Longshanks Edward I, 54mm from Pegaso By Ernest Thomas

Introduction

Generally considered one of medieval England’s more successful kings, much has been written about him over the centuries. While the purpose of this article is to share my experience building and painting this 54mm white metal figure of Edward Plantagenet, the article would be incomplete without a bit of historical background on Edward I of England.

Born at Westminster Palace on June 17, 1239 to King Henry III and queen consort Eleanore of Provence, he was named after Edward the Confessor. It should be noted here that while Edward Plantagenet was technically the fourth king of England named Edward. The custom of ‘regnal post-nominal numbers’ was not an Anglo-Saxon practice but a Norman one. The previous (Anglo-Saxon) kings named Edward were Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr, and Edward the Confessor.

During his lifetime he was nicknamed ‘Edward The Longshanks’ because of his notably long legs and towering stature (when the average man was 5’7”). In 1774, the Society of Antiquaries open Edward's coffin to find his remains nearly perfectly preserved for over 467 years. His body was measured at 6'2" tall.

Edward was married at age 15 to Eleanor of Castile (age 13) on November 1, 1254 at the monastery of Las Huelgas in Spain in a union arranged by his father Henry and Alphonse X of Castille. The marriage produced 16 children and lasted until Eleanor’s death in 1290.

So greif stricken was Edward that he erected the Eleanor Crosses at each location where her funeral procession stopped for the night.

Nine years later, at age 60, Edward married 17 year old Marguerite of France, daughter of Phillip III of France, with whom he had three more children.

Edward's military ventures include his participation in the 9th Crusade, to relieve Acre, which led to a ten year truce. It was during this crusade that a would-be Muslim assassin inflicted a nearly fatal wound on Edward and he was forced to return to England. On this return voyage to England Edward learned of his father Henry's death, on Nov.16, 1272. Up until then, English monarchs were not proclaimed king until their corronation. However, Edward was regarded as King from the moment of his father's death. Edward's rule was proclaimed four days later on Nov.20, 1272. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Aug.19, 1274.

Edward's most notable, and lasting, military achievement was his conquest of Wales, which effectively placed Wales under the rule of the English Crown since the signing of Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. In 1301, Edward invested his eldest son, Edward of Caernarfon, with the title of Prince of Wales, (that title, establish by Edward's grandfather, King John with the signing of the Magna Carta, was stripped from Llywelyn ap Gruffydd after his repeated refusal to pay homage to Edward). Since then, the eldest son of the monarch of England has held the title of Prince of Wales.

Less successful, but probably more well known outside of England due to a blockbuster Hollywood movie, was Edward's Scottish Wars, stemming from his demand to be recognized as Overlord of Scotland, which was granted on the understood condition that it would be a temporary situation while the question of who would succeed the Scottish throne (which Edward had been asked to help arbitrate) was worked out. In November of 1292, Edward decided in favor of John Balliol, who was enthroned at Scone on Nov.20, 1292.

But it was quickly realized that Edward had no intention of relinquishing the title of Overlord of Scotland. Balliol was forced to seal documents releasing Edward of his earlier promise that his overlordship would only be temporary. The Scottish king was ruled from Westminster. In 1294 Edward demanded Scottish service for his military actions against France. This proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Scotland entered a truce with France and prepared for war with England. In March of 1296, Scottish troops crossed the border and attempted to take Carlisle. Just a few days after that unsuccessful attempt by the Scots, Edward's army crossed into Scotland and sacked Berwick, then proceeded to defeat the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar, went on to take Edinburgh, and on the return trip stopped in Perth where Edward confiscated Scotland's 'Stone of Destiny', the Stone of Scone upon which all Scottish kings had be crowned. The stone was brought to Westminster Abbey where it has been used in the coronation of all subsequent English monarchs. (The stone was returned to Scotland in 1996. When not being used for coronations, it resides in Edinburgh Castle.)

After Edward imprisoned John Balliol in the Tower of London, all Scottish freeholders were made to swear alliegence to Edward and Edward ruled Scotland as a province. A rebellion was led by William Wallace, who was defeated at the Battle of Falkirk and subsequently executed by Edward on Aug.23, 1305.

Edward was a strong and assertive ruler who undertook many reforms that helped to re-established royal control of the government, which had been greatly diminished during the rule of his grandfather, King John. He died of unspecified causes at the age of 68 on July 7, 1307 at Burgh-by-Sands, on the Scottish border in Cumberland, enroute to wage another campaign against the Scots, this time led by Robert the Bruce.

Edward's remains were interred at Westminster Abbey in a black marble tomb. On his tomb one can read this inscription: Edwardus Primus Scottorum malleus hic est, pactum serva, (Here is Edward I, Hammer of the Scots. Keep Troth.).

Preparation

The 54mm figure from Pegaso is a very high quality white metal casting, intelligently divided into twelve parts resulting in a figure with almost no mold marks to remove. The only mold seams I found were of a hairline nature on the lower half of his surcoat, which are cast as two separate parts and makes it painting easier. After a light sanding on those seams, and a quick cleaning to remove any mold release, the figure was ready for preliminary assembly and a coat of white spray primer. The preliminary assembly was simply a matter of attaching the top of his head, which was cut at the base of the crown, and mounting him on his round metal base. The Great helm was also in two parts, separated at the base of the crown, and assembled before priming. I used Rustoleum flat white primer from a spray can.

After the primer had dried I inspected the figure and parts for any mold marks I might have missed. There were none.

Painting the Flesh

I began with the face, hair, and hands, applying two coats of Testors Model Master Warm Skin Tone Base with the airbrush, allowing 24 hours between coats. After the base color had dried a few days, I squeezed a small dab of Windsor & Newton Burnt Sienna artist oil onto a paper towel and let it sit for about an hour so any excess oil could be absorbed. Note: Windsor & Newton artist oils are of the highest quality and there was very little oil soaked up by the paper towel.

I then began to apply the burnt sienna to the face and hands, only to the recesses (eye sockets, around the mouth, the sides of the nose, along the hairline, under the jaw line, and in between his fingers). Once the color was applied, I let the figure sit for about an hour to allow the paint to begin to set. After that, I came back with a very small, clean and dry stipple brush and began blending the burnt sienna onto the high areas. When I was satisfied with the blending, I let the figure sit in the shop for a few days so the artist oil could really set and dry.

At this point I decided to paint the eyes. I painted the orbits Humbrol flat white and the irises Humbrol French blue, with black pupils that are mostly invisible. I say that like it just took a few seconds to do and I got it right on the first try. Not at all. The real trick to painting eyes is as much about making them match each other as it is making either one look realistic. There was a good bit of very gently scraping away excess paint from the eyelids with a new blade in the Xacto knife, then going back and touching up where I scraped away too much.

Then it was time for the flesh tone highlights. I used Testors Light Flesh tone base, dry brushed on the cheeks, nose, top of hands and fingers. Like the eyes, I’m making it sound really simple but there was more than one session of going back and adding a little more burnt sienna to replace shading that I lost, then adding more of the light flesh tone base to even things out, then repeating the process all over again. While painting the face I noticed that the nose was wildly asymmetrical. To the point of looking like it came from two different faces. The left profile looked great but the right, and full face was a bit of a mess. On a larger figure, I might have tried to whittle down the right side of the nose. But on this small scale, I was too worried about my hand slipping and completely ruining the whole figure. So I just did the best I could to balance it out with the paint shading.

Good looking flesh tones take time and practice and working and re-working before getting something that looks acceptable. And the beauty of metal figures is that if you try and try and try and still end up with a big mess, it’s easy to strip all the paint off without hurting the figure. And this is why I usually start with the flesh tones. More likely to botch that and don’t have to ruin a nice paint job on the rest of the figure if I have to strip it and start over.

Once I was mostly satisfied with the way the face and hands looked, it was time to paint the rest of the figure. I started with a base color of Testors Model Master Steel, applying two coats 24 hours apart to all of the chain mail sections and the poleyns (the plate armor on his knees). Once that was dry, I painted the hair and mustache with Windsor & Newton Raw Umber artist oil, using the same steps as with the burnt sienna oils. I applied a liberal coat of the raw umber to the hair, let it sit for a while, then began removing the excess with a clean, dry brush, leaving only the slightest highlights from the flesh tone base showing through on the very top of his head.

While the raw umber on the hair was being allowed to dry for several days, I airbrushed several thin coats of Testors yellow (from the little square bottle) on the inside portion of the flowing drapes of his surcoat, which are still not attached at this stage, and put those parts aside to dry. I then painted the great helm flat black, and the quilted trousers above the knees with a medium brown Humbrol flat (H119).

The surcoat was brush painted with 3 coats of Humbrol 60 Matt Red, again, allowing 24hrs between coats. During all of this drying time, I went out and bought a 2” wooden cube from the craft store to use as a pedestal base, applied some stain and finished it with 3 coats of polyurethane semi gloss clear, sanding lightly between coats. Once all of the base coats of paint and clear poly were dry, I attached the round metal figure base to the wooden block with 5-minute epoxy. Attaching the figure to the wooden base at this stage made it easier to handle the figure while doing the rest of the painting.

Making it Look Real

Now comes the fun part: Adding depth. Simply put, this involves adding shadow to the recesses and highlighting the peaks, and to varying degrees being cognizant of where and how natural shadows would occur on a person standing under overhead lighting, like outside in the sun.

I started with the armor in this case. I mixed up a wash by thinning some acrylic flat black with water. The reason I used acrylic is that past experience has taught me that turpentine or mineral spirits based washes will attack metallic enamels, causing them to run.

I applied the black wash evenly to all areas that were painted with the steel base color. After the first coast of black wash dried, I then went back and applied more of the wash into just the recessed areas. I then brushed on a third pass of the black wash, this time focusing on the underside areas of his arms that would be shaded. After this had dried, I dry-brushed the steel base color over the armor sections, being careful not to over do it. I also dry-brushed the steel color on the great helm, which was already painted flat black.

While the black wash was drying, I mixed up a thin wash of the raw umber artist oil with paint thinner and applied it to the figure's trousers in the same manner as the wash on the steel sections: a thin coat over everything, then a second application just in the recesses. Once that wash dried, I did a light dry-brushing with the original base color. I also painted the brass trim on the poleyns, and treated them the same as the silver armor: black acrylic wash in the recesses, then a dry-brushing of the base color on top of that. I needed to finish the legs and feet before I attached the lower drapes of the surcoat so I painted the boots too. The approach I used on these was similar to how I painted the hair. I applied a base color (Testors Model Master Leather), then a fairly heavy coat of the raw umber oil, then brushing away the excess with a clean, dry brush. After that had dried for a few days, I painted the straps of the stirrups with a blue acrylic (Cream-a-Coat) craft paint, shaded the edges and recesses with the raw umber wash, and painted the buckles and spurs brass. While I had the brass paint open, I also painted the crown and trim on the great helm. The crown on his head was painted with Humbrol gold. My reasoning was that the crown on his head is, well, it’s a king’s crown and should be gold. But the crown on his great helm would possibly be seeing combat and gold just wouldn’t be the best choice for decorating something like that.

With the legs and feet finished, I was now ready to attach the two lower sections of the surcoat, which had already been painted with its base colors. These were attached with cyanoacrylate glue.

I then took a small amount of the red I used on the surcoat and added an equal amount of Humbrol 73, which is a dark red in the violet direction, then thinned the mixture with paint thinner, making a dark red wash. The was applied in very thin layers to the folds and wrinkles on the surcoat, as well as along the edges of the belts and chain mail, applying more to the deepest recesses and less to the shallower recesses, all the while being careful to keep the edges blended into the base color. Once I was satisfied with the shadows, I added yellow to a small amount of my red base color, mixing up a darkish orange shade. Adding white to the red would have made pink, and while there are some circumstances where pink would be the right choice for highlighting red, that was not the look I was going for.

I used this dark orange color as the highlight, dry-brushing it on the same way I did with the armor sections.

Belts & Bits

It was now time to do the last details. This consists of sword and waist belts, shield and the associated belts and straps, the map, and the ‘Spaulders’, two rectangular pieces of plate mail worn on the shoulders.

The sword belt and scabbard were painted with ‘FolkArt’ acrylic blue, lightly shaded along the edges with a thin blackwash. The leather belts were painted flat black, then medium brown Leather (Testors) dry-brushed over that. The ornament on the belt and scabbard were painted in the same method as the crown: brass base color, light black acrylic wash, then highlighted with gold leaf. The spaulders were done like the chain mail.

The map, I guess being a sheet of vellum, or parchment, I painted the Testors light skin tone base, followed up with a very light, thin wash of raw umber around the rolled up section. The map features were draw on with a .05mm tip artist’s pen.

While practicing painting lions passant, I used an air-drying modeling compound from Crayola to build up the ground work on the wood block to blend in with the metal scenic base that came with the figure. I don’t recommend this stuff as a must have for the modeling bench, at least not for use in detail work. It’s got a springy consistency that would work against trying to sculpt fine detail. But it could be useful for filler, which would then be covered with something better.

I made the ground work about as basic as it gets, mostly because I’m still a bit unskilled at groundwork. I painted the primed base and the already brown Crayola clay a dark brown to check the visibility of the line where the two meet. There was a slight dip along one edge section of the round metal base, so I filled it with full strength Elmer’s glue and put down some static grass. Once that had dried, I applied a not too thin layer of Elmer’s and sprinkled on more static grass, then added the little bushy plants. Nothing to get excited about but still better than nothing.

And now for the part a few of you might have been waiting for, The Heraldry.

Not much to say about this. I’ve never painted heraldry completely freehand before. I traced the shield outline on a piece of paper about 10 times and made as many practice runs on the lions, peaking in quality after about the 3rd try. I just painted the lions as best I could, then outlined them as best I could with the pen I used for the map. I’m not especially pleased with it but I don’t hate it either. And I can always work on it some more as my skills improve. The lions on the shield shown on the box top are stunning. The bits and pieces of the lions passant on the front of the surcoat were really easy, since it’s just bits and pieces sticking out from behind the folded arms. These were also done with the liquid leaf, then outlined with the ultra-fine tip pen.

Conclusion

All in all, I really enjoyed painting this figure. I liked the subject matter. I liked the pose. I didn't keep track of the hours spent on it but it took several weeks to finish it, though there was a lot of paint drying time involved. Except for the previously mentioned asymmetric nose, the sculpting and molding was excellent. The only complaint I had was with my own painting abilities. But the overall experience left me rooting through my other figures looking for the next one to start on, and browsing the Pegaso website to see what else is available.