C is for Cross...of the Crusaders

Or B is for Box-ticker...using 'crusader' in a post title probably gets me on a Jihadi death-list somewhere! Nothing exiting, interesting or rare here today, just getting them in the tag-list - Timpo, Crusaders, polyethylene, swoppets, 54mm...job done!

First version; I prefer them to the second type, contrary - I'd agree - but that's the cost of having nostalgia for a mistress! The poses are a bit more wooden than the second type, but at least they look like they're wearing chain-mail unlike their battle-casualty replacements who...

...were clearly coated in polished steel-wire! They are the better poses, but they just leave me colder...sorry, 2nd type crusader fans!

Comparison between the two, and the various shield designs, the method of creating the arm-straps out of the rear of the red-cross became cleaner with each generation of design.

They both had mounted versions on standard Timpo horses, with the hook-over caparison. That's it - Timpo, Crusaders, polyethylene, Swoppets, 54mm...job done!