Thank you to everybody who voted! 790 votes in total, which is impressive for sure. Third and forth were shimmying back and forth a bit while the poll was open but first and second were pretty much winning from the get-go. I am surprised by some results, yet not by others.
Over a quarter (29%) voted for the first four, so winning by a good margin. Special mention to Jeanne Hatchet who was SO CLOSE.
So the winners are….. ADA LOVELACE, MARY FIELDS, AUDREY HEPBURN AND JEANNE D’ARC
The next stage will be figuring out how these miniatures will look. I’ll make threads one at a time for each, but feel free to post (Facebook group, comments here, or any other of the social media or email) any information or wishes you have for any of these four – ie if there’s a certain way you’d like to see them as a mini or some common misconception you need to scream.
You can’t please all the people all of the time.
Apologies if who you really wanted to see as a miniature wasn’t voted for, it is the nature of the beast. She isn’t gone forever though! You can nominate her in the next round, and the next round, and the next round….! They won’t automatically be added to future polls, but so long as you nominate them, they will be there.
This means you have more chances to convince everybody why your suggestion is excellent. You can keep posting about them, maybe sharing other information and pictures and things. The joy of the project is it’s a neat trick way we can all educate each other. What’s the worst that can happen – oh no we all know a bit more about interesting women from history oh no!
An embarrassing amendment
When I was catching up after the hiatus, I miscounted the totals and therefore how many we unlocked. It said we are currently unlocking number 14, but it is actually 12. So 11 are currently unlocked. I wasn’t going to say anything so as to not look silly/unprofessional but in fact, covering it up and funding those extra two myself would be THE silly/unprofessional way! The totals raised don’t cover the whole miniature in terms of sculpting, moulding and production, but it’s enough for us to subsidise the rest after each total – ie you do X amount and we do the rest. SO it’s not a “free” project for me, if that makes sense. So adding two more wouldn’t have been a good thing for the project – ie massively overstretching myself/Bad Squiddo!
So hopefully you can understand my humble apology, again for the teething of this as a project. It means there is currently just one more to unlock, but well on the way to the next after that.
Contrary to this though, I do have one extra miniature that will be free to anybody who added to the ko fi before a certain date. I need to sort the date, but pretty much up to now-ish. She will be available as an extra purchase for everyone after this too. More information soon!
Thank you for supporting this, and I appreciate it can be confusing as I keep sending you all across the internet, but we will get there. I’m super happy to be able to bring these next four to life, and have you all help me with the deep, dark research!
SPOILER: I actually already made a start on Ada Lovelace and Audrey Hepburn while the poll was still live, NERD!
As always, any questions, let me know, and this blog is the best way for a concise “what is happening.”
I know I know it sucks. But our group has the biggest captive audience of actual customers & a community, rather than it being open to random people across the web. The reason for not adding votes from elsewhere is to keep it transparent & less confusing.
For example, like Eurovision, someone could be clearly winning & then suddenly votes pile in from elsewhere & it doesn’t feel fair/clear. And it’s just messy. And I could cheat! (Hey er John from Hockley just tipped the votes to the one I want to make)
The reason for showing you the nominations before voting time was so you could get a chance to know them rather than voting on instinct for famous ones. But I might just slam them out next time!
Thanks for sticking around while it’s teething, it will smooth out!
One of the important things is to make sure you’re voting for you who you would like to see (and even buy!) as a miniature, rather than who you like the most.
I KNOW THIS IS A LOT OF WORDS, BUT IT IS IMPORTANT TO READ, THANK YOU!
Hello! The project is garnering more interest as the sculpts have been shown (though not here yet funnily enough, I need to properly edit the pics and write a new post for all those!) so I wanted to update on how it’s all going! Also to be useful for new people – hello!
The project started off much bigger than I anticipated, and following a long pause where I wasn’t able to give it the attention it needed, we had unlocked THIRTEEN minis. Incredible!
Because of the popularity though it’s changed how I initially approached it, which is ok as I expect this to grow, evolve, and adapt.
I haven’t advertised that this is a thing for a while – though I couldn’t resist sharing those sculpt pics – as I don’t want it to get too much attention while it’s still teething! Oops!
The nature of the project means I have to sink a lot of time into researching and designing each miniature. This I LOVE. This is what I live for, I love it! When it’s one or two a month it is very manageable, but when I was first hit with the popularity I was very daunted, as it’s a lot of time. I jokingly call The Community Miniatures Project my second job, as, although it’s still part of Bad Squiddo Games, I tend to work on it on weekends and evenings as it takes all the weekdays to do the standard Bad Squiddo tasks.
What I am trying to do at the moment is… catch up! So we can get to a nice rhythm of them happening regularly alongside Bad Squiddo standard releases and Kickstarters, rather than taking anything away from those plans (WW2 French is the latest project btw) I am more than happy for this project to go on forever – there is so much we can do with it!
So what does this mean?
It’s all good! Basically, if you are a blogger or anything, I’m politely asking you to hold off posting about it yet (though when we’re ready, that would be immense) I still want it to be on the relative down low while we’re in “Early Access” which is what it would be if it was a videogame! No doubt there will be a few tweaks along the way, which is easier when there are fewer people. For example, I might switch platforms from Ko-Fi if it doesn’t do what I need, but I won’t know til the first batch of fulfillment.
Don’t give me any more money!*
What?! I know right! of course you can really. If you have a subscription that you’re happy to keep plodding on, I won’t send you off. *And of course buy things from the web shop!
Essentially I want to get caught up to the point that there’s only one or two minis ahead. It was originally supposed to be “choose mini, THEN crowdfund” for each one, but you all went wild – WHICH IS GOOD. I just want it to be less frantic.
So I know you’re desperate to support, and you will get the chance! If you want any of these minis, either the ones who win this poll or the ones heading off to the casters – they have already been paid for by the crowdfunder – so when they are cast, they will be in the shop and you can buy them as normal. The collective pot is for future minis.
“Hello I am new and have no idea what is going on, help!”
No problem! You’re best to have a look around this blog and the FAQs, it’s where I keep all the information for the project so it doesn’t get lost around social media. In a nutshell, we vote for a lady we’d like in 28mm, chuck in a fiver each til we’ve hit the target, and voila she is made. Payment is via Ko-Fi (usually, just hold off at the mo!) which than then be “cashed out” at any time, and turned into a shop voucher. This means if you’re overseas and want to wait til you get a bunch of minis, you can do, rather than having to pay shipping for each one separately.
“Hello, I have money in the Ko-Fi, when do I get my voucher?”
Whenever really! If you can hold off til the first 6 are in the shop it would be super as I’ll have some sort of system in place then. And if you want to “leave the money in” for longer and say grab a year’s worth at once, that’s cool too. if you’ve forgotten how much you’ve paid in, let me know and I’ll check for you (you will also have Paypal receipts). What I will do is once the first 6 are ready and in the shop (not long, I was going to wait until they were painted but might not this time, if you’re ok with that, so they can be in people’s hands sooner), I’ll message everybody, like with a KS, and let you know how much credit you have and a link to a blog post with the info.
Thank you so much!
I really appreciate you sticking with this, especially as I am making it up figuring it out as I go along. Once we’re vaguely caught up and have the first wave in people’s hands, I’ll be able to streamline it…. probably!
Also, I want to make sure you know how blown away I am by the popularity of this! I definitely don’t want to sound like it being too popular was a bad thing, I just want to make sure you all know what’s going on with it, and why it’s a bit all over the place at the moment. Another side effect is that I am researching every nominee (only briefly) so my own knowledge is going up even with those. I LOVE RESEARCHING. It’s the best bit of the job. I have a huge collection of books on women in history and getting a good stack out to cross reference brings out the biggest and best nerd in me.
Facebook
Facebook, our group “Baggy’s Cave” is where the polls and suggestions take place. I know this is a big bummer for those without Facebook, but it is currently the biggest place to have a captive audience and a record of all the votes (ie so nobody bot spams or anything). Anything outside of the polls (you can send suggestions anywhere!) won’t be counted, to keep it as clear as possible.
What next?
I have another blog post to make on the minis we have just sent to the casters, squee!
Voting for the next 4 minis (usually 1, but this is to catch up!) starts tomorrow, more info and pics here!
Thankyou to the contributors (listed below) for submitting these THIRTY suggestions. The four 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 6PM WEDNESDAY 10TH MAY AND CLOSE 6PM SATURDAY 13TH MAY on our Facebook group. I’ll make a post here when it’s live with the direct link.
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.
Dates: All dates are CE (Common ERA) unless stated.
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) Mathematician and Scientist, considered to be the first computer programmer,
Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) British citizen born in Belgium, a fundraiser and supporter of the resistance in the Netherlands, as well as well known performer and actress.
Caroline Amelia Nation AKA Carrie Nation AKA Hatchet Granny November 25, (1846 – 1911) Women’s Rights Campaigner & radical Temperance member. Known for refusing to wear a corset against the standard of the times & for smashing up establishments that served alcohol with a hatchet in the name of the Temperance movement.
Charlotte de la Tremoüille (1599 – 1664) Famous for her robust defence of Lathom House (late February to late May 1644), and the subject of the song “They called her Babylon” by Steeleye Span, which appears on their 2004 album of the same name.
Clémentine Delait (1865 – 1939) “the most illustrious and celebrated bearded lady in France”, icon and feminist
Cleopatra (70-30BCE) Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, built up the economy establishing important trade deals, personally commanded fleets, and much more.
Eleomore Prohaska (1785 – 1813) A German soldier who fought in the Prussian army with the Lützom volunteer Jaegers disguised as a man. Honoured as “Potsdam’s Joan of Arc”
Emilia Plater (1806-1831) Polish–Lithuanian noblewoman and revolutionary, national heroine in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus
Fu Hao (1240-1200 BCE) Royal consort, military general and high priestess of the Shang Dynasty. Buried in her own grave (unusual for royal wives) with both precious goods and 130 weapons including two (or more) massive bronze axes.
Henrietta Maria (Queen) (1609 – 1669) English Civil War provocateur, nicknamed the generalissimo by Charles the 1st, got up to some shenanigans both useful and hurtful to the royalist cause.
Jean Ross (1911-1973) Journalist and political activist. Remembered as the inspiration for Caberet’s “Sally Bowles”, which she was not fond of. She was a journalist in the Spanish Civil War from 1936 – 1938.
Hypatia (Between 350 and 370 to 415) Alexandrian philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer. Teacher, editor, commentator (not sports), and counsellor to the powerful. Though a pagan Neoplatonist philosopher, she taught Christians including a future bishop but was murdered and torn to pieces by a Christian mob as (probably) part of a political conflict.
Jeanne d’Arc (1412 – 1431) More or less got France back into gear to kick out the English in the Hundred Years War. Got captured and executed in the end. Patron Saint of France as a result of all that.
Jeanne Laisné “Jeanne Hachette” (1454 to ?) Axe-wielding peasant heroine of the siege of Beauvais
Kate Ter Horst (1906-1992) The “Angel Of Arnhem Her house was used as a regimental aid station, and she helped out nursing and scrounging potable water.
Kenau Simonsdochter (1526-1588) Folk hero defender of Haarlem, later led an army of 300 women against the Spanish.
Khutulun (1216-1306) Great-great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan and first cousin once removed of Kublai. Noblewoman of the Chagatai Khanate. Renowned athlete, archer and warrior. Accrued a herd of more than ten thousand horses in competitions and by defeating suitors in wrestling matches. Was her father’s chief advisor and preferred successor but this was prevented by her male relatives. Still became the army’s commander on his death. The probable basis for the character of Turandot in various Western works of art.
Lady Hester Stanhope (1776-1839) She was a British woman who travelled widely in the eastern Mediterranean, the Levant and the Middle East, usually wearing male Turkish/Ottoman clothing. She was an archaeologist, an antiquarian and and explorer. She lived in what is now Lebanon for many years until her death. She was the first person to carry out an archaeological dig in Palestine, at the site of Ashkelon, although she was probably trying to find a legendary treasure that didn’t actually exist. Her narrated memoirs were published after her death by her physician Dr Charles Meryon.
Lucy Parsons (1851-1942) Anarchist, labour organiser, founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World, called “more dangerous than a thousand rioters” and an active writer, editor, orator and firebrand right up until she died in a house fire aged 91.
Madam Yoko (1849–1906) Madam Yoko was a leader of the Mende and was also a member of a secret women’s society which provided her with access to a whole load of traditional knowledge. A few marriages later, she became essentially a tribal chief and was negotiating with the British in her late 20s. She trained young women as influencers and wives and so was able to make and maintain alliances. Unfortunately seems like she got a bit too cosy with the Empire types and she ended up rich but seemingly not happy.
Maria Bochkareva (1889-1920) WW1 Russian army officer, formed the 1st Russian Women’s Battalion of Death. She was the first Russian woman to command a military unit.
Mary Fields “Stagecoach Mary”, (1832-1914) First black postwoman in the USA, carried multiple firearms, most notably a .38 Smith & Wesson under her apron to protect herself and the mail from wolves, thieves and bandits.
Mary Smith (1862-1946) A famous East End ‘knocker-up’, used a pea shooter to hit windows and wake people up early.
Nadezhda Durova (1783 – 1866) Born in an army camp at Voznesenskoe, Ukraine, her father was a major. Disguised as a man, she joined the Russian army in 1807 as a lancer and later became a lieutenant of Hussars. She survived the Napoleonic wars and later published her biography.
Nicola de La Haye (1150-1230) Defender of Lincoln castle against TWO seiges
Nzinga Ana de Sousa Mbande (Queen) (1583-1663) Queen Nzinga was an emissary to Portugal and eventually queen. She was very firm about presenting the Kingdom of Ndongo as an equal player in negotiations with the Portuguese, using her linguistic skills, wealth, and opulent clothing to prove a point. When she turned up to a negotiation and found chairs were provided for the Europeans and a mat for her, apparently she had one of her attendants go on hands and knees so she could sit on him and talk eye-to-eye. She rose to power and led a series of military campaigns against the Portuguese.
Rosalin Franklin (1920-1958) Discovered critical information about DNA that led to the famous double helix model, largely uncredited.
Taytu Betel (1851-1918) Empress Taytu Betel was essentially the person in Ethiopia who said, “Pull the other one,” when the Italians tried it on. She noticed that the treaty they’d been given to sign in Amharic didn’t quite match the one the Italians were scrutinising in Italian, in which Ethiopia would have become an Italian protectorate. So she hard-noped them, and saw them off.
Tomyris (?-520 BCE) Queen of the Massagetae (a Saka-Scythian tribal confederation). Cyrus the Great of Persia sought to acquire her kingdom through marriage but she was having none of it. So he attempted it by invasion. The tribes routed his army so he set out a great banquet with lots of wine. When the pursuing warriors found this and got drunk, the Persians ambushed and slaughtered them. Tomyris swore vengeance and led her army to crush the Persians in battle. She sought out the corpse of Cyrus, cut off his head, and shoved it into a bag filled with his soldiers’ blood, proclaiming ‘Drink your fill of blood!’. Which was nice.
Wu Zetian (624 – 705) personal name Wu Zhao, was the de facto ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right.
Thanks to the contributors: Alan Monk, Alistair Samson, Andreas Persson, Carole Flint, Claire Hearn, Donnie Kelly, Edmund Kyberd, Felicity MacLeod Cullen, Kh Ranitzsch, Marianne Wells, Phil Leedell, Sarah Arnold, Simon S, Skodster Dbg, Staffan Gustafsson, T Micha Trout and Tim Edwards. Anybody can make suggestions, while it’s currently closed for figures 7,8,9 and 10, you will get another chance when we choose the next three, keep tuned.
This project has been a blighter for “things I thought wouldn’t take long but it’s 4am and I’m crying in confusion at the difference between necklines”. Slight exaggeration, no tears, and only 2pm. I thought Ching Shih would be an easy one based on the fact there appeared to be a really clear woodcut of her waist upwards that I could use.
As always, the more I dug, the murkier everything got! These two images are featured in maybe 99% of articles, book illustrations and form the basis of many art pieces of her. Neither is Ching Shih! The second one MAY be, but certainly not contemporary or based on fact. It’s a classic case of something being imitated until nobody knows where it originated.
So, damn. That was my “easy start” obliterated!
Neither of these are Ching Shih!
Before I talk about the design process though… who was she? She lived from 1775-1844 which was the Qing Dynasty in China. Her original name was Sek Yeung, all future names translate to mean widow of her husband – Zheng Yi. I have found different spellings of all throughout this which I think are just variants but please inform me if I’ve gone wrong somewhere. I’ll use Ching Shih for the article as that is how she is commonly known here.
Zheng was the commander of the Red Flags – a band of pirates. His fleet was around 300 ships, which Ching Shih inherited after his death. She took over immediately and over a relatively short period of time, through immense leadership, turned this fleet into around 70,000 crew and 2000 ships, said to be the largest ever. And why isn’t she a household name? Right?
This also is not Ching Shi!
She implemented a notorious code of conduct that gave women more protection, though, of course, they were still all pirates, so it would hardly be considered revolutionary today, but it was at the time. With the aim to make her crews behave better, rules with harsh punishments for how prisoners and female crew mates would be treated were introduced. In her earlier years, Ching Shih had been a sex worker, so you could see how her past experience had made her slightly more defensive of the women brought aboard than a standard male captain, having been in similar positions herself.
The fleet was so large and havoc causing that it attracted the attention of the Chinese Navy, who upon failing drastically to catch or destroy the Red Flag Fleet, eventually agreed to a treaty where she was pardoned, retired, and secured a pretty decent chunk of cash to retire and set up a gambling den for a chilled out and comfy retirement.
What the heck might she have looked like then?
I figured it out! Maybe! As always, there’s the balancing act between 100% accuracy and a cool model, and as always, I reckon I nailed it! So the hat to begin, many show her in a Qingdai guanmao aka Mandarin hat, which is a bit too official and solider like, especially for such a renegade. I did ponder the wide-brimmed straw hat which was commonly used at sea but decided, in the end, it might obscure too much of her face and therefore recognisability. Especially when I discovered that fairly elaborate buns are a hairstyle of choice for many boatwomen in a bit more of a formal setting, I figured that would look cool, and be realistic, as being a pirate queen and all, she would want to look a bit fancy. I’ve gone for a few strands down because of the wind and sea.
In her hands are a sack of coins and a dao, Chinese one-handed sabre. I am a fan of the “en guarde!” pose more than just standing there holding a sword. You just caught her looting your treasures and she won’t go down without a fight!
I am uncertain about the scabbard as to which way it would hang so need to figure that out before it’s sculpted, any ideas?
The clothes are quite simple. A silk tunic, which people can paint designs onto if they like, and some wide-legged fishing trousers. Many portray her wearing wudang socks with the trousers tucked in, but sailors seem to have these open trousers, which I guess dry off a lot quicker.
It seems like I didn’t do much research to get to these but it took such a long time, mostly on what NOT to do, so the result from all that is something simple, yet with a lot behind it. Oh yes, the belt! The belt is a solid status symbol, so that will be all jeweled to show she’s a leader. There isn’t any jewelry because again, she’s at sea.
As always my sketches are not as cool as what the sculptor will come up with, but soon you’ll be able have to trained your eyes to autocorrect to what Alan will make in 3D.
This means that all six of the first Community miniatures are now designed and being sculpted, so we can soon make a start on the next three – I am excited as to who you will choose!
Living a long life from 1122 to 1204, Eleanor managed to reign as Queen of both France and England and is known as a fierce forward striking intellect, as well gentle lover of the arts. I have absorbed so much information on her life and influences during my research that it will be hard to keep short! Also apologies if this isn’t written as well as the others, I wrote a huge chunk, time passed, then came back and edited it heavily once I had learnt much more.
As with many women around this period in history, she is often noted for the men she was connected to, especially her husbands and sons, which can make research frustrating for wanting to find out about her in agency as her own person. The books I have found the best for this research as those by Alison Weir and Sara Cockerill.
She was married to Louis VII of France and then Henry II of England, with her sons Richard and John later becoming Kings of England (and her other EIGHT children basically all being high up somewhere or other!). The first two lumps of power being by marriage and the third by motherhood, she also came with her own inherited wealth. This made Eleanor very sought after as a bride, as well as victim to various plots and rumours to discredit what was an incredibly powerful and influential woman.
Indeed most of her actions of influence seemed to be based around this knowledge and skill of networking to build allies, therefore making herself and her descendants stronger. This is while her male counterparts were doing the more visible (therefore praised) work. For example, Richard I is known for being one of the greatest kings of England but in his 10 year reign was in this country for no more than six months. The country mysteriously ran itself. Oh no wait, there was a woman! Queen Eleanor!
Later in history she started getting the recognition she deserved, though like many of the women we cover, it’s never to the same extent, which is a large reason why we do this. Many will know the name, but not the deeds or legacy. Even 16 years imprisonment by her own husband (Henry II) didn’t stop her ambition. There are also a lot of myths around Eleanor to romanticize her, which can take away credit sometimes of the things she actually did do – like riding through the Pyrenees to escort Berengaria of Navarre to Sicily to marry her son, King Richard I….AGED 70.
My eyes twinkled when I read Niketas Choniates accounts of her riding to the Second Crusade in a golden dress with handmaidens dressed in men’s armour, but Sara Cockerill took the joy away by basically debunking it as non contemporary with no other mentions, and not referring to her by name. Boo. However, this again shows how we view the literal front line battle fighting as such a huge glory, which has definitely been hammered in through patriarchal history, whereas often it is though who never drew a blade who had the most impact.
Meeting Eleanor!
That’s me there, on the right!
Much like Eleanor, I have many skills, including the ability to build a time machine – which I did, to go back in time and meet her! Thanks so much to the Queen herself for showing me around some of her vast lands, unlike her rubbish son John Lackland (literally, lacking lands)
We had a lovely stroll where I got to ask her lots of questions and admire Sherwood Forest and it’s many ancient oaks. I also found out plenty about the history of the forest itself and the time of the Robin Hood tales – what was happening in England at that time. Of course the stories intertwine as Eleanor is indeed mum of both John and Richard – the former renowned for rising taxes to restore the money frittered away by the latter! I also learnt that if there was a Robin Hood, then he wouldn’t have been a fox. Dagnammit.
Designing the Miniature
Effigy of Eleanor of Aquitaine in the church of Fontevraud Abbey [photo by Adam Bishop]
This took much longer than I imagined, because I got so fascinated with the history, and the back and forthing between rumour, myth and reality. While I know some were keen for a fighting Eleanor a la Angus Mcbride, storming to battle, I wanted to represent her more realistically, and to her strengths.
Of course the pre raphaelites adored the romanticisation of this era and she has been portrayed very much in a flowing locks fantasy princess sort of manner. I’m now getting quite good at medieval fashion, so drew on the information I already knew from researching Black Agnes, though different as she is earlier on. No tippets, for example!
Victorian depiction of Eleanor, which looked like it’s based off the tomb effigy.
In the Agnes post I was unsure on whether I had designed her in a wimple or gorget, and I can confirm it’s wimple for Agnes, Gorget for Eleanor! I wasn’t sure of the difference but get it now. The gorget is a bit like a helmet strap, not covering the rest of the neck. A chin strap.
A good likeness of Eleanor is her tomb effigy, which she commissioned in life, and shows her reading. I’m not sure whether this is a representation of her love of knowledge and literature, or The Bible, or both! But you know how attached I get to the people I research – if she wanted herself shown with a book, then heck yes I will grant her that! So the mini needs a book.
What else to ramp up her royalty? She’s sometimes shown with a falcon, and we love a good bird-on-arm pose right. So then I got into researching medieval falconry. As one does. The gyrfalcon was reserved for royalty, so definitely one of those. They’re also BIG, which helps for a mini, so it’s not just a lil hard to see thing, you won’t miss this.
Figure Design (c) Annie Norman 2023
A falcon and a book, what more could a gal want? A crown I guess a cape, and a cool dress, though I speak only for myself. And Eleanor! For the clothes design I have gone pretty much straight off the funeral effigy as it’s accurate. I found the cape fastening interesting as it’s very wide.
Regarding the pose, this took me the longest. Also to note: I can’t show you all the references used as I’m not sure 100% on a commercial blog what can be used, so I’m playing it safe. I looked up gyrfalcons of course, and found great photos of people holding them, and how they sit on a hand.
Controversially…. I didn’t want to put a glove on her. But you would really need one, those things puncture! I didn’t want her to be in the process of hawking, more posing with it as a status symbol, as if I was painting her portrait, which is kind of how I’m treating this project. I’ve chosen a perch which she is holding, so her hands are safe, it looks cool, and she doesn’t have a big distracting glove on.
Gyrfalcon
I had my housemate Andy pose in various different ways with the book, as we both walked around the living room holding books and walking looking totally normal to anybody passing by. Acting natural is hard! As with the effigy, I want it to be either representing The Bible or just something else she holds dear to her heart, so she would be holding it carefully and well…. dear to her heart. Nice symbolism Annie. Thanks, Me.
As with all my scribbles, the details are saved for reference pictures to the sculptor, so some aren’t needed, it’s more an idea of the final figure. I’m sure Alan will do something cool with the cloak and dress, so I don’t need to draw exactly where the folds are, for example.
I could keep typing forever but it’s been a long day! And I promised myself I wouldn’t go to bed til this is done, so sleep is winning. I also haven’t proofread this back so apologies if it’s inane ramble.
The sketches are getting better I think, that’s a good thing! Getting the hang of drawing on the tablet (ie directly on the screen) and prefer it to paper now.
What do you think? I wanted to keep this fairly classical but not be boring. As for wargaming figures, she will make a great leader character or on a shared base perhaps with King Louis in the Second Crusade, or King Richard in the third. Or just a cool queeny model.
Donor portrait in a 12th-century psalter in the Royal Library of the Netherlands, thought to depict an older Eleanor.
Night night!
Edit: I didn’t want her to be reading the book as I didn’t want it to look like the tomb effigy had creepily just rose up to vertical!
Here is a copy of what I posted in our Facebook group, which is where most the voting takes place. For the suggestions though you can add them in the comments section here and I will add them to the poll.
Hello, I’m mostly going to be busy with Salute things but this can be pootling in the background. Post below who you want to be in the poll for the next 3 community minis. The top 3 will be made. This isn’t the poll, but I’ll collate them all for the poll and give you lots of warning when that goes live.
I found this to be the best way as it gives people time to see who everyone is, and none of the options get a “head start”.
On your suggestions, can you 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. Then whatever you want in terms of why you want them, any pics and any other info. The poll will only have the basic information so this is a good chance to “pitch” them to the others. I’ll probably do a blog post pre poll as well with this info collated so people can have a good look before its voting time.
It means more famous doesn’t automatically get a head start too.
Alan has begun work on the first four, and you can see a peek into how sculpts are born.
L-R Harriet Tubman, Zenobia, Julie D’Aubigny, Black Agnes – work in progress sculpts by Alan Marsh.
How cool are they? Sculptors all have different ways of going about things. Some sculpt the body then add clothes, some do it bit by bit, which is what Alan is doing here. The wire underframe gives support and strength while sculpting, as well as helping it survive the intense heat and pressure of the moulding process.
Alan uses a mixture of “greenstuff” and milliput, as greenstuff is a strong and popular medium, but can sometimes be a bit…springy. This means after sculpting, edges can soften without constant rework. The milliput combats this making it easier to work with, and a side bonus is that it’s easier to photograph! It’s not shiny. Everyone has their own little favourite methods and materials, I am a big fan of this as Alan’s models are always brilliant to cast. There are some putties more prone to crumbling or other issues which luckily none of our current sculptors use.
See how the wire on Julie (3rd across) goes straight through the arm and sword, this really strengthens it. The little tab at the bottom is going to be what attaches to the puddle base to help the metal flow in casting, then give it strength before it reaches the customer once cast – then you just clip it off.
Eleanor of Aquitaine and Ching Shi
These two ladies are the last that need their posts up and design sketch. I have a long draft saved of Eleanor as I got very into the research so haven’t finished yet, though she is pretty much designed in my head! She’s a figure I was originally not that excited by…. BUT NOW. Oh lawd. Her story is incredible. I haven’t started on Ching Shi yet but hoping to have the research started and wrapped up by the end of the week.
I love how the first six miniatures are so all over the place in terms of time period and location. After finishing up in Scotland in the last post, we now jump on the Bad Squiddo blimp and land in Ancient Palmyra. Not today Palmyra unfortunately, as it is mostly destroyed. Dangit.
Empress Zenobia! 240 – 274[disputed]. This is a period I do not know a huge amount about… yet, so please do bear with me, and let me know what I get wrong! 300 years after Cleopatra, one of Zenobia’s claims to fame was that she was a descendent of the Egyptian Queen. Not a bad person to associate with in her situation, known for power and beauty!
A coin depecting Zenobia as Empress
Married to King Odaenathus, they ruled together successfully until his untimely demise – by poison. There were many suspects but the truth will never be known, so all we have is speculation. One suspect was Zenobia herself. What were her motives? Well his son by a previous marriage was above her in succession, and not long after the death she placed their son Vaballathus as King, with herself the Queen Regent. He was only 10 years old and most people have seen Game of Thrones by now and know how that goes.
Not much time passed before she decided to go against the Roman rule and forge an empire of her own. Zenobia forged a mighty campaign that saw the Palmyran Empire expand and engulf most of the Roman East, in a relatively short period of time. She was certainly not a passive leader and was reputed to be an expert on horseback and combat, and right there on the battlefield. An especially important victory was that of Egypt, where Rome’s supply of grain was from. Rome had been otherwise distracted around this time by other conflicts but then it turned it’s eye to Zenobia.
During this time, she had had currency minted with her own face on it, which I hard relate to as someone who keeps getting miniatures of herself sculpted. Annie coin?
Emperor Aurelian took exception to this challenger of Rome and a series of conflicts took place, which ended with Zenobia escaping on camelback but inevitably being captured. The rest is unknown – some say she took her own life a ‘la Cleopatra, others she was paraded through the streets draped in heavy jewellery in a mocking fashion. Another rumour is that she lived out the rest of her life fairly quietly married to a Roman, and had several more children. What do you think?
There is much more to her militaristic exploits but this is supposed to be a brief summary so I cut it short, but there is plenty of information out there if you were further interested. She appeared to be loved by the people, a good ruler, and ambitious and successful military leader, but Rome gets everyone in the end (Until it doesn’t)
Designing the Miniature
This has been a ride! Zenobia was the first miniature for this project that I attempted to design. It didn’t go down too great but really just needed some tweaks. I’ll show the first image with what I’ve changed it to.
Aside from the obvious difference of me figuring out sketching on a tablet better, it’s a much better design right? Also there are two years between these. I had a nice chat with Alan Marsh, our main sculptor (who will be doing all the community minis) about my terrible sketches, and he said he actually prefers the rougher, less accurate ones where he can “see my workings” at it conveys movement and what I’m going for better than anything too refined.
The pose looks a bit weird, I get it! It’s because it is based on this statue of Emperor Augustus, which looks much better from this side angle, I was originally looking at more of a face on and it didn’t show how the arm goes forward quite a bit.
Statue of Emperor Augustus
In the changes to my design I’ve lifted the arm to make it less awkward and added more elements of Augustus such as the sceptre and robe. I entirely removed the armour, as it was a while ago I can’t remember why I decided on that armour, but I was determined to how her combat prestige. Now I believe this can be done without literal armour and weapons, but definitely an alternative figure down the line of her in full Palmyran battle gear would be brilliant, and of course a mounted version (camel or horse though?).
Why the Emperor pose? Women are often depicted quite conservative in this era of statue, and Zenobia was an Empress, though not officially recognised by Rome, she earned that! I’ve designed this figure to look perhaps as she would like to see her self portrayed, even though it was her son she was calling Caeser. It’s like a very very belated present for her! That arm forward pose is very much associated with military leaders, and has been in many eras (just look at Napoleon on that rearing horse!) so I wanted to reference that.
“The Beauty of Palmyra” Tomb Statue
The head and torso are heavily based on this tomb statue called “The Beauty of Palmyra”. There are fantastically preserved tomb statues from Palmyra of this era, and the women often have this elaborate headpiece and veil. While Zenobia may have worn a different crown as leader, I really wanted to pay tribute to the people of Palmyra, such as this unknown lady, and the mixture of Palmyran and Roman influence I think, well, looks cool. This statue is the most elaborate I have found, so that is what I am basing it on. I appear to not be the first, as other artwork such as that by Angus Mcbride also seems to have been heavily influenced by it. And I’m all about that recognisable symbolism.
The robe has been simplified to more of a toga style wrap over a sleeveless vest. She is decorated in the bangles from the statue as well as a higher arm band in homage to her hero Cleopatra.
There are heckloads of jewellery because – she’s an Empress! Don’t worry about the detail, you’d be able to paint it gold then run a wash over it and BOOM, beautiful.
I believe my MK2 Zenobia is a vast improvement with not too many changes, what do you think? – Annie.
The last two entries have seen us in America, then France, and now we enter… Scotland!
Agnes Randolph (Ranulph according to contemparies but commonly referred to as Randolph, so will be by us for search results!) known as Black Agnes for her dark hair and eyes, is most well known for The Siege of Dunbar in 1338. She lived 1312-1369 making her around 26 for the time of the siege, now I feel somewhat underacheived!
As the wife of The 9th Earl of Dunbar and March, Patrick Randolph, early 1338 she came into the common situation of being left in charge of the castle while her husband was away. The English forces, led by the 1st Earl of Salisbury took this as an opportunity to siege the castle. What a great chance hey, while the man of the house was away, it must be a doddle!
by Thomas Heath Robinson, 1910
The siege lasted until the 10th June that same year, a whole five months. The winner being…… Agnes and her castle full of awesome and loyal supporters and soldiers. Take that! There are various “fun” anecdotes of the siege, yes I know… a ….fun…siege anecdote? Sieges are by their very nature, horrific! But everyone loves an underdog tale.
At one point, one of the boulders launched over the walls was dropped back over the edge right into the top of a siege tower, crushing most the soldiers inside. They gave back what they got and much more! It is said that her handmaidens, dressed in their finest gowns would be at the ramparts flamboyantly dusting with lace handkerchiefs. This is the psychological warfare I can get behind.
Salisbury even threatened the death of her brother, to which she responded along the lines of “Whatever, I’m his heir anyway”, which reminded me of the tale of Caterina Sforza (who we make a mini of already!) where her children were captured and being threatened, she lifted her skirt, grabbed her crotch and declared that she possessed the instruments to make more. Casually brutal.
Cam I early, Cam I late, I found Agnes at the gate.
Designing the Miniature
This is another I thought would be straight forward as there are already great depictions of her already that are similar to each other. However I didn’t want to just duplicate without knowing why certain details are there. You know what I’m like, I want it to be right! So even if I do all the research and it ends up like the above picture, I will at least know why, and can explain it confidently.
Hairstyle. Around this era it’s largely a variety of plaits tied around the head, sometimes with ribbons, and with nets or cages called crespines or crespinettes and a veil or wimple. I’ve decided to go with the almost Princess Leia style as it’s in almost every depiction I could find, and fits reasonably within the time frame. It’s correct enough and recognisable enough as Black Agnes. Unfortunately the best “photo reference” I could find is Isabella from Braveheart I KNOW PLEASE FORGIVE ME.
The circlet, hair and crespine are going to be the same, as they will look super on a miniature and different from our Jeanne de Clisson from the same era. The wimple will be different. I THINK it would be called a veil and gorget, as they will be separate, whereas a wimple is one piece, but happy to be corrected. Also the top of the hair covered by the veil.
Clothing. The kirtle (dress) will be quite plain with a surcote on top, sort of like a tabard. Tippets will add some detail, they are the ties of fabric above the elbow that drape down. The surcotes by this time were getting laced or stitched down the side, giving them a bit more of shape, so we’ll go for this. This will all be quite simple but allow for a manner of creative paint jobs.
Pose. I struggled with a pose but happy with the outcome! The tippets make it difficult regarding casting but I am probably overthinking it, I am sure there are minis in the range with the same sort of hanging strands! Having quite a closed body means they will be much easier to cast, but I might enquire about whether hand on hip would work. Tippets can be quite large so it could work – what do you think? Hand on hip or around waist? Forgive the mitten hands, they will look better! That’s quite a splayed hand on chest as a common laughing pose. Yes she’s laughing – you know I love a laughing mini. It suits her I think as “ha, call that a siege!”. The wimple/gorget is tucked in so you can see the nice hem on her dress, which laces up fairly low. There will be more waves in the surcote of course, not a solid cone!
Community Miniatures Project 