Indian!!

The title of this post popped into my head from the wonderful TV series Goodness Gracious Me where in a series of sketches, an Indian father insists to his son that everything from Christianity to the British Royal Family are Indian......

https://youtu.be/8tw7LIykvBw

Many Indian Army formations and units fought in the desert in WW2, the first and most celebrated was Fourth Indian Division. For the period I am interested in at present, the three infantry brigades comprised a British and two Indian battalions, with lots of variations and substitution of entirely British brigades.

I have previously mentioned how, as a callow youth I encountered the Atlantic Indian Brigade plastics in the Toytub in Edinburgh, but passed up the opportunity to buy them, a decision regretted for many years. Had I bought them, I suspect I may have been disappointed.....

The pictures that follow are from the excellent Plastic Soldier Review website:

https://plasticsoldierreview.com/Index.aspx

It was the lurid (and inaccurate) box art which hooked me:

Unfortunately, as the PSR review makes clear, the accuracy, weaponry and animation leaves something to be desired....

What they do have are wonderful turbans!

For many years, that was all that was available aside from transplanting Indian heads onto British bodies or painting British figures with darker skin (most wore helmets in battle aside from Sikhs) or use metal - most ranges just have Sikhs though.

Strelets raised the bar by releasing a set:

The figures are mostly considerably more accurate with less silly poses, although as PSR remarks there are problems with some weapons...

Some figures are simply fantastic such as the radio operator. Like the Atlantic set, they suffer from a mix of turban types that would be unlikely to be seen in the same unit; the Indian Army was organised along regional / tribal lines, each with their own distinctive pagri as this C19th illustration depicts:

The only exception were Sikhs, who often formed companies in other battalions.

I was guided by the above and photos in The Tiger Strikes and the Tiger Kills (HMSO publications about the Indian army in WW2).

So I decided a little "Frankensteining" (or is it "Frakensteening"?) was in order and there followed an agony of lopping of heads, pins and sore thumbs.....

Glueing turned into a nightmare as some heads insisted on rising above the pin, despite lots of insertion and pressure. Gaps were filled with liquid green stuff and a coat of diluted PVA, some fettling and a spray undercoat / primer later we have:

Maharattas (note some figures have steel helmets on back or belt - I felt removing them would result in more problems to correct so used Pagri heads for them while the majority has steel helmet)

Punjabi -note two slight variations in turban

Atlantic do a nice Punjabi head, so I may convert another unit

Rajputs and Rajputana Rifles

Sikhs

There are lots of other useable figures from the Strelets box and a few from the Atlantic (with some more heads) and these will be used for the Indian Motor Brigade or squadrons of the CIH as well as possibly another Indian division.

Also, deciding I had not endured enough, I made the decision to increase the number of tank models - I'm finding 1 model per 30 tanks is a good ratio, allowing DAK to have a mix of types. Unable to find the other Hasegawa Stuart and after lots of deliberation, I dug out what had intended to be the HQ vehicles for each of the brigades.....

Fortunately, despite the Mirage model having rubber tracks, it also comes with 3D printed versions and the other two have moulded tracks / wheels. Sadly two do have lots of PE brass bits including side skirts.... as these are "proper" serious models....

I'm working on the idea that short weekends allow for more of this type of thing and some Contrast Paint  work and longer leave is best for the Soldier King project as it takes longer. I do however keep thinking I need to get more of the Italian Wars flats done.....

Modelling madness....

This week I have been mostly making 1/72nd kits of tanks......

My embryonic British desert forces for Operation Crusader received some reinforcements. The PSC Honeys are hugely overscale, so the only option I could find was an ancient Hasegawa model (I couldn't face another PSC model) - the idea being this would become the brigade HQ tank.

While hunting for reference material, I chanced upon a modelling site with a 1/35th version which may have influenced my subsequent actions.....

The Hasegawa model come with separate hull hatches and somewhat unadvisedly and ambitiously decided to model the driver hatch in an open position , realising belatedly that this may require an actual driver.....

A suitable donor was provided from the Airfix Quad and 25pdr kit, mounted on a seat from the spares box (probably Roco) and a lot of fettling followed to ensure he fit when the top hull was mounted....

The major challenge became the rubber tracks......foolishly I attempted to melt them together and then tried to use superglue to set them in a suitable position.......lets just say it was "challenging"!

Lots of details were added to the model to make it more British and the gun required some work to make it look right.

The horror that is the tracks when they eventually set....

Out of focus picture of the driver...

And when the top hull is in place, you can just see his face peering through the hatch if you look closely...... the important thing is I know he's there!

The Yeomanry of 22nd AB received a command Crusader, in this case Armourfast; despite miniature instructions and not obvious locating points it went together reasonably OK. I added various details and decided to scratchbuild an auxiliary MG turret - the turret hatch was modelled open so an Airfix Crusader was used as it was much nicer - initially I'd used the Airfix MG turret but it was too small. It will be donated to a Cromwell Combat Ready model mark I.

Scalewise, it's huge. Much bigger than the S-Model Crusaders, but not so big as to be jarring. The turret needed heightening after completion.

I was intending to add another A10 Cruiser - 7th AB had a mix of Crusaders and worn out cruisers - in the end I discovered I had the BEF model which is totally different, so the Airfix model came to the rescue as I couldn't face the amount of scratchbuilding required to convert the A10.

The Airfix model must have been at least 40 years old and came without instructions! The internet does have its uses and I found a PDF. I was hesitant as I know there are problems with the Airfix kit - lengthwise it is 1/72 but widthwise 1/76, the turret is too small and it had those rubber tracks - in this case very old rubber tracks....

Despite this, it went together very easily and even the tracks cooperated to some extent - I tried sewing them together with invisible thread - one worked, but the other split - I ended up melting more rubber to join them and lathering the join in superglue. Amazingly, they were slack enough to fir on the model without problems and were secured by more superclue and covered by the side skirts. Despite the issues with it, it seems to represent the worn-out crocks the 7th AB were equipped with....

The turret was modelled closed, using the Armourfast part and another MG turret was constructed. All in all it has turned out OK.

When I find time they will receive some lovely AB crew and various stowage. I have already spotted some bits I need to tweak....

A parade - Sinistria

Another Soldier King "army" completed; although it represents the entire strength of the Duchy, it's more of a contingent of 9 units.

The Duchy of Sinistria is a small province on the borders of Hrvatska and the Electoral states of the Empire; as it has no Electoral city, I see it as nominally part of the greater Imperial states but independent and non-aligned. Originally, I had planned for an army half the size, but realised it's precarious position meant it was at risk on invasion and conquest; coupled with a revised mechanism for recruitment, a doubling of the force was necessary.

By the time I got to devising a uniform scheme for Sinistria, I was running out of ideas. A chance discovery in the Blandford "Uniforms of the Soldiers of Fortune" of a Dragoon in black uniform - a member of the short-lived Freikorps von Favrat was enough - the name of the duchy with it's hint of "sinister" seemed to confirm the choice of black as a uniform colour.

The rest followed easily; the family names of personalities tend to follow colours or colour related words in German; hence the Landgraf became Augustus Maximillian Schwartz with his army of the "Black Brigades". The heraldry was a mix of black, red and yellow which determined the flag colours; the heraldic symbol was originally a head - griffon perhaps? This morphed into a Griffon or Dragon. The Landgraf's rolled up character was that of an honour conscious, arrogant and corpulent individual. Out came the Fimo and a suitable "Grotesque" was sculpted - in fact he came out quite well, my "eye" being definitely "in" as it were due to multiple sculpts around this time. 

Instead of a Freikorps, it was expanded into Dragoon regiments, musketeers, hussars and Pandours and artillery were added using Russian uniforms as inspiration. The Grenadiers all had head swaps (and Greenstuff additions) from the AWI plastic range added by Peter Johnstone - smaller than the original SSM but with Prussian style mitres. The Hussars were conversions to mirlitons - some old figures acquired in a host of plastics with odd bits of red and black enamel and individual names / ID on their bases - true veterans of some childhood battles! With a black undercoat, painting was relatively quick.

Due to his "corpulence" the names of units were derived from meat and fish dishes....there are not enough place names in the Duchy!

Landgraf Augustus Maximilian Schwartz von Sinistria

Son - Furst or Markgraf von Sinistria

Von Lorch and Von Monzel

The Leber and Truthahn Gragoons

Kopfel Hussars

Schnitzel and Wurst Regiments

Katenspeck and Schinken Regiments

Kabeljau Pandours

Artillery

The army on parade

And in their storage box

I am often asked "when will we see them in a battle?" Sadly, I still have more painting to do as well as buildings to construct (Schreiber and other East European card buildings). Add to which, I have nowhere currently to play. While the completion of Sinistria is a milestone in the Soldier King project - only Dupanen remains of the states - I also need to complete some "rebels" who will also double as civilian militia and bot Estavia and the Electoral states need expanding, Estavia having another brigade of infantry some cavalry and grenze to paint.

Perhaps a project for retirement?

Where did that month go? Scorchio and Sinistria...

Alarmingly I noted a couple of weeks ago that my last post was at the start of the month...

However, I've been struggling  to post anything, as Chez Moi it has not been that interesting....

In between work and an unseasonable heat wave in the UK,  I had done little more than finish off preparing the last two proper "armies" for  the Soldier King project; while in itself that's something of a milestone, sadly I'm still some way from finishing the project.

I have been converting some figures for "rebels" (a random event in the game) who will also do as civilian militia. Finalising the recruitment system, it does mean some armies are not yet at maximum size, notably the Electoral states and Estavia. The latter needs another brigade of infantry and an additional cavalry unit, the former is undecided.

Braving the heat (to paraphrase the Fast Show -"Scorchio!) and  the perils of paint drying on the palette or brush before reaching the figures, I have managed some painting. I didn't bring out my home made wet palette - I find it dilutes the paint which is problematic for block painting on a black undercoat in a toy soldier style.

The first unit of Sinistria has mustered out, infantry with retained Grenadiers (head conversions). The army is heavily based of Freikorps von Favrat - a short lived Prussian FK - gunners and LI will mimic Russian units - add in the concept of the Black Brunswickers in the Napoleonic wars and you have the "Black Brigades" of Sinistria....

I'm hoping for a "quick win" on this army, as with a black undercoat, coats, hats and gaiters are already done...

Hopefully, more soon....

Progress report and new temptations

Progress on the Soldier King project continues - the small armies of Sinistria and Dupanen have been cleaned up, prepared and in the case of Sinistria (bar one foot regt - due to a miscalculation) undercoated in black. Dupanen suffered delays as during preparation I broke bits off two hussars and standard bearer and a grenadier - brittle plastic - always a hazard with these old figures.

Fortunately I have the uniforms and flags mapped out to some extent so unlike Waldow, I should be able to get on with them relatively quickly. Both are small armies of 8 units + gun and staff.

After that, I have some rebels / militia to convert and finish (some are already done), Estavian and Imperial additions which should fill the existing boxes. Anything after that would be as a result of campaigns - before anyone asks - it's planned but I currently lack anywhere to actually play games....

As a further distraction / temptation, I have discovered a new range of figures for the French Wars of Religion - Hugenots v Catholics, Reiter, Landesknecht in Plunderhosen, Millers, battle of Dreux and all that...

I have been vaguely interested since seeing an article in an early edition of Battle for Wargamers magazine and a little while ago was musing over the early Wargames Foundry wars of Religion range and Essex Miniatures Spanish in the way that wargamers do....

The new range are from Pete Smith, well known for his marvellous flags:

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?item=256946546227&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l161211&_ssn=petes_flags

They are apparently nearer to 18mm than 15mm, at present only infantry are available but when I contacted Pete he sent me some pictures of greens for the cavalry sent to the mould maker - artillery and more cavalry, Millers, Spanish etc to follow. At present on eBay, Pete is setting up a dedicated webstore and sells via another platform.

Pictures from eBay and Pete Smith.

French, Landesknecht and Royal Swiss foot - shot, pike and command, see eBay for pack contents and prices.

 

Pete tells me he is trying to resist doing Irish! He already has a Flodden Scots range in 28mm.

I'm trying to resist but I have a feeling some of these may make their way into the lead pile....