Well, for various reasons I have not been able to get much done in the last couple of months, and while I'm not sure how long this Army Painter 2017 thing runs for, it's safe to say that we're running out of 2017 to have it in. So I think this is where I admit to dismal failure and bow out.
But the project itself isn't dead, I aim to continue it in my
Unyamwezi - The Land of the Moon thread over on the Colonial Adventures board.
But by way of saying goodbye, I thought I'd post some WIP shots of my attempts at converting some figures into those allies I was talking about earlier. They are for the most part pretty "light" conversions. Not very difficult. I'm hoping to get some paint on them over the weekend, if I can find a bit of peace.
These guys are Wagogo. Two with traditional Gogo shields, two have decided that looking like Masai is the future and have adopted their style of shield. All of them sport a trademark Gogo ridiculous hair-do. When painted they will be in ochre or red loin-cloths/togas, and sport some natty red war paint like the Masai do.
The two figures in togas are converted Copplestone Somalis, while the other two are Foundry Darkest Africa tribesmen given the hair treatment and their loin-cloths adjusted to look more like the Gogo style.
These ones are Wasukuma. Two from North Star and two from Foundry. The Sukuma were a branch of the Nyamwezi, who for most of the century competed with the Gogo for the coveted
All-East African Silly Hairdo Champions League trophy. The last time it was held, before the Germans came along and spoiled everything by making them play football, the Gogo won it 6-5 on penalties.
The Sukuma were quite conservative in their dress, which sounds like a daft thing to say when you look at these fools, but by that I mean they resisted outside influences on their fashions. While most of the rest of the country were dressing up like either Swahili Arabs or Masai, these guys liked to stick with their old home-grown styles. So most wore traditional animal fur loin cloths. Well, it's a bit of stretch to call them "loin" cloths, because as Speke pointed out, they very rarely actually covered any of their loins, which they left hanging in the warm breeze generally.
But the fellow in the above picture is a little different. He's obviously quite well-to-do, and has got himself a nice piece of trade cloth to make a kilt out of. He thinks he's a real Carnaby Street trend-setter, no doubt, but those other three are calling him a right ponce behind his back. He's wielding the traditional Nyamwezi "bill-hook" weapon, described and illustrated by, er.. Stanley, I think it was. Can't remember and those guys are standing on the book, so I can't look it up.
This guy will be used as a leader figure. He's wearing both the animal skin/feather headdress of a caravan guide, and also the red baize cloak of a chief. He really thinks he's something, this one.
Rear view showing an experimental attempt to fashion the baize cloak from some tin foil.
Ta-ra, then, Army Painter 2017! It was fun, but I was useless. See you all in the other thread!
Welcome, Guest. Please 
April 27, 2024, 12:55:10 PM
May 15, 2014, 12:02:19 PM
