Tag / Figure Design

by badsquiddogames

Designing Anne Bonny and Mary Read

I’ve done it again! “What’s that?” you call out in unison. I’ve only gone and overthought something relatively simple and made it a massive task to come back around to pretty much where I was at the start! But, to be honest, what else could you have come to expect from me? Certainly not slap-dash careless mini design! (read the research here if you missed it)

Digitised copy of the printed record of the 1720 trial of Rackham (alias Calico Jack) and of course Bonny and Read.

It’s been a while, but I can finally present you the designs for Anne Bonny and Mary Read. As with many of the figures we design, it starts off like “yeah, easy”, and then before you know it, you’re deep in the comments section of how to load and fire a flintlock pistol and reading trial documents from 1720’s Jamaica.

I think what overwhelmed me was the sheer amount of depictions of these ladies- the majority, of course, not historically accurate, and a fair amount of those somewhat… risque! Female pirates sure have captured people’s imagination and inspiration for quite some time.

The goal is to make these believable for the era, yet still compete with fantasy design for cool miniatures that you’d use in fantasy settings in addition to historical. This was similar to the brief for fellow pirate Jeanne de Clisson. Hopefully, we shall achieve these two as we did Jeanne.

Starting with Anne Bonny

As the two women were of the same era as well as crew-mates, it could have been easy to put them in the same gear. However, I have decided to use this as an opportunity to show off two styles of pirates – the working on the deck and the fancy “out on the town” look. I won’t even tell you off if you wish to swap their names around either (gasp).

USUAL DISCLAIMER: These sketches exist only to inform the sculptor what goes where, I’m not a professional artist and the further details are given via photo references which often can’t be put on the blog for copyright reasons (private collections and the such). The sculptor (Alan Marsh) also tweaks the design as he goes long to make sure it works for single piece casting and 28mm scale.

Figure Design by Annie Norman, 2024

It is said that when she went to land, Anne Bonny would dress up in all the finest styles, a common act of pirates. She could have been in a dress (future mini perhaps?) but I’ve gone for men’s clothing as it suits her story better. Also, she may well have been more comfortable in men’s clothing after all this time, and it could help protect her. And, well, this gear is cool. She has very similar clothing to our Julie d’Aubigny figure, being of a very close period and high society. The references for the coat and trousers are the same, as well as the buckle shoes. And I think it would be very daring of Anne to wear the red-heeled Louis fashion while being a criminal.

Operating in more of a lawless environment, she’s going to have her jacket OPEN (how many times can we gasp during this?), showing off her pirate shirt and… maybe a scarf? I pondered a scarf after scribbling, what do you think? Around her waist is a tied sash, with a belt over (it’s handy to tuck things between the two, guns and such) with the scabbard.

She can be painted historically with long white socks or all sorts of stripes, making her very versatile. I feel the shirt should be more fancy (or have the scarf), so it’s not the same as the standard sailor’s shirt. You can see the ruffled sleeves poking out of the coat.

The tricorne was very fashionable in the 18th century and, of course, another popular pirate icon, so she’s wearing one of those, probably with a nice gold trim! She’s off to shore to have a good, absolutely law-abiding* time, so she has to look her fanciest.

*ha!

“Two women, prisoners at the bar, were then on board the said sloop, and wore men’s jackets and long trousers, and handkerchiefs tied about their heads, and that each of them had a machete and pistol in their hands… the reason of her knowing and believing them to be women then was by the largeness of their breasts.” – An account of Dorothy Spenlow’s testimony during the trial.

What is Mary wearing on deck?

Sailor gear of course! Accustomed to being at sea from her early days in The Royal Navy, I decided she should be in the same outfit as the chaps. It was said the pair dressed as men, but outside of that is pretty much speculation. I’ve come to the conclusion that they weren’t in disguise, especially on deck, but wearing comfortable sailor clothing because – sea is pretty treacherous!

Because she can’t rely on fancy fashion for a cool model, I got really stuck on Mary. I decided to show you my first attempt, bravely. It was a great pose but wouldn’t translate to sculpt very well, so I went with something a bit more classic. A miniature’s silhouette is important, and I feel this works much better. If you do think the first one looks better then shhh don’t tell me.

Figure Design by Annie Norman, 2024

I’m a sucker for big curly hair, and in this case, it can help set them apart from the male figures with shorter cuts. The sea air would give them fluffy locks- I can’t quite see them in the cabin with their ghds somehow. With Mary I’ve decided she is going to go for a “half up half down” as she’s tied it up out her face, with the help of the handkerchief, and kept the lower bit down to protect her neck from the sun.

The shoes are drawn the same as Anne’s, but that was from habit; they’re going to be the more simplified sailors buckle shoes, though at 28mm, they won’t look much different, just softer leather and less of a heel. She’s gonna have a machete with no scabbard and no holster for the pistol, as she just tucks them between her belt and sash – much less faffing for a busy pirate.

What’s next?

Next up, this very evening is…… Olga of Kiev! Whether the blog post goes up tonight is another thing, but it’s totally getting started. We’re also very overdue the relaunch and slight switcharoo, so again thanks for all the patience. It’s just been a heck of a year for me running from task to task!

I also need to send this to the sculptor Alan, with all the photo references and additional notes that I have gathered – after a nice cup of tea though.

Thanks all

Annie.

by badsquiddogames

Making Jeanne d’Arc’s Pennon

This is one of the tasks as I was dreading as I knew it would be fiddly, but I actually gained great satisfaction from it! I had the dimensions of the pennon and my mock up with the Danny Devito, but it’s not something you can really math. This is because wargaming figures aren’t true scale, so sometimes you need to make things a bit bigger or smaller to help the overall effect.

I had a starting point, and then printed off a whole bunch of banners in very similar sizes, playing around til I had what I felt to be right. I then consulted with some chums (Thanks Louis, Jon and John!) and went a fraction smaller. This is both “close enough” to the documented reality and “cool enough” to show off on the battlefield I mean tabletop. Also, I had to figure out how long to cut the spear, as the one provided is very long (There are smaller ones we can use but they’re much thinner, like a fine sewing needle!). The spear is 100mm long and I decided that around 65mm from tip to tip works well, though you can go a bit longer or shorter if you wish.

The pennon will be full colour, we only have a black and white printer at the office so that’s what all my tests are in.

To clip the wires I recommend stronger clippers than usual, not the standard hobby clippers. Personally, I use the Xuron 2193 Wire Shear Cutters. There is no affiliation or anything, just the ones that work for me! If you haven’t got suitable clippers yet I definitely recommend picking up something like these, as they come in handy for all the wire spears you’ll ever encounter! They cut so easy too! And aren’t a huge expense. Much better than thinking “ah my usual clippers will work” and then having to replace those, AND buy strong wire clippers. Ahem. Like some, folk, that aren’t erm, me.

Once the size was decided on, the next query was the paper type, and thickness. I was tempted to go with matt as the real banner would be fabric, but then the print wouldn’t be as optimised as say, silk. Silk is always my favourite! I cut out the size of the flag using one of my packaging inserts, which are 150gsm silk. I didn’t glue it perfectly as I was just messing around, but it worked pretty well. It has a nice quality feel and holds the “wiggle” shape well. It needed to be slightly thinner, so I finally have ordered in 130gsm.

I use a variety of print companies, this time I went for some next day online company, so that I can check it all out tomorrow and start getting cracking on with these.

The final task was filling in the rest of the sheet that the pennon comes on. Seen as I am so.. as we say in the UK “cack-handed”, I decided that everybody would get TWO copies of the pennon – JUST IN CASE.

Not that it’s any more difficult than other banners, but I imagine it would be a right bummer to make a mistake the first time around, like getting the glue stuck wrong or dropping it in your cup of tea! It doesn’t cost us any more to do this, so why not? It means you get have to a “practice go”.

It does mean that there is less space for instructions but hey, who needs those? (me- I do!) I crammed them in! Mostly top tips! So here is a sample of everything you get (PLUS the Collectable Card if you’re in the first 100). And all for just £5. The Community Minis are price locked at £5 for the first hundred and may increase after that, so now is totally a good time to snag your Jeanne!

Metal photographs so bad! This is a rough early test cast but she does the job for my scaling!

Now I’ve ordered these, it’ll be exciting to see tomorrow how they have came out! I’ll do a test with one of my plain spears, and then brave adding the flag to the expertly painted John Morris copy that I have….EEEEEP.

I’ve been staring at flags and spears all day to the point they don’t look real any more, so it’s time to have a stretch and tidy the office I think!

Cheers All

Annie

by badsquiddogames

What did Jeanne d’Arc actually do?

Here we go. Strangely, this is the figure I am most nervous about designing so far. Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d’Arc is known and beloved by many, and perhaps THE most famous military woman in history, if not a solid top-five contender! She’d be a winning answer in Family Fortunes.

Jeanne D’Arc being excellent

The nerves come from this, that people have their own idea of who Jeanne was, what she did, and what she looked like. She’s a household name and has been portrayed in so many movies (of course, most memorably in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure), some more faithful to historical records than others.

Jeanne d’Arc was born in 1412 CE, during the Hundred Years War, a long and bloody conflict between England and France, which she would be destined to shape. From a young age, she began hearing what she believed to be the voice of God, though there are attempts at modern diagnosis to explain this on a secular level. We will never know, as per the words of Ridley Scott “Were you there mate?”

This led her on an incredibly daring mission to ensure that Charles VII (currently the dauphin) was to be crowned King, and then his army could save France. The fact that a young girl could walk up to somebody so high ranking is wild enough, but the fact they [eventually] paid attention is even more fantastic. “Scuse me, Sirs, you’re doing war wrong”.

Jeanne portrayed L-R by Vinzez Sozvr Zovzanza 15-20th Century, Albert Lynch, 1903 and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres 1854

Jeanne led the French Army through highs and lows in the pushback against the English, becoming a mighty hype for morale, waving her banner and yelling for them to push on. An army believing they have God on their side is exceedingly powerful. While it was unlikely she would have fought intentionally, due to her age, size, and lack of combat training, Jeanne’s presence and encouragement were where her power really lay. In wargames, we have rules such as “Inspiring Presence” for banner bearers, and it really was just that!

Jeanne as portrayed by Milla Jovovich in “The Messenger”, 1999

After a defeat at Margny, she was captured, after pretty much being abandoned by the King she helped create and put on trial by a mixed jury of French, English, and their French allies – the Burgundians.

The trial was as you can imagine – incredibly unfair. However, Jeanne was brilliant (the record of the trial is actually online) and managed to make it through the thorough questioning. What I find bizarre, about the entire odd tale, is they effectively “got her” in the end for her trousers. She insisted on wearing men’s clothes to show she was a soldier, the same as others, and under the direction of God. Crossdressing was seen as blasphemous so she was sentenced to death. Refusing to refute her Mission from God, Jeanne d’Arc was burned to death before a public audience on May 30, 1431, aged just 19.

I normally keep these summaries reasonably brief, to encourage people to read more, but there’s a bit more this time. Sometimes a story or figure can become so well-known that you actually forget the details. So there’s a refresher! There is course far, far more to the story, but that’s the jist!

Designing Jeanne d’Arc

You know what? I’m putting this into the next entry, as this is fairly long, and I have a BIT more research to do. Keep them hungry, as they say!

-Annie.

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

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

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

Designing Harriet Tubman

Welcome back, the relaunch! I’ve kept the social media updated but not if you only follow here. I hit an absolute brain brick wall with this, and with the running of Bad Squiddo taking up all my time (and then some) it hit the backburner.

BUT! I promised I would get it caught up, so let’s do it.

I am aiming over the next couple of days to have all the designs and briefs sent to the sculptor, and then we can start voting for the next few and breathe life back into this. Thank you for being so patient and understanding.

Who was Harriet Tubman?


Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross), 1822-1913 began life as a slave, and ended life free. Once she had discovered the Underground Railroad – a network of people working to smuggle out slaves and free them, she joined up wholeheartedly. A Christian woman, she felt it was God’s calling, and her supporters eventually began calling her Moses, because of the similarities!

At the age of 15 she suffered a massive whack to the forehead, there are varying accounts of how it happened but it led to a lifetime of issues with narcolepsy and other brain injuries. She often had visions during these blackouts of what she should do next, which led to even more blessed status.

She never lost a passenger, the counts I can find vary between 70 and 300 people during these times. It was said she carried a pistol which was never used, but for potential self defence, and for asserting herself on times there were people wanting to turn back. Harriet would say “Move, or die”. While seeming harsh, this was in fact imperative to the mission and ensured everybody got to their destination safely.

While a short five feet tall, she was strong from the years of manual labour, mentally as well as physically, with childhood bronchitis giving her a low voice which worked well for administering sharp commands.

When civil war broke out, she joined the Union side as a nurse, but Harriet’s skills from delivering all these people became quickly apparent as she was then enlisted as a spy. She led 150 black American troops in the raid on Combahee Ferry, freeing 750 slaves in one go.

Harriet lived a long life and even had surgery on her skull in the later years, opting for no anaesthesia but just to bite on a bullet, like the civil war soldiers. What a badass.

The Miniature Design

With this information, how do we go about making her into a 3cm tall model, that can encapsulate as much of this as possible.

Let’s begin!

The Key recognisable items (not all required) that I noted was a lantern to lead the way – both literally and figuratively, her head wrap, a dress from a photo, her pistol, and funnily enough – chickens. One of her tricks was to have two chickens on a leash, and if she saw someone who may recognise her, she tugged it so the chickens would squawk and give her cover from all the flapping.

So a gun for sure. Some accounts say revolver but it doesn’t massively check out. There is a photo of her caplock pistol from the Civil War, so it seems right to honour that. Even if she didn’t use that prior to the war (part of the enlistment) it has become one of the symbols for her, and as I frequently say, mini making is often more about symbolism than literal duplicates. Also handguns at 28mm are teeny so it won’t make too much difference.

The lantern of lighting the way! It would have been a kerosene lamp around those times, of which there are many different designs but ultimately the same form. The gaps will need filling for casting but I know that Alan (the sculptor) will find a way to make it look great and still be castable. The handle will of course have to be thickened for the same reason. The bag is a standard bag of the time, and will be over the shoulder with other supplies and tools inside.

Pose

I wanted to show Harriet Tubman in a dynamic way, as is she is currently leading an escape. I didn’t want the gun to be too prominent as it would emphasise violence but adding it will make it a very useful miniature for various games and scenarios (also something to bear in mind!). I also had a hankering for the old “foot on rock” trope. We haven’t done that in a while!

So instead of a rock, it’s going to be rubble, perhaps symbolising the impending collapse of slavery, with some broken shackles in there, which she is trampling over.

Some depict her in a coat, others in a shawl, though there are no photos, apart from later in life where she has a beautiful but not practical shawl. I’ve gone for shawl as one of her disguises was an an old lady (before she actually was!) so it’s a reference to that. It will be more jaggy than shown there, but remember these are just very rough sketches for a sculptor who knows me very well indeed!

There is a note with the left arm that the pistol doesn’t need to go back so far, in fact in might look a bit unnatural, so it may end up more forward and closer to the body.

Note on terrible drawing: Especially as I am behind with this, I’m not wasting time honing any drawings for the sculptor – concept art just has to let the next person in the chain know the needs and musts, and this alongside with my notes is enough for Alan, and he’s worked with a lot less before! I think we have a psychic link at this point.

The photos of the gun, dress, Harriet’s face, bag and lantern together with my little playmobil style drawing are enough to piece together a cracking model.

What do you think?

Onto the next bit of research for me…. more coffee! – Annie