Plastic boxes that kitbash well with Perry Mahdists...

[Hupp n at em]

Hey all,

I've been organizing the various miniatures I've purchased for Darkest Africa and noticed I'm fairly light on Arabs.  I have a box of Perry Mahdists which will do nicely, except they only have Sniders-or-better in terms of firearms in the box.  Is there a plastic set out there that has bare arms with muskets?  Or am I best served waiting until the Perry plastic Zulus drop?  Although they may only have Martini-Henry's, in which case I'm right back in this position. 

[italwars]

hello
it's a topic to which me too i m really interested....it would be nice if somebody who own, contrary to me, a good variety of plastic 28mm minis would made some article/topics specific on compability of various bits from different manufactures ...according to periods
as concern your question for the monet i can say that Perry Dervishes fit well with Warlord Zulus and also with the very useful GP Arab infantry...in fact Perry production seem not homogenous in therms of compability / kit bashing possibilities..i bough the ACW artillery which, in any case, is very useful for the cheap caissons and guns..but the crew which i choosed, as they are in shirt order or short jackets , for making generic colonial spare men , engineers ecc...are very slender with very small heads and separated small képis to fit.....on the other hand , the above mentioned GP arabs set offer some very nice arab headress that could be glued to Perry ansar bodies...
do you have also Sudan/NWF British infantry?...what about them?..i'm afraid by the separated heads that in turn have to be covered with separated headress ..i imagine small pieces if compared with metal ones to make conversions (Foundry, OG, Empress ecc...)

[S.H.H]

As far as sleeveless arms with muskets that remain in scale with the Mahdists, your best bet would be the ex-wargames factory warlord plastic Native Americans. There are many arms with muskets that with minimal work fit perfectly. I would caution though that the Warlord Zulus have a few musket arms, their sculpting style and length make them much more difficult to kitbash with the Perry's.

[Hupp n at em]

As far as sleeveless arms with muskets that remain in scale with the Mahdists, your best bet would be the ex-wargames factory warlord plastic Native Americans. There are many arms with muskets that with minimal work fit perfectly. I would caution though that the Warlord Zulus have a few musket arms, their sculpting style and length make them much more difficult to kitbash with the Perry's.

Ahh, I hadn't even thought of those, I actually have a box!  As I'm using them for Post Apocalyptic tribals, they won't be needing their muskets. 

[Codsticker]

Ahh, I hadn't even thought of those, I actually have a box!  As I'm using them for Post Apocalyptic tribals, they won't be needing their muskets. 

What a happy coincidence!

[Belgian]

The Wargames Factory Zulu's had some muskets if I'm not mistaken.

[Plynkes]

True, but the arms aren't exactly "bare" like the OP requested. They have cow-tail decorations which are used to disguise the join between the upper arm and the shoulder. Also, they are not complete arms. Unlike most plastic figures part of the arm is on the figure's body. The join isn't flush with the shoulder, it is a little way down the arm, where the decorations sit.

These things needn't necessarily be a problem to a resourceful modeller, but one needs to be aware of them before jumping in and buying a box.

[Jerekin]

WGF doesn't scale well with perry imho. Too true scale.

I'd go for perry Zouaves. Perfect fit. You'd have to transplate hands for the bare chested guys and cut of the bayonets though. (Those rifles are muskets, aren't they?)

Bonus are more Arab Heads. So you can skip the GB Arabs probably.

[Belgian]

True, but the arms aren't exactly "bare" like the OP requested. They have cow-tail decorations which are used to disguise the join between the upper arm and the shoulder. Also, they are not complete arms. Unlike most plastic figures part of the arm is on the figure's body. The join isn't flush with the shoulder, it is a little way down the arm, where the decorations sit.

These things needn't necessarily be a problem to a resourceful modeller, but one needs to be aware of them before jumping in and buying a box.

Was mentionning the Wargames Factory Zulu's not the Warlord Games ones 😉

[Plynkes]

Oh man, sorry. Total reading failure there. 

[HerbyF]

Don't know for sure what box or even who made it, but I had a sample sprue that came with a wargame magazine. I think it was a Warlords Games plastic ECW musketeer. It came with two different sets of arms with musket. I used the spare arms & musket on a Perry plastic Nile Arab in jiba, the fit almost perfectly. Just a little trimming at the shoulders. Not bare arms but a lot of the Perry plastic Mahdists are wearing tunics that can be done with sleeves.

[Codsticker]

Don't know for sure what box or even who made it, but I had a sample sprue that came with a wargame magazine. I think it was a Warlords Games plastic ECW musketeer. It came with two different sets of arms with musket. I used the spare arms & musket on a Perry plastic Nile Arab in jiba, the fit almost perfectly. Just a little trimming at the shoulders. Not bare arms but a lot of the Perry plastic Mahdists are wearing tunics that can be done with sleeves.

That sounds like the Warlord Plastic Firelocks. Not great models (their first plastic kit, IIRC) . The box is listed as $19.25 USD in their store and comes with 16 plastic models and 2 metal, providing 32 pairs of arms. However, as most people do not use both sets of arms it shouldn't be too difficult to get some relatively cheaply.