Somalis for Colonials

[H.M.Stanley]

Would the Perry Plastic Beja pass as Somalis?

Or would i have to shave a center-parting for them .. 

[Marine0846]

Funny, I was thinking about the same thing the other day.
If you pick and choose I think you could come up with something close.
But I tend not to be to fussy about things like that.

[H.M.Stanley]

Hi. I'm not that fussy either

I was thinking about a small In the Heart of Africa project with plastics

[H.M.Stanley]

Ok - looks like the Perry Ansar box needs some modelling to pass as Somalis.

So what DA types would they pass as, other than Mahdists before anyone says 

[carlos marighela]

They would probably pass for this guy.

Now all you need are figures of George Foreman and Muhammed Ali and you can stage your own 'Rumble in the Jungle', circa 1974. 

[Mason]

They would probably pass for this guy.

Now all you need are figures of George Foreman and Muhammed Ali and you can stage your own 'Rumble in the Jungle', circa 1974. 

Naughty boy!!!


(But I would still like to punch HIM......join the queue I suppose.....

[H.M.Stanley]

 

[carlos marighela]

I miss Smokin' Joe Frazier meself. Great boxer. Amazing to think he fought the 'Thrilla in Manila'. with a cataract totally occluding one eye and from about the ninth round in, the other closed by blows inflicted.

Sorry. Back to the thread. Would the Beija pass as early 20th C Sudanese tribesmen? If so, you could do the British campaigns against the Mad Mullah.

[Plynkes]

Would the Perry Plastic Beja pass as Somalis?

Would the Beija pass as early 20th C Sudanese tribesmen? If so, you could do the British campaigns against the Mad Mullah.

If, like Marine0846 and H.M. Stanley, you tend not to be fussy about these things, then yes. Apart from the hair, the clothes, the swords and the shields they are fine. If you do tend to be fussy about these things however, then no, not really. They are superficially similar, but it's the little things. As always, this is a case of how much these little things matter to you.




If you want to try your hand at converting the Perry lads into Somalis, here are some things to bear in mind:

The Beja exhibited quite a range of clothing, and it is represented in the figures: waistcoats, "t-shirts", trousers, jibbahs, and cloth wrapped around the body. Whereas the Somalis predominately sported an item of clothing known as the tobe:



It's basically a big strip of cloth wrapped around the body, not a million miles away from a Roman toga.

It could be worn covering the entire body, as demonstrated by these fellows:




But was frequently wrapped around the waist to free the arms in combat, as these fine chaps have done (with the optional "over-the-shoulder" look for the more style-conscious Somali-about-town):



So when converting you need to ditch or cover up the shirts, waistcoats, trousers and the like, if you want a real Somali look.





The Somali sword was a rather distinctive gladius-like shortsword/big dagger, so you need to file down those distinctly Sudanese-looking flared scabbards and perhaps do a bit of work on any swords (I'm not sure if the plastic Beja have swords, I don't own any).



The typical shield is somewhat different to the Sudanese style too...



...and usually (but not always) a fair bit smaller...





Then there is the hair. The distinctive Beja hairstyle isn't quite the same as that sported by most Somalis, though it is similar (and the Beja style was common among the Beni-Amer and Danakil of Eritrea, so it did make its way all the way to at least the Somali border - the odd lad with that style isn't inconceivable). In addition to the long afro with a centre parting, you often see hair cropped short and also shaved altogether (I believe there are some shaved heads in the Beja set, you could certainly use those).


Lastly, if you are pondering about command figures, some pictures of Somali chiefs:







I'm thinking this guy (if you can find one), perhaps with a new head and maybe some work on his robes:



If you have your mind on the "Mad Mullah", it is said that the Sayyīd wore robes and a turban of "startling whiteness" and his horse furniture was lavishly decorated with tassles and plumes of red wool. Tribesmen who had been on the Hajj to Mecca would wear a green sash around their waist.


Hope that helps.



(Edited to remove the more glaring of the no doubt numerous grammatical errors.)

[H.M.Stanley]

There's not fussy and then again there's not fussy - i take the point 

"Apart from the hair, the clothes, the swords and the shields they are fine. If you do tend to be fussy about these things however, then no, not really. They are superficially similar, but it's the little things"

"you often see hair cropped short and also shaved altogether (I believe there are some shaved heads in the Beja set, you could certainly use those)."

So, what are the best plastics out there that i could use for a DA project?

[Clearco]

That´s funny! I wanted to try the same since I saw the plastic Beja but I didn´t dare yet. Someone did in fact some cool looking somalis in this forum and then I totally wanted to do it myself aswell but I got stuck with my Ngoni 
Now I´m wanting to try it  (But I have to be patient, lots of minis and conversions are still awaiting me  )
 I think it´s not so difficult to trimme off the trousers of the body with "toga" and trousers. Apart from that, the only one I wouldn´t use is the guy with trousers, sash and tunic, but the others are nice (the guy with the "cocktail dress" could get a pair of folds on the cloth so he looks like he´s wearing a toga aswell ). Then you´d have to modify the hair a bit (trimming of the upper tuft and making a part in the middle) and attempt to make a single somali shield to cast  It´s a bit of work, but it can be done if you don´t need hundreds of minis 

By the way, very usefull pics, Plynkes!

[Plynkes]

So, what are the best plastics out there that i could use for a DA project?

I think they make a fine starting point for Somalis, but they would require a fair deal of work to come up to scratch to my own personal satisfaction. But everybody has different ideas about what is "near enough", and I think it is silly to say something is right or wrong. If I was already doing a Sudan project anyway, I think I would be tempted to use them as proxies to bulk up the numbers of my Somali army as they are - I would tell them to stand at the back and try not to get noticed.    But if it were to be a Somali project from day one (and that was the only thing I had bought them for), I would want to heavily convert them. That's just my own slightly illogical reasoning.


I really don't know what the best plastics are for DA. One, I don't much care for plastics so haven't looked into them much, and two it all depends on what you want to make them into. If you want Ngoni, then Zulus. If you want Somalis, then Beja. If you want generic tribesmen, then I don't really have the first clue, I'm afraid.

[H.M.Stanley]

Cheers Plynkes

I think the Ngoni is odds on favourites now. Just reading the Peers' article on the Copplestone site

Otherwise i might just bite the bullet, get some Foundry Masai and build them up over time.

You don't need that many for ItHoA ... which is just as well

[Plynkes]

Is it a cost issue why you're not using Copplestone? He makes very nice Somalis and Ngoni. For me the bother and time of conversion would outweigh the monetary factor in cases where perfectly serviceable figures are already available (you don't have to buy the whole army in one go). I tend to only convert figures when I want something but nobody makes it, or if I don't like the sculpts. But then I find converting a little tedious, though the results are very satisfying when it all works out.

[H.M.Stanley]

I may do work out some lists for Ngoni, Somali, Matabele and Masai - see how many figures i'd need in total.

I fancy a nice looking Heart of Africa native force ...