THE ZENGIDS Seljuk Cavalry Painted Strelets figures miniatures 1/72 25mm medieval arab nomadic crusades wargaming

 At last I manage to finish some project, fully, succesfully and completely!

I wanted to paint something, and hence I gave a look at my various boxes. The set that more needed a painting was the Seljuk Cavalry, as they are almost identical as the Arab Cavalry from Strelets (so much I had to recheck on PSR who was who!) and for wargaming this is very annoying. I preferred to keep the Arab Cavalry as it was for the moment, and hence paint the Seljuks to enhance their "seljukicity"  :P .

While looking at them it struck me they were not completely fitting for me what I would understand as Seljuks. Call me picky, but I would imagine them more nomadic and slim. These, hence, suggested me something later, and much more arabic.

Hence with a bit of research I decided to paint them as Zengids, which was a Beylik, a small state loosely under the Seljuk authority, of Seljuk ethnicity but quite mixed with arabic influence, based in Mosul. They fought against the Crusaders taking Edessa most famously.

They fitted inside what one would call Seljuk, and it's quite impossible nobody releases a set of Zengids proper, hence perfect  :-) .

So, I applied mainly yellow-orange-maroon, with some touches of nomadic blue and dark colours.

Once finished the painting, they struck me as much too clean, and hence I used Games Workshops inkings, that while not wonderful, they give a good sense of realism, and they give a bit of varnish protection too, which allowed me to skip that tedious phase.

As a bonus, I did a small foot archer  :-) .

The highlight of them, is I believe, the chrome paint. I used a marker, and so I painted two swords and the masked seljuk.

Hope you like them and would love to read your impressions  :P .

Nubians Caesar Painted 1/72 25mm soldiers miniatures figures Nubia Kush

 

I managed to photograph some other soldiers this week , and now I am only left to take pics of some Medieval Russians, of all the pre-gunpowder soldiers I have painted. As the theme is hardly suited for this hot conditions, I think I will leave those to take pictures much later or in studio .

Anyway, lets get into details;

Browsing which figures I should paint, of my myriad of soldiers, a good few years ago, I chose the Nubians, as I had too many ancients in dark green, that made wargaming battles awkward, and so that they look more proper, as they are some of the soldiers that improves more when painted. The set is a bit on the boring side, and so I made a few modifications. My principal criticism is that the figures themselves, the faces don't look african, they look to me a bit semitic. In this respect, I prefer the Hat Nubians, at least for the faces.

Anyway, the main modifications was making a diplomat, as in some egyptian frescoes, and giving some weapons besides archers, as they had to battle with something when in close combat! far too many archers! and I tried to break a bit the uniformity, main issue with Caesars, reducing or adding feathers, etc.

Without further ado, the Nubians! in battle against Nuba peoples, which although very similar, must not confused with them , depicting some of the battles in their southern frontiers, lost now to history. These are Airfix and Hat figures, which I will properly take pictures at some other time .

 

 

 ---

 

 

 

 ---

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 

 ---

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 --- 

 

 

 

 --- 

 

Review; Monty's Caravan + Dingo Revell Matchbox 1/76 model kit vehicle afv

Welcome to one of the most singular model kits ever made, the private vehicle of General Montgomery himself.

The Box 

The original box, which is lively, but that green looks a bit strange in what seems apparently a desert road. Maybe it is Italy, but all the same that green colour looks American to me.

The Revell new box is dull, you hardly realize what it is until you read the title, although the black gives a nice sensation of quality.

The Kit 

In the Revell reissue, the flash is quite noticeable, and nearly all parts will require some sanding to look good and fit ok. Some pieces are a bit tiny to handle, as it is again a 1/76 kit. 
The details are slightly thick everywhere, which wouldn't so bad in 1/72, but in 1/76 is more noticeable. What is best of this set are the extras, you get three generals, a big stand, barrels and top to make a table and traffic barriers. This is what I call a good set, and not all these modern kits where you only get exactly one vehicle and nothing else whatsoever. 

Parts fit generally well, the wheels cannot be made to turn without major modification as in most Matchbox kits. I will add that Revell instructions are quite badly done, and you are left wondering what some parts are and how they should be stuck, without help of internet.

The Verdict

For a start  I have to say that I am a Montgomery fan and I love everything related with him  and his campaigns so it is very hard to be impartial here .WW2 specific vehicles are rare to be seen in the modelling world specially in 1:72 (except those standard vehicles that include the militar codes for that general in particular; like Rommel's halftrack) so this italian captured lorry modified as staff lorry for the personal use of Montgomery is a really interesting subject and a must  to complete your 8th army collection.

We cannot also forget the small but very used in combat Dingo light armed vehicle, one of those vehicles that you can't find easily from any other manufacturer  although Britain won the war!!!(if it was german we will be flooded with kits of this vehicle).

For those that also like to make small dioramas or make improvements in interior kits this will be a nice addition for their collection as the interior of the lorry only includes a small bench table.

Accuracy; 6/10, Acceptable.
Mould quality; 6/10, Acceptable. (Revell release)
Difficulty level; 5/10, Moderately easy.
Price/Quality; 7/10 Good, today Revell's reissue should be easy to find and well priced.

My version

This is a particular vehicle, so if you don't modify the lorry to retransform into the regular Italian army version, there is only sandy for North Africa/Italy or green for the european theatre. As you can see in the pics, I went for the sandy version, depicting Italy (as the base is quite difficult to believe it is in North Africa), and I did some interioring work, creating a small bed and a bathroom. I did this many years ago, before knowing the uses of epoxy putty, so I used Patcolor (a self-drying plasticine sold by Jovi) as a putty to recreate the interior.

If you have read and enjoyed this review, I will greatly appreciate that you make 1 or 2 clicks on the ads on this blog, that will help me in keep making more reviews! (if you can't see the advertising just turn off Adblock or add this blog to the exemption list)




Photos

Review; Airfix Scorpion / Scimitar Tank 1/76 Model Kit Modern British light tank

Welcome to another modern tank review, today a classic as the Scorpion from Airfix.

          The Box 

Back in the day I always that it was attacking backwards, with the turret turned back. Rather strange box, with very brownish colours all around. Not really very exciting, as I have seen it thousands times and only recently decided to buy this kit (and possibly because I had built everything else in the model shop!). The super reduced small box doesn't help either.

Even if built to regular standard without nothing fancy, I rather better the second box, looks more interesting and shows a nicer camo. 

  The Kit 

It's not the worst of Airfix AFV kits, but of course you can expect that most of the detail is quite basic. All the same it builds quite nicely, much better than others. As all other Airfix AFV kits, it is 1/76, so it builds into a very small kit, which is annoying for wargamers. There is alternative parts to build the Scimitar tank, with different cannon and some turret details. It is a kit that if you feel fast, you could build 4 in an afternoon. Sadly there is no driver nor crew. One of the worst aspects are the tracks, which are quite thick and low in detail, and the wheels, with very simplified details.


                                        The Verdict

A good kit to spend an afternoon, but nothing challenging, not for a superb display piece, maybe for a battle dioramas and good to build numbers in wargaming.

Accuracy; 6/10, Acceptable.
Mould quality; 7/10, Good. (1990s release)
Difficulty level; 2/10, Easy.
Price/Quality; 7/10 (dirt cheap and easy to find).

My version

There is plenty of mild interesting modern camouflages, but I found that the most interesting was the cubist urban camouflage for the Berlin deployed forces. To give it a different I cutted out the metal foil of a tea packaging to represent the glass in the light focus over the turret.



If you have read and enjoyed this review, I will greatly appreciate that you make 1 or 2 clicks on the ads on this blog, that will help me in keep making more reviews! (if you can't see the advertising just turn off Adblock or add this blog to the exemption list)




Photos

As alternatives, you can take a look at this other interesting pictures;