Andrea Miniatures Viking - Which Century?

[fmenardi]

Hello!
I've got my first viking figure, a 54mm figure from Andrea Miniatures (see images below). It is a great item with a lot of beautiful details, but does not come with instructions about colours or historical background. So, I would like to know if the viking is from the 9th or 10th century. Any help?
Thank you in advance!
Best wishes for a merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!
Fabrício

 

[housecarl]

The helmet looks similar to this.
So ca. 970 AD.
All the best Fabrício,
Carl.

 

[Ulrich]

The colours are ok. If you use colours like brown, green, red, yellow, blue but as faded colours you can do nothing wrong. If you will make a sign on the shield that could be a problem. As I know until know there is no evidence of such emblems on the shield. They had found rests of colours on shields and if you have a look at the bayeux tapestry you can see that they use colours for the shields. But no symbols. So you must decide it.
If you can get the book "Die Wikinger. Krieger Seefahrer Händler" from Carl Schulze and Torsten Verhülsdonk you will find there many, many good reference photos. But it is in "German"

 

[MCPWilk]

We must remember that all weapons in those days were hand forged, and not mass produced in large factories. Weapons, helmets and mail would be handed down the generations or taken from dead comrades or enemies. The only piece of kit with a relatively short lifespan was the shield, but even so the basic design went on for centuries rather than decades. Your figure could therefore easily come from either the 9th or 10th century, or possibly from the 8th or 11th centuries as well (http://www.militarymodelling.com/forums/postings.asp?th=66533).

Mike

 

[Mark S]

I don't mean to be too mean but you can take your pick of centuries when it comes to most Viking figures I feel. The majority border on fantasy anyway,.... I'd expect to last at best 27 seconds if I was involved in a sharp bladey altercation whilst clad in a heavy, wet, furry cloak that kept wrapping around me getting in the way.
OK now a can feel a rant coming on.....ooo000h here it comes ~........ That applies to many, many, many other figures as well. Only those characters with a certain death wish would engage in combat whilst magnificently wrapped in a heavy cloak flowing in the wind and flapping around their sword hand rendering it useless and providing a simple means of strangulation for your enemy....And why is it that every mounted figure across the planet sits astride an imposing, muscle bound, throughbred horse?..regardless of the evolution of breeding horses on each continent. Historical illustrations show the puny ponies Normans fought on, as well as the Mongols and many others, such as heavily clad Knights on long lost breeds of very large strong horses. But every figure almost without exception shows a full sized modern day racing steed and another thing!............Hey! who are you??.why are you placing that bag over my head??!!..........(muffled noises)...............................................................................................................

 

[Johan Kees]

(...) And why is it that every mounted figure across the planet sits astride an imposing, muscle bound, throughbred horse?..regardless of the evolution of breeding horses on each continent. Historical illustrations show the puny ponies Normans fought on, as well as the Mongols and many others, such as heavily clad Knights on long lost breeds of very large strong horses. But every figure almost without exception shows a full sized modern day racing steed and another thing! (...)

You are quite right Mark. However, I am pretty sure that most of us would decline buying a mounted figure put on a smaller but historical correct horse. It probably would look completely out of scale and proportion. I think the same principle applies to many accessories too. Our mind is programmed to like objects that are well proportionate and blend in in a bigger picture.

Jhan

 

[MCPWilk]

Historical illustrations show the puny ponies Normans fought on, as well as the Mongols and many others, such as heavily clad Knights on long lost breeds of very large strong horses. But every figure almost without exception shows a full sized modern day racing steed and another thing!...........

I know it's a bit off topic but this is especially true of the horses ridden in the Crimea. Even the Officers' chargers were fairly miserable looking beasts, not magnificent hunters (http://www.old-picture.com/crimean-war/000/Grenadier-Guards.htm).

Happy modelling, it's certainly an action posed figure.

Mike

 

[ubbi]

here you can find a lot of interesting stuff about viking
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/text/history.htm

 

[fmenardi]

Hi there, guys!
Thank you very much for the help and the interesting sites and discussion.
All the best,
Fabrício