The main event will be something I did have a go at in the past.
This will be a revisit to the English Civil War and I have an idea that I may attempt a small diorama on the Siege of Scarborough Castle.
Here is a load of facts to lull you to sleep.
The English Civil War (1642-51)
I did find that I had to spend quite a lot of time trying to find out about the uniforms worn by either side during the civil war.
In the early part of the war, both sides tended to wear similar and troops could often only be distinguished by a coloured scarf, feather or laces. This presumably would have made fighting very difficult. A little later some kind of uniforms evolved and they appear to be still quite similar for both sides. The more you read the more you wonder how much changing sides went on.
Hull is quite famous as being at the forefront of the war. Hull was held under siege by Charles I as he wanted the armoury held within the city walls, so you see there is some local relevance. It also appears that Queen Henrietta landed and then stayed at Bridlington for a short time. Then in 1645 there was the siege of Scarborough Castle. Sir Matthew Boynton was involved in the latter stages after Sir John Meldrum was fatally wounded. Earlier he did survive a 200 foot fall down the cliffs.
I digress, back to uniforms, I have decided to build up a Parliamentary Army.
Regiments of foot comprised of between 800 – 1000 men, in between 6-12 companies. Each company had its own colours. The field colour could often be the same as the uniform. The flag would have the cross of St George in the corner and then other devices dependant on the company and its commander.
Companies consisted of pike men and musketeers, usually in the ratio of 1:3, but this could vary. I have decided to have a uniform coat of red; breeches could be red, brown, grey etc. Footwear will be brown. Stockings will be either red, white or grey with the leggings a darker grey. Belts were generally black or brown and they also wore leather bandoleers. Helmets of steel were often blackened to prevent rusting. Armour would also be steel again possibly blackened. Hats could be black brown or grey and caps and bonnets were also worn.
Officers generally wore their own clothing and a sash in the generals’ colours.
Let’s start with the first set from “A call to Arms”. Royalist V Parliament – 16 figures in various poses. The set comprises the following figures.
2 Officers
4 Sergeants with halberd
2 drummers
2 pipers
2 flag carriers, ensign or officer
4 musketeers
There are no painting instructions on the box, other than artwork showing a couple of soldiers.
I bought some of the Osprey books on the Civil war and very useful they proved too.
The figures have been washed in detergent and the mould lines removed, I found some plastic primer and applied this, it seems to stick no better than ordinary primer.