1. INTRODUCTION
First off I would like to point out that
this is not a site of historical learning, rather it is a free service
site for historical wargamers. The site contains computer generated flags
for miniatures wargamers. Although I would not state that the flags are
a definitive history of the banners they represent I do believe that they
are reasonably accurate or where speculation has been used they are at
least historically plausible. The flag I received a fair amount of email
on was the “piss on the British” revolutionary war flag. “Is that a real
flag?” I have been asked a dozen times. Well not that I can say definitely
but it certainly is historically plausible. I got the idea from the much
underrated Al Pachino film “Revolution” where in the Boston Harbor scene
(filmed in Kings Lynn, England) there are such slogans painted on the walls
of buildings by riotous mobs. Many of the slogans of the day were hand
painted onto silk and cotton banners and used as unofficial banners and
standards. Where such speculation has been used I have noted on the plates.
I started to create these a few years ago,
when I got tired of painting flags on foil. Although they are printed on
regular ink jet paper with a color ink jet printer they can be made to
appear very dynamic and realistic. This site contains full instructions
as to how to accomplish this.
The flags take quite a while to generate
and I do welcome contributions from viewers. Some viewers have assumed
that these are scanned from books or magazines. They are in fact generated
from scratch on the computer and start off as the standard style, which
is why this type appear first.
Although I recognize and acknowledge the
great contributions such scholars as Pat Condray and publications by Osprey,
Wargames Illustrated / Miniature Wargames and their contributors, Wargames
Research Group, and others have produced, I do not directly copy their
work but work from descriptions and illustrations they present. I will
not accept any images scanned from others’ work for this site..
The flags are © Copyright Ian Croxall
1995 – 2002. These flags are free for your own use for the purpose of decorating
miniature figurines. You may photocopy them for the use of friends without
their own computer access but please don’t sell them commercially or otherwise
use them for profit and discourage others from doing so. They may not be
used on other websites without my written consent. All creators of other
flags used on Warflag are credited on the page that displays the flags
and have been used here with their consent.
2. RESOLUTION
When I began doing the flags, the internet
was very young, computers were very slow by today’s standards, and a 40
MB hard drive was “big”. Consequently, those earlier flags are quite a
bit lower resolution than newer ones, and drawing programs were more primitive.
Newer generation flags are higher detail
and rendered. The old ones are left on the site as. I still use them. Back
to top of page.
3. A FEW NOTES ON FLAG DESIGN
In some flags I have used some artistic
license to alter small aspects of flags to make them more presentable.
I make no excuses for this because the ultimate end result I desire is
a good looking flag to complement a well painted figure. For the same reason
and to avoid pointless clutter that makes flags look muddy, I follow a
simple rule:- if it cant be seen from two feet away, don’t draw it. So
if you see a flag with a small device apparently missing from a center
field, for example , this may well be intentional.
With the newer ‘realistic’ flags (see ACW
and WSS lines) I have taken the originally drawn flag and simply replaced
the predominant background colors with a pre generated color swath that
was created by scanning a water color picture in white then using a graphic
program to color this to the desired colors.
I have received some email offering constructive
suggestions as to the actual color of a flag being a little off, particularly
the blue on British and US/CS flags. This is more artistic license. I find
that when printed, these colors look better that the more ‘realistic’ darker
colors. However, the images are deliberately created as bit map images
so that they can be edited in Windows Paint Program, where you can use
whatever color you think appropriate. The flags simply need to be converted
back from their Web site Gif format to a Bmp format using a graphics convertor.
You cannot do this however, with the “realistic’ images, unless you do
it pixel by pixel. Back to top of page.
4. RE-SIZING FOR DIFFERENT
SCALES
Once the images have been saved locally
to your hard drive, they can be opened and re sized in their existing format
a graphics graphics program.
However, the cost of color photocopying
has come down in price considerably in recent years. I would now suggest
printing the flags at their natural size and color photo reducing them
to the size you desire.
Photocopying at 62% will resize them for
15mm and 22% for 6mm figures.
Back to top of page.
Before printing the flags it is necessary
to save them locally to your computer. To save individual images just do
the following.
-
- Right Click on the image.
- Click “Save As”
- Save the flag using the default name to a
directory of your choice.
You can subsequently change the flag to a
file format of your choice with one of the many graphics utilities available
from the internet. Try www.download.com
for this.
With respect to colors, you will get the
best results using a quality ink jet paper. Do not use regular photo copy
paper, the colors will be too dull and the details will loose definition.
The best papers are those with a high clay content with a shiny surface
(however I didn’t get good results with photo quality paper). After printing,
because ink jet papers are water soluble you will need to seal the paper.
I use Krylon Acrylic Artists sealer, which should be available from an
office or art supplies store. This is prayed on and dries in minutes, then
the flag is ready to cut out and mount. I am sure there is some Brit’ and
French equivalent, and if some one has brand name they would like to suggest,
I would be happy to post it. To omit this sequence you can print with a
color laser printer or color photocopy the inkjet printed flags at a copy
store – they will not then need sealing. Back to top of
page.
6. WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE
A GOOD PRINTER?
Very nice results can be produced by printing
directly on a color Laser Printer. Various office supplies, at least here
in the US, offer printing services on color laser. Convert your images
to the image format the store requires and see what they can do for you.
Its still going to end up cheaper than many commercially available units.
Back
to top of page.
To mount the flags, coat the reverse side
of the flag with enough white glue, that the two halves will slide around
each other while you position them. Wrap and curl the flag back and forth
around a paint brush handle and generally shape until the desired effect
is obtained. You can hold the flag in position with objects placed around
it until it dries, after which it will be quite rigid and hold its dynamic
shape. If you want to get creative, for armies whose flags change during
the war, such as the English in the War of the Spanish Succession (after
the act of union), American Revolutionary War rebels and American Civil
War rebels (both of whose national flags changed almost yearly ) try the
following. While the flag is drying move it up and down the flag shaft
to prevent it sticking. After the flag has set it can then be removed from
its pole and the process repeated with the other style flag. This way,
the flags can be now interchanged and you can have the current flag flying
depending on the scenario being played.
To create pole cords you will need a few
stands of copper wire (from a few feet of stripped speaker wire). Put a
few strands together (the amount will depend on scale) and anchor one end
of the bunch to your painting desk with a thumb tack (drawing pin). Hold
the other end of the wires in the chuck of an electric screw driver or
variable speed drill. Rotate the drill slowly while pulling out he slack
and holding the bunch taught until the strands are tightly bound. What
you should have at this point is something that looks remarkably like scaled
down rope. Prime it black and dry brush the appropriate color. This also
makes good reigns for chariots and horses etc. It keeps it shape well.
For the French flags in the 18th century up to the American Revolution,
don’t use pole cords. They had scarves. For the War of Spanish Succession
use the pole scarves displayed with the French of the American Revolution
period (Small white strips above the colonels colors).
If you end up with a white strip around
the edges of the flag, mark it out the edge of the tip of a black felt
marker. Back to top of page.
As the flags are created in Windows Paint,
it is very easy to modify them using this program. After saving them locally,
convert them to a BMP file using a graphics convertor.
The flags can have such things as battle
honors easily added using the Text feature of Paint. Flags, in many armies
were very similar except for the background color which was often the facing
color for the regiment. This can easily be changed by using the ‘fill’
command in Paint. feel free to experiment. You can always copy it first
so that if you mess it up you can start again.
One viewer told me he likes to use the
‘Skew’ command to make his flags appear more drooped. Although I don’t
prefer this method I encourage you to experiment and find what works for
you.
Join the Warflag discussion page (link
from home page) for more advise and suggestions. Back to
top of page.