Smallest painting job I've ever done. Finally got hold of a casting to provide Prince Rupert's famous poodle, Boye. After failing dismally to get an HO model railway dog (and I looked at all sorts of upmarket stuff like Preiser and Faller), and being unable to find anything suitable in an overscale range (I drew the line some distance short of investing in a complete 28mm Warlord Games Rupert c/w Boye), I surprised myself by getting, very cheaply and simply, a 15mm dog from Peter Pig to accompany my 20mm prince.
Here he is, then. Rupert won't notice that the dog is underscale, since Rupert almost certainly lives in a 15mm scale house in my version of Civil War England. Since Rupert may not always want to have his dog with him, and - more seriously - since the Rupert figure will frequently be required to represent some other dude who did not have a dog, I have attached steel paper to the general's base and some magnetic sheet to the poodle, and the pooch is detachable (I am opening a book on how long it is before I lose him). The Rupert figure, by the way, is a Tumbling Dice rider on an SHQ horse, the rather idiosyncratic, house standard recipe, very kindly painted for me a little while ago by the mighty Albannach.
In passing, if you wish to see the full, evil glory of Google, try searching for a 15mm miniature poodle.
Right - now to try to get a 20mm ferret for Lord John Byron...
***** Late Edit *****
Following the comment from M. Le Balai Joyeux, below, I dug out the sad cartoon of Boye's demise - he does look a bit black, doesn't he? However, I also append a painting of the same fellow which is attributed to Rupert's sister - who would know, you would think - which must be a vote for a pale colour. Hmmm.
Very fine companion to Prince Rupert in battle!
ReplyDeleteIndeed - I may smarten up his basing a little with some acrylic putty - he's a bit messier than I had hoped - wuff, wuff!
DeleteNowadays, the animal protection people would not allow this - in fact, Rupert would have to keep his dog on a lead throughout. Mind you, the Health & Safety boys would also put a stop to all that running about with live ammo and pointy swords. No - there's no doubt - if you wanted to do the ECW again now you'd have a lot of regulations to overcome, a lot of forms to fill in. Prince Rupert would be pretty fed up if he tried his stuff nowadays.
...and, of course, as Martin S points out, Rupert would have to carry a supply of plastic bags to clean up after the dog.
DeleteWhich reminds me - I live on a farm, and I can assure you that no-one cleans up after the horses, of which there are a great many. Must be different regs. Anyway - we could be on the safe side and supply all the cavalry with BIG plastic bags. Yes, this is beginning to shape up after all.
Lovely job Monsieur. In the interests of historical accuracy <> make sure you remove him from any action taking place after Marston Moor...where he was apparently killed. By the way a certain Mark Stoyle has a book out which posits that the dog was actually black and called "Puddle" not Boye, (the surviving dog from a pair of "water dogs" presented to Rupert in '36). Dear God the crap I carry around in my head, yet some mornings I have to look at the label in my pants just to be sure of my name.
DeleteGood heavens - thanks for this. Before rushing to the black paint pot, I did a bit of checking. Professor Stoyle has written a number of unusually specialised books on the ECW, I see. The dog book appears to be pretty hefty, and also appears to retail at £55, which equates to approx 55 Scottish Smackeroonies, which eye-watering amount must surely be a testament to quality. I am confident this is the best, most thoroughly researched, most authoritative work on the subject.
DeleteBut it begs the question - why?
The further question of why you carry a label in your pants also occurred to me - legacy of public school? Are you, in fact, nervous about people stealing your pants? It's OK - these are inner thoughts I did not necessarily mean to type.
Marston Moor - very sad - one of my favourite ECW drawings is the famous one with the witch, and the man firing slow-motion bullets at Boye/Puddle. In fact, I'll attempt to add that picture as a late edit.
Just a minute - now I see it - you have actually read this book by Prof Stoyle, haven't you?
Yes Tony, I both have it and read it... along with a great many other books where I've found myself asking the same question...why? To be fair I have a fascination for the period that extends beyond the military. As to the pants... I would point out that pant theft is an all too common crime. Labeling is surely nothing more than a common sense precaution in these troubling times.
DeleteCertainly can't argue with that. Very sound.
DeleteGood old Peter Pig! The comments have been a fun read for a Sunday morning, the portrait of the Pooch made me laugh. Anyway the model is of a convincing size, unlike that little bundle of fur in the movie 'Cromwell' that also featured a somewhat camp sounding Rupert!
ReplyDeleteMagnetic dog .... now who'd have thought it?
To be honest, the Peter Pig dog comes with a 15mm standard bearer and preacher - all to be used as game markers for the Regiment of Foote rules - not only that, but the set is available in 3 flavours - Royalist, Parliament and Covenant. The set is also cheap enough for me to happily put the extra figures in the spares box. If anyone would like a 15mm mounted standard bearer and preacher for the ECW Royalist army, please let me know.
DeleteI can't remember the dog in Cromwell - I must watch it again. I enjoy the film a lot - not least for Alec Guinness' magnificent portrayal as the king. Can't be doing with Richard Harris - all that posturing and shouting. I didn't get where I am today by posturing and shouting, I can tell you.