Thursday, January 22, 2015

Monogram (ex-Aurora) Black Knight of Nurnberg

Just a quick diversion with this a 1/8th scale re-issue of an old Aurora plastic kit of "The Black Knight of Nurnberg). I had the kit back in the early-70's - of course, it long since disappeared. So it was nice to see it has been re-issued and available at a fairly low price. The original set was released in the late-1950's.
Don't know why his left eye looks so white and crazy - might be the flash, but in normal view doesn't appear so wide-eyed.
The style of this type of late 16th C. armor is known as "Black and White," and associated with Northern Germany. It is made by either painting or bluing selected areas of the metal. It's simple, yet quite elegant looking.
I painted it by spraying it with an old can of Krylon Brilliant Silver. I picked up a new can but it had a different type of spray nozzle which made the paint come out too runny. It also might be that the paint mixture is flawed.
Black was then painted over the select areas. Another error I made was using Krylon Clear Satin - which left the black areas splotchy looking. I went over it with some Krylon Gloss which helped a little. If I were to do it over I would've went with a gloss finish.
The kit is made up of minimal amount of parts which fit together very well. The only part that I needed to fill a little was the seam at the base of the gorget. Below is an image of what the armor is based upon. Although the actual armor's non-painted areas aren't engraved as it appears on this model.
Finally, here's a shot of the Black Knight along another ebay purchase from a few years ago. It is the "Red Knight of Vienna." This is the original kit that was molded in red plastic. I bought it painted and soaked it in DOT3 brake fluid to remove the original paint job and repainted it. There is a 28mm BTD knight between them for size comparison.
I hope to get started on the "Gold Knight of Nice" next.

22 comments:

  1. Lovely work, as usual, Dean. Reminded me of our last Avis Dinasty King, Dom Sebastião, who disappeared at the Alcacer Quibir battle. He too was very fond of German armor, including a famous Peffenhauser one which can now be seen at the Armeria, in Madrid, Spain: http://realbeiralitoral.blogspot.pt/2011/08/armadura-de-el-rei-dom-sebastiao.html - our Spanish friends don´t very much agree... :) (sorry, the link shows pics of a very old magazine, in Portuguese only, but the images are quite nice - I hope!! Cheers!

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    1. Thank you much my friend. Thanks for the image - looks like it was inlaid with gold - very classy. Interesting way he disappeared from history too! Best, Dean

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  2. What a splendid model Dean and I love what you have done with it. It must be nice to mix the scales up, but my word this guy looks huge in comparison the smaller miniature.

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    1. I appreciate the nice comment, Michael. He's about 200mm or so. So big I haven't figured out how to photograph it well - the images are kind of blurry with the settings I normally use for 28mm stuff. Thanks as always, Dean

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  3. Beautiful craftsmanship on the armor, and very imposing miniature - not so "mini" though :0)

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    1. Thanks, Soren. Very true - can't imaging an retinue of these guys ;) Regards, Dean

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  4. Most impressive job Dean, most impressive job!

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    1. Thanks, Ray! I just unboxed the mounted Gold Knight of Nice and the horse is huge!

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  6. Very elegant armour and kit Dean with lovely painting as usual.

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    1. Thanks, Mike! Appreciate the visit and kind words. Best, Dean

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  7. Your black and white armor painting technique is first rate. The result is stunning.

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    1. Thanks, Jonathan; just something I've been wanting to do for a long time. Regards, Dean

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  8. Great look and work , i love it !
    Cheers .

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  9. Really splendid looking armour - looks real!

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  10. Thanks, Gents. Just a little diversion between 28mm projects. Best, Dean

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  11. This is of the best painted armor I ever seen! Absolute fantastic!

    Greetings
    Peter

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    1. Ah, you're too kind, Peter! Thanks for your compliments. Warm regards, Dean

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  12. You have a talent for painting armour as those models look superb. I was amazed at the size of them when you put them next to a 28mm figure, they are huge.

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    1. Thanks, Pat. I'm working on the mounted kit right now - and the horse is not only big, but really nicely sculpted. Best, Dean

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  13. He's terrific looking. I can't see any of the flaws you mentioned.

    I can't imagine painting something so large; it's bigger than a Forgeworld titan.

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