Robin Hood - The Archery Tournament Contestant

We all know and remember the scene from every good Robin Hood tale where Prince John and the Sheriff concoct a plan to lure Robin in the open by organising an archery tournament and counting on his pride to join in. Well, I picked up this banged up Del Prado Hundred Years War longbow archer and while his attire worked for the setting, I didn't quite picture him as one of the merry men, so I decided to make him one of the other hopeful contestants (who, unlike Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham, did not count on facing Robin Hood in the tournament).

Some minor conversions were done to get him ready: the long knife and buckler hanging from his belt were replaced with a leather pouch and a broken arrow point was replaced, but other than that, he was good to go (after stripping what remained of the paint). The original colours made him look too much like a soldier and not enough like a commoner trying his luck, so I had to change it. For a suitable colour scheme I rewatched the scene from the Errol Flynn movie and tried to get something with the same feel. A few details were copied from the Merry Men figures, like the bow colour and arrow fletching.

A comparison of the original figure (mine was a cheap loose copy, with chipped paint), next to the repaint.

Del Prado Crécy archer: original and repainted version

As long as Robin Hood doesn't show his face, that golden arrow will be mine!

The Del Prado figures fit very well with the King & Country figures size and stylewise

Do you have a minute to talk about our Lord and Saviour Robin?