'Malleson Mission' - looking for Turkomen cavalry in 28mm (p.4)

[Ignatieff]

Just finished Giles Milton's excellent 2013 book 'Russian Roulette'. An absolute must for anyone interested in our period.  There's a very good update on Malleson and his mission based on relatively recently released India Office papers.  Turns out Malleson was a superb Great Game player in the classic mould.  His military exploits were only the tip of the iceberg.  Highly recommended update of Hopkirk,which also joins the entire shadowy story of the period, from all corners of the globe, for the first time.

[H.M.Stanley]

Just finished Giles Milton's excellent 2013 book 'Russian Roulette'. An absolute must for anyone interested in our period.  There's a very good update on Malleson and his mission based on relatively recently released India Office papers.  Turns out Malleson was a superb Great Game player in the classic mould.  His military exploits were only the tip of the iceberg.  Highly recommended update of Hopkirk,which also joins the entire shadowy story of the period, from all corners of the globe, for the first time.

Excellent!! I must look it up ...
Best,
James

[Red Orc]

I know I haven't posted on this topic for a while, but I haven't forgotten it. Two days ago, on a train back from Paris, I finished reading 'Faraway Campaign: Experiences of an Indian Army Cavalry Officer in Persia & Russia during the Great War', by F. James, a Captain in what seems to have been the 28th Indian Light Horse. This has provided me with a bit more detail about some parts of the campaign and I think I'll be starting here when I get the project up and running.

[Red Orc]

Hello all, my complete inability to acquire any Indian Army troops, or paint any irregular infantry of either Ashkebad or Tashkent notwithstanding, I'm now thinking about some Turkoman cavalry. Any recommendations, please? I'm a little at a loss here, and any help would be gratefully received.

[cuprum]

Ideal option - my horse basmachi with replacement heads on the Turkmen papakhas.

http://siberia-miniatures.ru/index.php?cPath=41_39_51_156

Only consider at painting that Turkmens wore gowns mainly in thin red stripes. Papakhas were necessarily black fur. White papakhas wearing young men under 16 years, many military leaders. Red-brown papakhas relied members of the clergy.

[Red Orc]

Those look like great figures cuprum, I may have to treat myself to some soon, with the extra heads of course.

Reading F. James's 'Faraway Campaign', I'm sure he describes the Turkomen as wearing 'purple coats'. I shall re-read it, but at the moment I like the idea of cavalry in black papakhas and long purple coats.

[cuprum]

I'm not sure that it is preferable - exactly purple. Turkmens prefer to wear robes with stripes of different shades of red:

[Red Orc]

Great pictures cuprum, thanks for those!

[Ignatieff]

Here's some modern robes from modern day Bukhara.  Photographed this summer.

cheers

Steve

[cuprum]

Bukhara - this is not the Turkmens. The main population - Uzbeks. They have more various colors robes.

http://library.kiwix.org/wikipedia_ru_all_05_2011/A/%D0%A2%D1%83%D1%80%D0%BA%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD.html

[Red Orc]

Cuprum - I can't follow that last link but the photos I have got back up your previous pictures - mostly the men seem to be wearing 'wine-red' coats (the right-hand chap in your second photo however is wearing something more like what I would generally call 'purple').

However in English 'purple' can be a bit of an ambiguous colour. Dark reddish colours can be called 'purple' sometimes - perhaps when Captain James calls the robes 'purple' he meant 'wine-coloured'.

Ignatieff - great picture, I love those coats (in fact, I want one, probably one of the blue ones), but I'm not doing Uzbeks. Cuprum has shown me the way, (darkish-)red-with-stripes is the way forward (not that I'm any good at painting stripes).

[cuprum]

Turkmen gown I would paint, for example, have tried to paint a thin red marker ( or gel pen) for the yellow main background. The strips need to draw closely to one another. After the cover from the spray matte varnish. Pre-mark the direction of the bands on figurines pencil.
But I myself have not painted in this way - so it's just a guess.

[Gangleri]

Is this the sort of thing?

Who makes those?

This is a wonderful and informative thread.  Thanks for all the work in digging up and posting the photographs.

[Ignatieff]

Who makes those?

This is a wonderful and informative thread.  Thanks for all the work in digging up and posting the photographs.

Those are Brigade WWI Austrians, painted as Bolo POWs, by the ever talented Mark Hargreaves