Francisco Pizarro, Conquistador

Last year I started a new project in addition to my fantasy medieval collection: real historical persons. The plan is to create some well known personalities through history ~2000 B.C. til ~1800 A.D.  

I just finished the first one (more or less, he still needs a better sword): Francesco Pizarro (1476-1541), Conquistador, "Scourge of the Incas"
Here are some reference pictures:



Anyone interested in his background might give this a read, I tried to make it short  :mrgreen:  :
Also excuse my english, I'm far better in reading than writing

Once upon a time...there was a time of explorers and seafarers. It was around the time of Cristobal Colon and his discovery (or rediscovery if we don't discard Leif Eriksson) of America (1492).  This was also the time of spaniard Francisco Pizarro (1476-1541). Just turned nineteen years old he already went to the New World, Panama, in 1502. In 1513 he was among the first Europeans getting to the pacific ocean coming westwards - exploring the south american coastline.

After the fall of the aztec empire in "Mexico" to fellow spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez, Pizarro got the official permission from the king of spain for a similar mission to the southern part of America. In search for glory and well...gold! greed was Pizarros best friend and after some failed expeditions he really found some poor inhabitants with big treasure halls - the Incan Empire.

Quick few on the map to not get confused with Maya, Aztec and Inca:




Well the rest is history...greed, superior weapons, desease and some tricks helped him to defeat all of the Inca civilization.  
Like just a few hundred spanish soldiers were enough.
But some my call it at least a small "happy ending" - Pizarro got murdered in 1541 by his own men in fight for power and gold.
Still the damage was done, but for Spain the conquest of middle and big parts of southern america was helping them becoming one of the most powerful countries in the world for a certain time.

Typical Inca walls, still standing to this day:


The inca walls were special: They formed the rocks in a way they perfectly fit onto each other - no mortar was used. A bit like big scale Lego  



I made a base for Pizarro trying to copy the Inca wall style:



Inca base

Francesco Pizarro:

Like I said before, he is not perfect as he would need a more realistic sword. Still happy how he turned out.
The helmet is a print I got from the one and only - Ovy   The torch got made by a friend.

Looks very good.
Does the torch have a LED in it?

Lovely photographs, dio and figure!

TravelGuide wrote:Looks very good.
Does the torch have a LED in it?

The torch has a LED and rechargeable battery. It doesnt glow very bright but if everything is dark it looks cool

That turned out awesome. Love the details, and the helmet (good job Ovy). And that backdrop/diorama base is really great. Excellent work all around.

Looks really good, love the background, I'll admit not one of my favourite historical characters but I do like to see lesser known historical figures and the history behind them.

WOW! You got me at the base/backdrop. And then the figure. Frankly, one is overwhelmed by so much goodness that I don't think anyone (except maybe Dan) would notice the slightly fantastical sword before you get a chance to swap it with a more realistic one. Love that your interpretation of the historical figure tries (and I think succeeds, as far as possible) to recreate history, not some over-the-top fantasy (heck, TBLeague would probably have gotten even the sex wrong). Great job on the helmet, Ovy. You guys work well together.

GubernatorFan wrote: (and I think succeeds, as far as possible) to recreate history, not some over-the-top fantasy (heck, TBLeague would probably have gotten even the sex wrong).

They'd call her Francesca Bizarro.

Looks pretty good to me. It is nice to see more historical characters.

Valiarde, every single creation you make and share here absolutely blows my mind!! On top of the attention to detail, you have a very eye-catching and professional looking style. Nothing looks kitbashed -- rather, everything looks like it was made at the same time and is supposed to go together. That's really impressive.

Delanie wrote:Looks really good, love the background, I'll admit not one of my favourite historical characters but I do like to see lesser known historical figures and the history behind them.

Thanks, I know he is probably not a fan favourite given how he is best known as a kind of mass murderer - but he did leave some footprints in the book of history and thus, he made it in my cabinet of historic persons. Since I'm not a tailor and also interested in ancient warfare, there aren't too many characters to choose from - most of them will be on the bloody side.  

GubernatorFan wrote:WOW! You got me at the base/backdrop. And then the figure. Frankly, one is overwhelmed by so much goodness that I don't think anyone (except maybe Dan) would notice the slightly fantastical sword before you get a chance to swap it with a more realistic one. Love that your interpretation of the historical figure tries (and I think succeeds, as far as possible) to recreate history, not some over-the-top fantasy (heck, TBLeague would probably have gotten even the sex wrong). Great job on the helmet, Ovy. You guys work well together.

Hey GF glad you like the figure and also my little backdrop   . While I try to get some historical facts correct and don't overdue the - how you called it - over the top fantasy trope, I can't promise and also don't want to be 1000% spot on. I still like my figures to carry a bit of my own ideas and presentation. I don't want museum realism. But I found it very cool to get so much community feedback about some parts of his outfit and weapons on the two platform I posted this one. We have a great 1/6 community with many experts on historical facts

TravelGuide wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote: (and I think succeeds, as far as possible) to recreate history, not some over-the-top fantasy (heck, TBLeague would probably have gotten even the sex wrong).

They'd call her Francesca Bizarro.

LOL

shazzdan wrote:Looks pretty good to me. It is nice to see more historical characters.

Thank you shazzdan, I know it is not perfect, but I'm especially glad you like it - with all your knowledge on history like with your helpful tips in the "Saladin" thread.

skywalkersaga wrote:Valiarde, every single creation you make and share here absolutely blows my mind!! On top of the attention to detail, you have a very eye-catching and professional looking style. Nothing looks kitbashed -- rather, everything looks like it was made at the same time and is supposed to go together. That's really impressive.

Awww thank you so much skywalkersaga. Glad you like my style of photography. I know some others like a bit more...realism...for their pictures of action figures. "Show me how it looks like standing on a shelf taken with a iphone. No filters plz!"
I for one prefer to place some controlled lighting for a more flashy look



In general, I had much joy creating this figure, doing research on his background, discussion options with friends like "which HS do you like more: A or B?" weathering the figure, creating gloves or collecting parts to kitbash. In the end, there is hardly a better hobby for times like these, were you can barely leave your house.  

Fantastic figure. Ovy's helmet is great too. The the technology of the new world is one of those things we sadly not hear too much about, the real walls are a marvel of skill and engineering and the one you made captures it very well.

Pizzaro looks great too, thankfully he's not travelling and fighting in the caribbean or else I'm sure he would suffer a heat stroke.