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Crusaders: Teutonic Knights in 1:30


 These are 1:30 (60mm) recast of the Italeri Teutonic Knights set, but only featuring four figure poses and two horse poses. The figures are molded in silver plastic with minimal paint applications of black or white. The horses also come molded either in black or in white with minimal painting on the horse furniture and bridle.


The Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum or the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, more popularly known as the Teutonic Order, was a German medieval military order formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The order also served as a crusading military order in the Middle Ages together with the other two orders of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers and the Templars. As early as 1192 they were endowed by Celestine III with the same privileges as the Order of St. John, whose hospital rule they adopted, and as the Order of the Temple, from which they borrowed their military organization.


The Knights wore white surcoats with a black cross. A cross pattée was sometimes used as their coat of arms; this image was later used for military decoration and insignia by the Kingdom of Prussia and Germany as the Iron Cross and Pour le Mérite. The motto of the Order was: "Helfen, Wehren, Heilen" ("Help, Defend, Heal").

More information on these knights here and here.


The figures are largish copies ofthe Italeri set of the same name. At 60mm, these figures dwarf the original figures ( which are 1:32) very noticeably. Cast in a soft plastic, I had a moderately hard time smoothing off the engraved details on the horses I wanted removed. It was a good thing that I had a very sharp knife as well as a motor tool with variable speed settings. Sanding this material at high speed would result in a fuzzy layer of plastic. By reducing the speed, I was able to eliminate most of the knife marks left from cutting away the unwanted details and contour the surface to match the original areas.




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