Anne Bonny, Olga of Kyiv and Mary Read are out there in the world. Any pre-orders have shipped (apart from EU which will be later this week). They are available to buy from our shop and soon from some of the retailers. you can always ask your favourite retailer to stock Bad Squiddo – if they don’t, it’s about time, right?
Anne Bonny and Mary Read fighting back the Bad Squiddo. Background by Jon Hodgson.Olga of Kyiv letting loose the pigeons of war! Backdrop by Jon Hodgson and terrain build by Chicken’s Tabletop Crafting.
Annie has scribbled colours over Martin Whitmore’s drawings to guide the painter.
Thank you to John Morris of Monkey Spirals Painting for bringing these to life and helping to give you a good idea on colour schemes for when you paint yours. Of course it’s up to you how to colour them in, though it’s always nice to have a little reference if you’re stuck.
Another bonus to having artwork by Martin Whitmore is being able to colour them in for the painter! So here are my VERY ROUGH colours for John, which also had a few notes with it. I wanted Mary and Anne to have the same palette to tie them together, to show they’re in sync! What, you’ve never shared clothes with your mates?
Anne and Julie
Two gals being pals – both minis by Bad Squiddo Games
An underrated part of my job is to get various historical characters to meet, even if via the medium of a metal mini. Julie d’Aubigny was used as a reference for Anne’s clothing as they’re similar times and both wearing high-brow gentleman’s gear. They’re both absolute troublemakers and there is a series of short stories ready there! Or gaming scenarios!
What Next?
We’re caught up! Time to vote for number 14, right? Well, we’ve been talking about this “relaunch” – it’s basically changing how minis are nominated and pre-ordered. Before deciding on a new system, I will send out surveys. It’ll be linked from here and sent out via our newsletter.
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.
The cards were the last part to get sorted, and I am so glad I took a bit longer with them, same as Julie D’Aubigny’s face. I went with Print Co. in the end, my office neighbours! They kindly gave me a tour of all their facilities, and I was very excited by their mega corner punch. I even touched all the different types of paper like a connoisseur until I decided on what I deemed perfection. You’ll notice they are so nice and soft! On collecting, they will make a lovely deck.
REMEMBER the really cool Collector Cards are only included in the first 100 orders. There are still [at the time of writing] some left!
THANK YOU to everybody who has supported this project, primarily through all the slow bits when I’ve been juggling a bunch of other things. Now we have some momentum, I’m hoping it can really ramp up now, and the space between voting the figure and it being in your hands will be smaller.
I’m putting the following rambles in an FAQ form, enjoy!
Which minis have shipped?
The first six. Julie D’Aubigny, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Ching Shih, Black Agnes, Zenobia and Harriet Tubman. All shipped!
What about the next four?
Ada Lovelace, Audrey Hepburn, Joan D’Arc and Mary Fields are considered Wave 2. They were first aimed to be shipped in December, but it’s now looking like late January/February due to sculptor and caster timelines. As well as me, I still need to design the next three – but we have Alan Marsh booked in for December so I will have to have the designs ready by then! Eep!
Why has my Wave One pre-order not shipped?
It’s probably because you have Wave Two minis in it. If you’ve changed your mind and want the first wave before the second, pop me an email and we can sort it, you will need to pay a second load of shipping though (unless you pop a new order in and ask for them to be added into that)
I ordered from both waves at once, I’m happy to wait until Wave Two is shipped, but I am worried about the collector cards for my Wave One, will I still get them?
You will! You have a box in the office with your order number and I have picked your minis and cards.
How do I know when ordering if there are collector cards left?
I’ll make a note in the product description, so far we have cards left for all.
Nooo I missed the cards
It’s ok! The minis are still lovely and the full colour packaging with John Morris and Andrew Taylor’s painting on are also lovely. The cards are an extra bonus to help get the minis out there sooner.
Can I get these from retailers?
Yes! It’ll be a bit longer than other usual releases, and they won’t have the cards, but they will have the Community Minis. It’s taken a while to figure out the best way to do this as I want to support the retailers but not make it EVEN MORE confusing, so them having the “standard” version works best, as the cards won’t be all over the world like a Willy Wonka quest. So the first 100 sold DIRECT will be the only way to get the cards.
When are we voting for minis 11, 12 and 13?
Maybe over Christmas! The designs for 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be ready then, so we can use the Christmas break to think about the next bunch. I’m gonna change the voting AGAIN as well. I haven’t 100% decided yet but one aspect I am considering is limiting each person to ONE nomination.
Can I give you money for future minis?
I can’t stop you, but I am advising against it until the new year, as I want to be caught up so we can “relaunch” the project more streamlined and less confusing… I hope. If you have a subscription and are happy to keep it going, that’s super cool, but it’s also ok if you want to pause it. I hope this makes sense, it may feel counterintuitive but I want it to get back to being vote, then pay, rather than pay, then vote. It makes sense to me! I want us to vote for only one or two minis at a time too. TLDR: Wait and all will be clear!
I want some of these minis but haven’t contributed to any voting or pre-payment or anything, can I…. have some?
You can! They are for everyone! You can buy them through the shop as you would any other mini. I am hoping with the “relaunch” it will be less confusing. This has been very much a project of figuring it out as we go along, hence why I am extra chuffed you’ve been so supportive.
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!
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)
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!
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,
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.
La Maupin, L’Heroine Cover page of the French magazine “Le Matin,” 1910s
I’m back! We have a wild character today who I’ve been wanting an excuse to make a miniature of for so long, so her being chosen is excellent, hooray! Julie d’Aubigny was also know as “La Maupin”, that was her opera stage name. She was here from 1670 – 1707 though records vary and as we will come to see, her story is somewhat muddled into legend! Much like Mad Max (also always wanted to start a sentance with that) tales of her would have been spread by word and almost certainly been embellished or added to, crossed over with other events. For example “Did you hear they’re saying the boat was blown up by Mad Max I mean, La Maupin?” when she might have just been sat at home watching a painting.
However! Her story is cool enough that it warrents telling, and I’d like to think every single detail is accurate as it makes for a tale of awesome proportions.
Julie is known for being the sword fighting, opera singing, law breaking bisexual temporary nun. What a title. Taught to fence early on by her father, she was a handful from the beginning, and after a failed matchmake because the chap was too boring, she ran away and began her life of scandal. She made money basically by busking around with a mix of operatic singing and swordfighting demonstrations, which was of course a delightful spectacle for the public with her being a woman, so probably raked in some decent coin.
For most of her life, Julie dressed in men’s clothes, it’s impossible (probably) to know exactly why, as with many historical characters it could be for practicality and getting around town easier, it could be she had a different gender to that assigned at birth. The book “Female Husbands” by Jen Manion covers this topic really well. I’ll be referring to her as she/her as there is nothing to say the contrary.
Her story is a whirlwind of romance, stabbings and a very short attention span! She was pardoned by King Louis XIV TWICE. Once for burning down a convent (after romancing a woman who was sent to a nunnery as punishment then Julie joined the nunnery to continue the romance) and second for stabbing (some accounts say killing) a bunch of chaps at a Royal Ball. The first due to her dad’s status, the second because Louis just thought it was very entertaining.
Designing the Sculpt
To be honest, I was so tempted to phone this one in. I think partly because I spent so long on Harriet Tubman, it’s 6pm at time of writing, and I wanted to get all 6 done today (ha, sweet summer child) but I’m not too disappointed as I am really enjoying this, and starting was most of the battle. By “phoning it in”, the image above, at first, I thought was perfect! Very rarely do we just make a painting into 3D, but it being public domain and “would make a cracking figure” was very temping.
HOWEVER. Then I got down the rabbit hole of 17th century fashion! What a rabbit hole indeed. So first I looked up images of her, how other people had represented. Many were in skirts, which would make for great miniatures, but if she dressed as a man her whole life, it’s inaccurate. I will do some sword fighty dress ladies at some point though don’t worry.
This made the research all about late 17th Century Men’s Fashion. Which the more I looked, became more and more of a minefield. This was very peak “fashion” time. The wealthy were changing their minds every decade pretty much on what the look was going to be. Big boots to small shoes, big flappy trousers, tight ones, ruffs, cravats, everything!
These were the closest I could find for around 1685-95 when a lot of the scandal was occurring! It really does change that quickly. The musketeer boots had gone out of fashion and the little red heels made popular by Louis XIV are just darling, so they’re going in. Justaucorps had replace the tighter doublet (of the first image), they were longer coats with a cinched waist. It was all less “flouncy” that a decade before, though still very elaborate compared to today’s tracksuits. The breaches no longer were as poofy and ribboned, as the coat covered them anyway.
Of course, all this fashion is for those of high society. I decided to dress Julie in the gear of a high society man due to her upbringing status, and the fact she was documented socialising at a Louis XIV Royal Ball. I figured with her other criminal activity, she may have done the odd theft to make sure she had enough to keep up with the times in a fashionable suit, and I get the impression she would have been quite proud of her appearance.
Ok it’s time for the reveal of my next terrible sketch. I am leaning into the terrible sketches now. Of course to the sculptor, this is accompanied with lots of descriptions and reference!
The pose is the same as the first image from the article. I think it’s great and suits the character. The clothes are a mixture of largely two of the clothing above, largely that of the khaki suit (which is part of the V&A collection) but with the actual justaucorps being from the one in red as you can’t see the other from under the cape. Leaving that undone to the belly button area I think will help with the shape, and it was a common way of wearing it.
Casting Concerns
I’m slightly concerned about the sword, even though it will touch the base making it stronger, I don’t know if it will be a liability, so I’ll discuss this with the caster and sculptor before we go ahead. It will be thicker than “at scale” as it would be needle thin, but I don’t want it to look like a big stick either! A workaround could be changing the wind so the cloak is floating behind the sword, a pose I am sure you are familiar with across many ranges! We shall see!
That’s all for now, I’m sure there will be an update on how we’ve adapted from the “first draft”. I am thinking of doing the Black Agnes write up next, but I’m going to have my tea and a walk first, before my eyes fall out. – Annie
I have a bunch of ideas for how they will look but will set up their own threads in Baggy’s Cave. Thanks for being patient, I am currently juggling a whole bunch of Bad Squiddo work, including some brand new releases (they’ll pop up here!)
The next blog update should have links to all 6 of the minis so far where we can discuss and refine their design.
While Harriet is unlocked as mini #6, no sculpting can begin until the current target is hit, so go on – you know what to do!
Community Miniatures Project 