Footsore Miniatures small and large Dark Ages shields

 Along with the bills of my previous post, I purchased both packs of small and large Dark Age shields on the Footsore Miniatures shop.

I intend to use them to convert Games Workshop's hobbit goblin warriors from the Hobbit series. The box contains 36 miniatures and I figured giving shields and spear to some of them will give them character and upgrade them to elite (relatively speaking).

I bought two sets of small and one of large.

Each pack contains 12 shields. All shields of wookd planking texture on the back. Small ones are mix wood planking and plain on the front while large ones are all wood planking texture on the front.

The first thing that surprized me is the size. Even the large shields are pretty small. Considering, shield of the period were around 70cm in diameter for the smallest and up to 90cm for the largest* those look pretty small compared to a 25~28mm miniatures. The shield of Maredudd ab Owain whose miniature came for free with my order has a much bigger shield.

Size comparison with a plastic French infantryman by Perry Miniatures.
Recto (large of the left and small on the right)

Verso (large of the left and small on the right)

Large shields measures about 1.2cm

Small shields measures about 1.1cm

Maredudd ab Owain's shield measure 1.5cm

The sculpt is good, the price is ok so if you're fine with the size go for it. Otherwise you might have to consider other manufacturer such as Victrix that released several shields packs in plastic for various antiquity and dark age factions at a very competitive price. Those measure between 1.4 and 1.6cm.

*(William R. Short and Reynir A. Óskarson, Men of Terror: A Comprehensive Analysis of Viking Combat. 352 pages. Westholme Publishing)