Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Colonial Adventures => Topic started by: Will Bailie on April 01, 2009, 04:46:06 PM
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I'm looking to start painting forces for the NWF, and I'm looking for opinions about who makes the "best" Pathans - best being your opinion, of course. And as I'm somewhat remote from any shops right now, a good mail order service is a must!
Thanks in advance
Will
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Foundary do nice ones , also Old Glory , not as good but more variety
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Foundry. But there's only about 20 of them. I supplement with Baluchis and a few Sikh wars figures.
Personally I'm not that keen on the Old Glory ones.
See my NW Frontier gallery here... http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?action=gallery;su=user;cat=78;u=577
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I will echo Captain here one of their best ranges to date
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Castaway Arts have a very nice range of Pathans an I've seen these in the flesh. Ask Hammers what he thinks as I sent him some!
Askaris Miniatures also have a small range which looks nice.
Helen
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The Castaways are serviceable but nowhere near as nice as their NWF Brits and Indian army figures alas. Some oddish poses, rather stiff and the faces are a little primitive IMO. Still the more the merrier.
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Some more useful types from Tiger Miniatures!
http://www.tigerminiatures.co.uk/page9.htm
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Not wanting to be the eternal naysayer, but having had experience of some Tiger Miniatures figures recently (I'm actually working on some now) I can only say... Never Again!
Not only are they manufactured from some kind of metal that is totally impervious to all tools known to man (making cleaning them up the most tedious experience I have ever had the misfortune to endure), but they really are some of the most hideously mishapen trolls ever sculpted.
I was planning to use their Balkan Wars Bulgarians to do Salonika (Great War). Well, now this project has been abandoned.
Sorry for the harsh words, but I really, really, really do not like Tiger Miniatures' figures since I have actually had to work on them. It has been an experience that has almost put me off the hobby altogether, I've had a thoroughly demoralising time with the damn things.
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I use a mix of Foundry and Old Glory Pathans. Both fit nicely together. The Old Glory Pathans have a large variety in poses.
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Thanks for the advice everyone. It seems that everyone and his uncle produce some sort of nineteenth century British soldier, and almost as many make Indian army (but try and find a sepoy who ain't a Sikh!), but when it comes to the armed opposition, it's a bit of a trial!
I think I'll start with the Castaway figures as they look the best in the photos. If my credit card can handle the impact, I might follow up with some Foundry.
Cheers!
Will
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Sorry for the harsh words, but I really, really, really do not like Tiger Miniatures' figures since I have actually had to work on them. It has been an experience that has almost put me off the hobby altogether, I've had a thoroughly demoralising time with the damn things.
Mmm. Now that's a concern as I was thinking of getting some. Any one else have personal experience of their figures :?
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Sorry for the harsh words, but I really, really, really do not like Tiger Miniatures' figures since I have actually had to work on them. It has been an experience that has almost put me off the hobby altogether, I've had a thoroughly demoralising time with the damn things.
Mmm. Now that's a concern as I was thinking of getting some. Any one else have personal experience of their figures :?
I have several lots of their figures, mostly Greek of Balkan wars.
I am happy with them [you can see some photos posted somewhere in the forum or see:
http://s320.photobucket.com/albums/nn335/argsilverson/wargaming/
I have seen some turks and I also have some German colonials. Some of them are great figures!!!
Some of the first issues have some problems but the newest releases are very good one and are getting better with the newer releases.
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By playing around with the shopping carts, I see that I was unduly harsh on Foundry prices. If I get the Hill Tribes Horde deal, the price works out almost the same as ordering the equivalent number of Castaway Pathans. That is, of course, using the 'Rest of World' shipping rate. Foundry is certainly not making any friends in Europe by charging approx 25% extra for the privilege of ordering in Euros!
I know that Foundry mail order is very good, as is Askari - can anyone comment on mail order from Tiger or Castaway?
I'm not terribly keen on paying Old Glory shipping rates, though - while it is nice to have the security of United Parcel Service, the shipping charges more than double the cost of the minis.
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I believe that Old Glory will ship via other methods if you ask. That said, the Foundry models are very nice.
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Castaway do good mailorder service , about a week to U.K. ( BETTER THAN SOME U.K. FIG FIRMS I COULD MENTION !!)
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Gerry at Castaway ships very quickly. You can order from him with confidence!
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I was also shocked to see OG shipping rates to germany. After i sent an email I received another shipping rate.
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I have Old Glory, Foundry, Tiger, Castaway Arts, Askari, & some old hinchcliffe & assorted others. The Foundery & Castaway Arts are the nicest. But the Old Glory are the best buy. I bought a bunch to split with another gamer so I wouldn't have too much duplication, this range is so full of variety that I could have kept the whole bunch. The Tiger figures are over sized the poses are a little ackward & the metal is thin & brittle. But they don't look too bad painted up.
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Thanks, all for the great advice.
I've made my first order - now to see how the package service is here! I finally decided to start with Castaway - once those are painted I may supplement them with Foundry.
Cheers!
w
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I also mix in figures from various Mogel & some ancient or medieval lines.
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Castaway Arts have a very nice range of Pathans an I've seen these in the flesh. Ask Hammers what he thinks as I sent him some!
Askaris Miniatures also have a small range which looks nice.
Helen
I certainly concur that, although Lady H would not sue such vulgarities, they are the shit. Cptn Blood once told me that they have banana appendices, and I may agree to a very slight degree but this is more than adequately compensated by other characteristics.
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Does anyone know of a manufacturer who produces 20th century NWF tribesmen to fight the British in the 1920s/30s. I already have tribesmen with older weapons, but I want to augment them with figure with with (captured or smuggled?) bolt-action rifles and preferably wearing bandoliers.
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I have researched this quite a bit and you do very well with Pathans with Martini rifles and jezzails even in that era. The tribes used predominantly (stolen) British weapons (although they'd take anything) but there was a fair amount of guns the manufactured today. Lee-Metfords/Enfields were rarities among the tribesmen according to my books.
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Does anyone know of a manufacturer who produces 20th century NWF tribesmen to fight the British in the 1920s/30s. I already have tribesmen with older weapons, but I want to augment them with figure with with (captured or smuggled?) bolt-action rifles and preferably wearing bandoliers.
In a post of last year I proposed to contact and order some pathans, dressed and equipped for the 20'-30's from Eureka,( 100 series ) if you have interest contact Nick, he should reach 10 people and 100 figs in total.
Piero
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There is always this being offered on the wargames factory site.
http://www.wargamesfactory.com/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=40555 (http://www.wargamesfactory.com/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=40555)
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Not wanting to be the eternal naysayer, but having had experience of some Tiger Miniatures figures recently (I'm actually working on some now) I can only say... Never Again!
Not only are they manufactured from some kind of metal that is totally impervious to all tools known to man (making cleaning them up the most tedious experience I have ever had the misfortune to endure), but they really are some of the most hideously mishapen trolls ever sculpted.
Still catching up after failing to check the forum for some time...
It's interesting that you came to this conclusion. I ordered the Tiger Pathans back when they first came out, in an attempt to add some variety to the collection of Foundry figures. I was somewhat disappointed. They're not that far off in size, but the style and casting quality just aren't as nice as Foundry. I have set them aside for now, and will probably paint them if I live long enough, but there's not much about them that cries to be moved to the head of the painting queue.
Being more moderate in choice of words than Plynkes may be a first, but I share his unhappiness.
Allen
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Not wanting to be the eternal naysayer, but having had experience of some Tiger Miniatures figures recently (I'm actually working on some now) I can only say... Never Again!
Not only are they manufactured from some kind of metal that is totally impervious to all tools known to man (making cleaning them up the most tedious experience I have ever had the misfortune to endure), but they really are some of the most hideously mishapen trolls ever sculpted.
Still catching up after failing to check the forum for some time...
It's interesting that you came to this conclusion. I ordered the Tiger Pathans back when they first came out, in an attempt to add some variety to the collection of Foundry figures. I was somewhat disappointed. They're not that far off in size, but the style and casting quality just aren't as nice as Foundry. I have set them aside for now, and will probably paint them if I live long enough, but there's not much about them that cries to be moved to the head of the painting queue.
Being more moderate in choice of words than Plynkes may be a first, but I share his unhappiness.
Allen
I appreciate frank and even harsh reviews of miniatures. I was also planing on adding some Tiger Pathans and Afghans but I will snow save myself some annoyance.
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I feel I should point out that my experience is with the Tiger Schutztruppe figures (specifically the foot troops, who have big hands and crude, ogre faces - the mounted camel guys are actually quite nice), rather than the Pathans. I was talking about Tiger generally. Argsilverson seems to think the quality is improving, so maybe the Pathans are better, and more like the camel riders.
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...so maybe the Pathans are better, and more like the camel riders.
According to aecurtis unfortunately no.
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I can't really say, as I only have the Pathans firing. I had passed on ordering the Schuetztruppen later, as the online photos did not fill me with confidence. Looking back at the Pathans online, I think I should have known better, as their photo looks rather worse!
The Camel Corps photo is suffuciently small that it gives nothing away...
Allen
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My Pathans arrived this week! A nice big batch of foot and cavalry from Castaway. Gerry is a real gent to deal with and will be getting more of my business soon. It will be good to have something to do indoors (with the lovely AC) when it is too hot to be outdoors.
Cheers
W
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I have been trying to find the Foundry Pathans at their website but with no luck. Does
anyone have a direct link to them? I have been wishing to purchase these for some time.
Thank you!
Darkoath
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http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/INDIA/5/index.asp
If that doesn't work, go to the "our ranges" tab at the top of the page. Then go down to "India" in the 17th, 18th, 19th century area.
It's under hill tribesmen.
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The key to all of this is the right mix of figures. In 15mm for other 'irregular' forces I've used figures from 6 or more manufacturers, some good, some indifferent. Obviously aesthetics are more important in the larger scale but you can do that even with ok figures as long as the poses work well together. I've seen some excellent results achieved over the years with what we would today consider indifferently cast models, simply by using a little imagination in the arrangement. Even with the same casting, the old tricks of altering pose slightly, head swaps, colour variations all go towards that 'irregular' look. You can achieve a more clannish look by organising or basing figures with similar turban styles etc. together. Do some research and find out the tribal differences. Many figures are either based on specific illustrations or photos but marketed as generic 'Pathans'. If you find a 'clump' of source material based on a specific campaign, by digging a little deeper you can often unearth some excellent material.
Also read around the subject. There are some almost photographic quality watercolour studies of Afghans by Scottish artists James and William Fraser. Although done in the early 1800's they show the colours and patterns of textiles worn in remarkable detail. There are many surprising colours used as well. All excellent source material for all you Lead Adventurers out there
India Revealed; The Art and Adventures of James and William Fraser 1801-35, Mildred Archer & Toby Falk, Cassell, London, 1989
I'm sure the publisher's wouldn't mind me taking this snap just to publicise this excellent work. Here's just one example showing the Simkin/Osprey format has been around a lot longer than you might think
(http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x200/sukhe_bator/DSC02473.jpg)
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Just spotted this thread about Eureka Min, Mahsuds which may also be of help http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=4725.0
Plynkes: Fixed the link
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Just spotted this thread about Eureka Min, Mahsuds which may also be of help http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=4725.0 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=4725.0)
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I received a pack of Old Glory Pathans with Jezails (pack CNP-02), and I am very pleased with them. They are just oozing with character, and at less than half the price of the Foundry hill tribesmen, they are a great deal, too. OG should really get better photos on their site!
(http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x96/WillBailie/Miniatures/Kandahar%20Gaming/Mirwais090822043.jpg)