"Drawing or painting 28mm coats of arms" Topic

Gules overall (Gascony?) is easy.
But what do you use for more complicated charges when decals are not available.
I am doing Free Companies and other villains.

I blanched when I saw Charles the Bad of Navarre, who seemed to fit right in.

Pens? Do they stay fast and not bleed? Any advice appreciated.

Draw with fine pen or even pencil first. Then paint. Start with something simple and work you way up. Practising on paper may help.
I only ever do 15mm ones now but used to do 28mm and they were fine.

would printing the design out to scale and making your own decals be an option?

You can also design them on the computer, print out, and glue to the shield. I've done it with paper, in the past, using PVA Glue to attach them. It is not perfect, but it works. I also used this technique for fantasy heraldry, not historical, but the principal is the same.

An alternative to using the computer, would be to hand-draw them, much larger. Then reduce them on a photo-copier (will work on a computer scanner, as well; it reduces the errors, as well as the overall design). You might have more options for what type of paper you can feed through a copier, but I would not go too light in weight, as it could jam up your copier. Best of luck. Cheers!

I'm having to do some myself next month. Looking at some of the designs I would say that they just are not plausible at 28mm scale, they would end up looking too 'busy'.

On the pen front, various brands make permanent, smudge-proof, water-proof fine-liners from 0.05mm tips up. These are handy for straight line designs. They are not all created equal however and different pens feel different on hard surfaces. Copic Multiliner, Zig Millenium and Sakura Pigma all fit the necessary criteria.

As a matter of interest, what source do you use for Coat of Arms reference?

I/we am using Ian Heath's WRG tome "Armies of the Middle Ages, volume 1", A+++++ (as long s you know what gules and sable mean), and of course da Interwebs.

Those rascally Gascons are full of likely lads, as are any English or French nobles who flourished ~1360.

"As a matter of interest, what source do you use for Coat of Arms reference?"

There are various online resources. I have links on my blog
link to various sites. There is a bias to earlier periods, but it is a start. The best for the period you are looking at is perhaps the Gelre armorial. It has a bias to the Low Countries but there are plenty of others, including Hawkwood.
Rietstap has thousands and if you know who you are looking for it is great but the descriptions are written rather than being illustrated.

John, I've a chance to buy a copy of Ian Heath's Volume II for about £20.00 GBP which I might well do, looks full of handy info.

Thx for the blog link swampster, I have no idea how you guys find the time.
I usually quite enjoy the research part of my 'work' but have to admit I find the whole History of Heraldic coats of arms a bloody minefield.

Volume 2 could be called "Armies and Enemies of the Ottoman Empire". It is mostly Eastern Europe and the Turks.

I believe waterslide transfer paper will print in most home printers. They're not cheap at around $1 USD per page, but I'd say they are worth it in some applications, such as this..

Volume II is 'The Ottoman Empire, Eastern Europe and the Near East 1300-1500.'

I'm thinking it might be a wise investment for future work.

You can print decals at home. However, given the cost of the materials involved and the time taken more than anything else, I would be more inclined to commission someone else to produce them. A service provided by this guy for example.

link

Winston Smith; I know this is blasphemy, I tend to modify the "COA" not the colors but the design. Usually leaving something out. Their are a few company making great medieval banners now, that it's possible to not even paint the "COA". Also if you have to do it a good artist pen will come in every handy, Staedtler pigment liner 0.1 is a must if your going to do it.