Knight of Minas Tirith

Since Christmas, I’ve actually found a little time (and even rarer) energy to do some painting. Sorting through my backlog of minis, I found two boxes of metal Knights of Minas Tirith that I picked up at the Historicon flee market some seven months ago. I got both boxes for $15!

It’s an interesting set. At some point, Games Workshop replaced the original boxes with a ful plastic version. I’ve got one of those as well (unpainted). The differences between the two sets are minor, with one exception. The plastic box set comes with shields whereas the metal one do not. Now, as it turns out, I think the models actually look better without shields, so it’s not a big deal.

There is one other issue I just had to deal with though. I hate long metal lances (and spears and pikes) because when they are cast in white metal, it is impossible to keep them straight. They invariably bend and no matter how much time you spend trying to straighten them out, they never quite look right again. So, for my first knight here, I cut the lance out of his hand. I then drilled out the hand and inserted a steel rod. It was a bit of a pain, but worth the trouble. Also troublesome was connecting the hand, with the new lance, to the wrist. I got a little carried away with the glue, so now the knight appears to have a heavy falconry glove on his right hand, but it’s a minor thing.

Normally, I don’t like painting cavalry, I just find the horses a pain, but I enjoyed this. I’ve always been a fan of knights in shining armour and this guy fits the bill!

Good thing, I suppose, since I have 18 more of these guys (I picked up an extra banner barer somewhere down the line). Combine that with the 6 Knights of Dol Amroth I’ve got (also unpainted) and someday I will be able to field a full Gondorian cavalry force!