DEFIANCE: Gentlemen in Exile (Exsulem Nobilis)

The Defiant Gentlemen In Exile (click to enlarge, if you dare)

One of the gentlemen on the  Fife & Drum Miniatures Forum decided that after the Great Purge,  all of the outcasts from the Forum That Shall Not Be Named (FTSNBN) deserved to have their own banner under which that could rally in Defiance. This is all done all in good FUN.

I found the new banner, courtesy of Captain Bill,  to be very creative (see below)

All ye outcasts, raise your banner high! (click to enlarge)

I then decided that such a banner was practically begging to be raised as part of a vignette, and so it goes, I created the vignette shown at the top of this page. The figures are from the Minden and Fife & Drum figure ranges: the gentleman holding the banner is one of the Prussian officers from the musketeer command pack; the general with the orange sash is the Duke of Brunswick figure from the personality pack of the same name, Frederic is Frederick don't you know, and the drummer is the Hessian standing drummer from the Fife & Drum AWI figure range.

The banner carrier normally holds an officer's spontoon, but I decided that it could just as easily hold a flag pole. Somehow I did manage to think of that (points to head and taps his tricorn with his fingers).

Here is another view, since the finial of the flag pole got cropped out of the picture. 

We almost didn't make it to the basing part of the modelling process.

The vignette has somewhat of a troubled history already. When I was painting the Duke of Brunswick, I was holding him over the open cap of some white paint and I deftly allowed His Grace to fall out of my hands and straight into the cap of white paint. GASP! Before I could even say "Bob's your uncle" I raced to the sink and washed off as much of the paint as I could. I'm sure His Grace was grateful for the clean  up, but he was clearly unhappy with Olde Fumble Fingers. I did a little bit of touch up work and so everything was all tickety-boo again.

But wait, there's more! I was gluing the banner onto the flag pole (you all know where this is headed) and had it all pressed together and I had made some nice furls in the flag. As I looked admirering my handy work, I suddenly realized that the banner was upside down. ANOTHER GASP!

Olde Glue Fingers tried to slide the two halves of the banner apart, but it was to no avail as the glue was holding fast. Then another idea hit me - I was able to slide the flag pole out of the flag and then reinsert it in the proper direction. That was a close one.

So after some near misses on disaster I finally got the vignette based and ready to hit the table top. The flag pole is removable from the hands of the flag bearer, which allows me to insert a proper Prussian Garde flag therein if I so wish.

However, I am proud of the Gentlemen In Exile so I think that DAF shall carry the black banner around to a particular convention in the wilds of Warwick in a couple of weeks.

We shall not be denied our fun in the wargaming hobby...

Defiance.