King Leopold II, that one by the Perry's

The second Crisis entry model we did, waaaaaaay back in 2006, was one of two (the first year Ambiorix wasn`t either) miniatures not sculpted by Paul Hicks for us.

No, he was sculpted by none other then the Perry's, you now, those (in)famous twins ;-)

Leopold II was the second king of Belgium, ruled our country from 1865 to 1909, and he was the one that gave Belgium his colony, Congo.  He is to this day still the longest reigning monarch we ever had.

Now, the Congo story was one of his very own, private initiative.  He became as such the sole owner of the country, and had enlisted Henry Morton Stanley to lay claim to the lands.  He used it for his personal enrichment, not tacking into account any "colonial rules", and eventually he was forced to relinquish control.

Now, the model itself comes with his typical squared beard, as he is depicted on most pictures of the colonial era.  It also has a nice touch in that he is holding a "Bolleke", a typically Antwerp beer (when at Crisis or in the city, taste it instead of all that Blonde Leffe, you won`t regret it!).  he wears the Grenadiers uniform, and I went to try and represent it as good as possible.

It`s a fantastic miniature, and as a lover of the Bolleke (my own favourite beer btw) it`s a nice touch that one is included.  And yes, to this day, it`s still my personal most favourite miniature we ever did...

BTW, this is the Bolleke: