1:72 Foot Knight (1-st half of the XV century)

A foot knight of the first half of the fifteenth century in 1:72

Figures in 1:72 scale from the Ukrainian workshop MARS Model, devoted to a knight who has dismounted and fights on foot. The item belongs to an extensive line with which the maker covers central Europe of the first half of the fifteenth century, and it follows naturally on from its sets of cavalry, of shooters and of field artillery of the same period. The castings are in a single color and ready to be painted.

The knight who stepped down from his horse

Fighting on foot was not a sign of necessity in the fifteenth century but a proven tactic. A man-at-arms in full plate armor was all but invulnerable to ordinary weapons in a close formation, and his striking power decided engagements from Grunwald through the Hussite battlefields to the fields of the Hundred Years' War. The armor of that time was moving from mail additions to a full plate harness; the head was protected by an open bascinet or a closed helmet, and in his hand the wearer held a sword, an axe on a long haft or a mace. In fighting on foot the shield gives way, because both hands are needed for the weapon.

Armor and how to paint it

Polished plate looks believable only when it has dark depth. Work from a dark base through a metallic shade to a fine polishing of the edges, and add rusty traces into the joints. The fields of color on the coats and the banners are the key to the identity of a character in this period, so it pays to choose one heraldic combination and keep to it.

It suits

• builders of medieval battlefields in a small scale
• players of tabletop campaigns
• anyone interested in the history of warfare of the late Middle Ages
• those who put an army together from several sets of one line

The figures come without paint and without bases. Painting material does not come with them, unless stated otherwise.