Having showed off some of my Austrians for my Eastern Europe 81th century project, here are some Ottomans. I'm still researching uniforms and unit compositions and sizes, so I've started with some artillery.
These are from the Redbox "Ottoman Siege Artillery" box. This box is one of the best value artillery sets out there. Four guns, each with four crew in a single, regularly priced box. True, the guns are a bit crude, but they pass muster. I have their field gun box too, where you get two guns and either crew, so I'll be swapping the gunners around I expect.
They are quite nice looking, when you put them all together. Because they are Redbox of a certain age, there's a flash problem. I cleaned these up with a craft knife, but they were awkward to do in places. The next load I'll use the soldering iron on to smooth the mould lines out.
I think they look suitably impressive.
Lovely stuff. looking forward to seeing them in action.
ReplyDeleteMe too. It'll be a few months yet. I am contemplating how my "Va t'en guerre" 18th century project is to be developed. I've tried combining everything into one super-set, but I think I might break it down into slimline single campaign books. You may see the Jacobites out before the Ottomans.
DeleteGiven their place in history, one feels the Ottomans are sadly neglected by war gamers. I did begin building something like several years ago, but for some reason abandoned the project. The best I can offer now is my 19th Century Turcowaz (Turquoise - Settee Empire) army. The neglect of the Ottomans is the more regrettable as the 1877 war cavalry are so bally hard to get hold of!
ReplyDeleteI'll be looking forward to seeing more of your Ottoman army as it grows. What I've seen so far looks pretty good!
Cheers,
Ion
You do see them pop up from time to time. Once these guys are done I think I might have an excuse to do a mid 17th century Polish / Imperial armies to fight them, as it looks like their kit doesn't change much. As for the Russo Turkish War of 1877...we may be visiting that in SHQ at some point in the near future.
DeleteThese look wonderful Graham! I have all of these—unpainted—so it is great to see them avec peinture and looking so grand!
ReplyDeleteRegards, James
Yes...the trick is getting them from unpainted to painted, isn't it? They do look much better with some paint on them. I really like them.
DeleteGreat looking minis there. Those Redbox sets are fantastic. I agree completely about the flash issues; I put together 24 knights recently and am still recovering from the flash cleanup trauma. Looking forward to seeing more of this lot!
ReplyDeleteThe figure design with Red Box is top notch. They just have a persistent flash problem. I console myself that I'm not having to glue together hard plastics instead.
DeleteSticking hard plastic bits together is not so bad. Perfect activity for a Paint & Chat session with friends.
DeleteThat's a point of view, for sure. It's just more faff before you can get on with painting. And I always end up with a figure where the arm has slipped a bit during gluing. Well, I used to back in the day.
DeleteSome argue that painting is just more faff before you can get on with gaming!
DeleteThey'd be right.
DeleteThe result looks good. The gun molding does look crude but viewed from the gaming table, no one will be the wiser. Using a soldering iron to remove plastic flash? Brilliant. How are the fumes?
ReplyDeleteI think the gun is a terrific wargaming piece, and as you say will look good on the table. Before the soldering iron I used to use a piece of wire in a cork, heated in a candle. Some people say if you just pass a figure through a candle flame, the flash disappears.
DeleteI don't do long sessions with the soldering iron, and I have the door or window open. The fumes aren't too bad. The smell doesn't linger. Probably not as bad as inhaling plastic cement, or painting with enamels.