a company! They seem really nice and helpful, and I met them in person and told them all about the project. I won’t name them yet in case it doesn’t work out (hehe, yes, I have made that mistake before), but it seems highly promising, and I’ll be going through some print designs with them next week. So, the delay was really useful in that sense, as I may well have found a new printing company for Bad Squiddo Games as a whole, not just this project. Yay!

Another accidental victory is that I really prefer the stance of the MK2 Julie, what do you think? I think she has more of a stronger “golden angle”. It shows how such a small change can create such a noticeable difference.

So there we go; silence doesn’t mean abandonment. I have just been pulled from project to project lately, and this week have a rotten cold (boo), but many wheels are turning.
Hooray!


by badsquiddogames

Artwork & Collectable Cards

Superb artwork from Martin Whitmore confirmed! Marty is the man behind most of our artwork, so it seemed right for him to be involved in this. What is extra lovely is how the people involved in this project are passionate about the subject matter, so it’s more than just a job to them. It’s a solid team.

Artist Martin Whitmore

These fresh drawings are refined versions of my own preliminary rough sketches that take into account the sculpt and the changes we made during that phase. As well as being just “better,” they also have a consistent style that ties them together well. Marty’s quirky and fun style fits well in a project that could be at risk of seeming too heavy sometimes with the subject matter (When one of the women DOESN’T die horribly at the end, I always cheer – wahey!). We’re keeping to pencil line art for the obvious reason of cost, which would drive the price way up, but also, it adds to the sketchbook feel of it being this community project. Later on, if I fancy it, Marty will colour and ink them for me (in exchange for coin, of course!), so there’s lots of potential for future projects there.

Originally, I was planning to do this part myself as my own art project, but I wisely decided that the pressure of having to add a GOOD drawing to each figure, as well as doing all the managing, research, writing and graphics AND running Bad Squiddo Games full time… might be a bit much. And Marty is way better than me, so there. My sketches do their job of informing you all and the sculptor where things go, but the improved ones look much nicer for display and admiration.

Top row artwork by Annie Norman, bottom row by Martin Whitmore. It’s an easy way of seeing how the pose or details of some changed through the sculpting process for each.

Collectable Cards

In line with wanting these to be a bit special, collectable cards seem a good call; we all like collecting things right; it’s why we’re in this hobby! I’ve decided to limit these to the first 100. It’s an impetus for people to pick them up when they’re first available, which really helps us out. It also means you get something a bit special – as well as a cracking mini!

Design idea for the collectable cards, images by Martin Whitmore, text and design by Annie Norman
An example of our minis’ packaging

If they’re A7 size, they will fit in the blister packaging nicely and neatly, although they will need the corners rounding. This is an unusually expensive addition when ordering from a print supplier, so I’ve been looking at a few semi-industrial corner punchers, with the excuse that I can use it for many different tasks and projects. All the round edges, all of the times.

What do you think of this mock-up? I’ve had that parchment background in my mind for a while for the feel like they’re the lost scrolls or something. While most of what we produce is rather colourful, I appreciate the simplicity here that will tie them all together. I’d like to hear your feedback back though. The Limited Edition number will be written by hand on each one. Is there a pen you recommend for that – I guess just a fine marker pen?

What about the painted image of the mini? There will be that too! The Community Minis will also have their own full-colour packaging in line with the rest of the Bad Squiddo Games range. So you’ll get that AND the special card (if you’re in the first 100)

Remember these first six are AVAILABLE TO PRE ORDER NOW and will ship this month!

Cheers!

Annie

by badsquiddogames

Designing Mary Fields [Stagecoach Mary]

While I do my best to remain impartial (ha!), I was thrilled when Mary Fields was chosen. She’s not as well known as many, and should be! Also, her photo has a habit of being misused in articles about Harriet Tubman. They were both strong-built women who had escaped slavery and forged paths of determination and no-nonsense, living in the USA around the same time. But their stories are quite different; let’s have a look.

Mary Fields is known for being the first Black woman to work as a mail carrier in the USA. She defied the odds not just because of her race and gender but also her age, as she was SIXTY-FIVE when she began that job.

Born in 1832, Mary lived a full and long life until she passed in 1914, aged around 82. For some perspective to many readers, World War 1 had started then. It can be easy sometimes for these stories to feel like they occurred much longer ago through the old, faded photographs. In fact, the current oldest living person was born in 1907 while Mary was alive, so some of our grandparents or great-grandparents (whereabouts) could have even shared a whiskey with her.

Mary Fields approx 1895

As a recently emancipated Black woman, Mary was not expected for her to be so sweary, drinky, cigar-puffing, fighty or headstrong – qualities which garnered her respect from some and disdain from others. The Civil War had seen an end to slavery, but it would take much longer to change the attitudes of many of her countryfolk (unfortunately, some still aren’t there today).

When Mary landed the mail carrier job – by outskilling the much younger male applicants – she really made her mark on history. While at first sounding like a dull job, as we think of our local posties and while we love ’em, it’s not precisely death-defying, is it? Well, it was back then! Travelling alone across vicious terrain, there was danger of the extreme weather and wild animals such as wolves and the worst monster of all – mankind. Bandits waited in these parts for such a super looting opportunity. Sometimes the stagecoach (“Oh THAT’s why she’s called Stagecoach Mary!”) would be stuck in mud or snow, and she would go on foot. The most important thing to her was getting every single letter and parcel delivered on time. Evri, take note. YOU HAVE CARS.

She worked diligently at this for eight years with whiskey for warmth and her multiple guns and wits for safety. Remember, she was 65 when she began, so she was around 73 at the end of this career. This work would be taxing for any other person at their absolute peak, which shows how strong she was physically as well as mentally. It wasn’t just Amazon impulse buys of cutlery organisers (look, it was one time, and my cutlery takes up way less space now); it was life-saving urgent medication and equipment and food, as well as perhaps old-time cutlery organisers.


Unlike many of these women I research, Mary Fields got to have a nice retirement, phew. I highly recommend reading more about her, as there are so many stories, several quite funny too, but I try to keep these FAIRLY brief, so I can’t put it all in.

Designing Mary Fields: The Miniature

Hooray, we have photos! That always helps! It also means I don’t need to do a huge amount of clothing research, as the gear she has in these photos is what she would have been wearing, so we don’t need to speculate.

Photographs are not flawless, though, as we have learnt so far, they sometimes don’t tell the whole story. She’s pictured in the most famous picture (the one at the start of the article) with a Winchester but was known for being brilliant with a shotgun (second pic, just by this text), so while tempting to copy the photo, let’s change it to a shotgun. She also loved her six-shooter (revolver) tucked beneath her apron, but shall we have it peeking out? I need to move it to her other hip so she can draw it from her right hand.

As always, the crude drawing is just a starting point! And I may be being a bit lazier with getting them looking human now that I know Marty will do a better version after (oh yeah you might have missed it, Martin Whitmore has drawn some INCREDIBLE art for you).

The arm resting the gun on her shoulder frees up one hand and the frontage of the mini, so more detail can be added. I’m unsure about the other hand holding the mail sack, but I think this could translate well through the sculpt when Alan makes it have some real heft; perhaps she is walking forward a bit, dragging it?

She currently doesn’t have a messenger bag on, but perhaps on the back? I like the idea of her feeling very weighed down by the post. I’m conscious of the weight of the mini as I’ve declared these will all be £5, but that’s making me think more about a fixed £5 price for a certain amount of time so that I can raise them later if I need to.

Her jacket to the side a bit to show her holster with the ol’ six shootie in it and a hipflask of her whiskey. Perhaps instead of a whole strap for that, it could be the strap for a messenger bag, with the hipflask attached at a buckle? The bag could be half open as it’s bursting with letters? Lots of perhaps, of course, as this is a COMMUNITY minis project, so I really want to hear your feedback. Also it still doesn’t mean I can please everyone, as I can’t take every suggestion, but they really have steered this so far, and I want them to continue to.

This article totally doesn’t show the hours I’ve spent this afternoon researching Mary and then little things like mail carriers uniforms, mail bags, gun types etc. Where has the day gone! Before I forget, later on, the uniforms are Cadet Gray.

What do you think?
-Annie

by badsquiddogames

Minis 1-6 are now available to pre-order!

That’s right, you heard it – they’re available – woohoo! It feels so good to be making some solid progress now, it’ll be even more exciting once they’re in your hands. Here are the minis below, and YOU CAN GET THEM HERE. Well, you can pre-order them, they’re nearly ready though (more info below).

Thank you to John Morris and Andrew Taylor for painting these, John is just finishing the last two!

There are two ways to get these, both simple!

What is NOT simple is how I originally set up this project, so the next post will be some FAQs and updates on the project as a whole (all good, just making it easier), but this post will just focus on these six minis.

If you backed the “Ko-Fi”, read this:

Anyone who supported via Ko-Fi to pre fund these minis, firstly – thank you! We wouldn’t be here without you. You will need to check your email, the one you use for Paypal, and there will be an email from me, it might be in junk (silly email providers!). It will have all the information you need to get your minis, mostly a long thanks from me, and a coupon you can exchange via the website. Please do check, as it was [embarrassingly] quite a long time since we set this up, so you may have forgotten, I wouldn’t want anyone paying twice. In a nutshell, you put them in your basket on the website, then add the coupon underneath and it’ll minus your amount. Pretty much just like a Kickstarter Pledge Manager. Any questions or uncertainty please contact me.

If you didn’t back the “Ko-Fi” (or know what that means), read this:

Don’t worry – you too can have the miniatures! Also head to this part of the website and buy as you would anything else. Just note they’re pre orders so won’t ship immediately.

FAQS

Can I order with other things?

You sure can, anything you like! This makes sense especially if you are overseas and want to combine with other items to balance out shipping. As with all pre orders, anything else ordered with community minis will be held and shipped at the same time as them, same as our Kickstarters.

When do we get them?

September.. probably! If not, then October, but I am hopeful.

What are these question mark thingies?

Ah ha! These are minis 7, 8, 9 and 10. I’ve popped them there in case anyone who is certain they’ll have them before they’ve even seen a sketch can pre-order THE NEXT BATCH! They’re aiming to be ready in December.

Do I have a time limit on using my coupon or pre-ordering?

Not…really! Currently, it is absolutely whenever you like, I really wanted people to not be stuck having to get one mini shipped at a time, so it’s built around you popping them in other orders.

There MAY end up being something introduced down the line that would be limited, like perhaps the art cards or the price. For now, especially while we’re in the early stages, it is super chill. If you’re a couponer who was planning on using it much later on, could you reply to the email just to let me know you’ve received it, to alleviate my worry!

Of course I’d love it if you can do it now, as the more interest and minis in hands should boost excitement for the next ones. But no stress.

What happens after the pre-orders?

Once the pre orders are all shipped, the minis will stay in their Community Minis section of the website, as well as be put into relevant categories, and treated as any other mini in the range.

What are you waiting for?

I actually have a bunch of casts ready now! We just need the last two minis to be painted and shipped so I can photograph them, as I want them to come with the painted photo from the get go, as well as the art from the collectable art card that you will also get. That is due around the end of the month, and will be drawn by the excellent Martin Whitmore. Basically an updated sketch of the figure, that includes any changes from concept to sculpt, and will be consistent throughout. Just something to make it extra special.

IMPORTANT

The next blog update will have information on the future of the project, changes, and clarity. I am very aware it’s got very complicated, which is a product of it’s success (woohoo!) so I want to address a few bits and hopefully iron out some creases. I’m in this for the long haul!

Thanks for all your support!

Annie

by badsquiddogames

The First SIX Sculpts

There’s lots to show, I am *SO* Happy with these sculpts. They have actually been moulded already and some have already been painted, so stay tuned for upcoming updates to see that! Today though, we are talking sculpts! Let’s have a look at each of them, shall we. These have all been hand sculpted by the wonderfully talented Alan Marsh.

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Hooray, she came out just as the sketch! It looks regal whilst also maintaining some simplicity. I can’t wait to see her with some paint on.

Septimia Zenobia

This has a special place in my heart, I think as she was the first we designed. I noticed that the staff in my sketch was not long enough as I had used a reference picture of a broken statue (doh!) so that’s the only part that needed changing pre-sculpt.

Agnes Randolph

We changed the arm position from the sketch to make it more dynamic, and it really has worked, by making the tippets dangle from the movement, Alan’s sculpting solved the concern of casting them hanging straight down. This looks way better too!

Julie D’Aubigny

La Maupin! We thickened the sword but not enough to look strange or clunky, and that small tab is to be chopped off when you’re prepping the mini, it protects it from bending when being packed and shipped.

Ching Shih

It was pointed out that her sword was in the left hand, so I’ve swapped it to the right hand which would have been more likely & the community confirmed the scabbard was hanging correctly, so only some minor adjustments. I love the hair!

Harriet Tubman

There was a discussion on where her left arm would be as held far back did seem a bit unnatural, so Alan adjusted to this which feels more like she’s walking ahead cautiously. It’s brilliant.

Squee, it’s happening! Stay tuned for pics of them painted, and information on how you can get some or all of these minis. Thank you for supporting this, it’s exciting to see it actually happening,

Annie