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I was commissioned by Waffen Guy to produce a figure from the Northwest Frontier. Mike asked if I would use an illustration from Osprey No. 107; British Infantry Equipments 1808-1908.
A bit of background:
A series of conflicts known as the Anglo-Afghan wars during the imperialist Great Game between the United Kingdom and Russia, led to the eventual dismemberment of Afghanistan. The annexation of the region led to the demarcation of the Durand Line and administration as part of British South Asia. The Durand line is a term for the poorly marked 1,519-mile (2,445 km) border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. After fighting in two wars against Afghans, the British succeeded in 1893 in imposing the Durand line, dividing Afghanistan and what was then British India. Named for Sir Mortimer Durand, the foreign secretary of the British colonial government, it was agreed upon by representatives of both governments. While the Afghan side greatly resented the border and viewed it as a temporary development, the British viewed it as being a permanent settlement. One of the two representatives of the Afghan government was the revered Ahmadi Sahibzada Abdul Latif of Khost. The border was drawn intentionally to cut through the Pakhtun tribes.
The British, who had captured most of rest of South Asia without significant problems, faced a number of difficulties here. The first war with the Pashtuns resulted in a devastating defeat, with just one soldier coming back alive (out of a total of 14,800 people). Unable to enforce their writ in the region, they changed tactics and played a game of divide and rule, installing puppet Pashtun rulers and dividing the Pashtuns through artificially created regions and ruling indirectly so as to reduce the chance of confrontation. Despite this, occasional Pashtun attacks did take place, including the Siege of Malakand, well documented by Winston Churchill who was a war correspondent at the time. (Wikipedia)
This figure represents a private of the 1st Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment on the North West Frontier of India in 1898. Although the 1888 Slade-Wallace equipment had officially replaced the 1882 pattern Valise equipment the 1st Royal West Kents had yet to receive it and soldiered on with the 1882 set.
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The figure is the Barrack Sargeant PMC body with a Hot Toys head. The head was supplied by my Mike. I added the 'tache and gave him a repaint with oils. Some of the paint has rubbed off his whiskers but I left them like that as it looks like he's been caught in a dust storm. I must admit I had my doubts when the head turned up. I didn't think it could be made to look like a convincing Brit. All credit to Mike, he was right and I was wrong :clap
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His helmet is the Cotswold FS helmet. I've covered the whole thing in Milliput and added the ridges and zinc top. I finally worked out how to wind a purgree properly. It's so simple I was kicking myself!
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His uniform is hand-tailored from bed sheet material. Buttons are Battlegear Toys. Buttons and pockets work. Puttees are cotton tape. Boots are Newline German with the sole thinned down as demonstrated by Misterscruff UK in his tutorial.
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His leather equipment is scratchbuilt as is his haversack. The buckle came from Tony Barton. His ammo pouches each contain two mock packets of .303 ammunition The Italian pattern waterbottle has had a skim of Milliput across its surface to fill in the awful fake woodgrain that the manufacturers gave it.
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His Mk1 Lee Enfield is made from a BBi Mk3 up to the middle sling ring. From there to the end of the muzzle it's scratchbuilt using plasticard and brass tubing. Inspiration for fabricating the front end came from Mondo/Plastic Boy's Lebel Carbine. The bayonet is the BBi British pattern that comes with the Mk3. It's been modified to look like the one issued at that time.
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His mess tin is one of Tony's. I've left it uncovered this time. It's had a polish with wet and dry paper to really bring the shine up. His rolled greatcoat is old t-shirt material.
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His haversack contains these items. He has some provisions including biscuits, packet soup and cocoa. He also has a shaving brush and mirror, field dressings, boot polish and letters from home.
Also made a different pattern canteen just in case the powers that be might upgrade the rest of his gear to the 1888 set. There are two extra sets of headgear; a covered FS helmet and a balaclava.
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Wearing the balaclava......
![]()
.....and in the covered helmet
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"God Save the Queen"
Hope you like him. Pleased to report that Mike does. I hope he doesn't mind me saying he's one of the most enthusiastic and encouraging people I've worked with. It really was a pleasure Mike.
All comments welcome.
Andy
A bit of background:
A series of conflicts known as the Anglo-Afghan wars during the imperialist Great Game between the United Kingdom and Russia, led to the eventual dismemberment of Afghanistan. The annexation of the region led to the demarcation of the Durand Line and administration as part of British South Asia. The Durand line is a term for the poorly marked 1,519-mile (2,445 km) border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. After fighting in two wars against Afghans, the British succeeded in 1893 in imposing the Durand line, dividing Afghanistan and what was then British India. Named for Sir Mortimer Durand, the foreign secretary of the British colonial government, it was agreed upon by representatives of both governments. While the Afghan side greatly resented the border and viewed it as a temporary development, the British viewed it as being a permanent settlement. One of the two representatives of the Afghan government was the revered Ahmadi Sahibzada Abdul Latif of Khost. The border was drawn intentionally to cut through the Pakhtun tribes.
The British, who had captured most of rest of South Asia without significant problems, faced a number of difficulties here. The first war with the Pashtuns resulted in a devastating defeat, with just one soldier coming back alive (out of a total of 14,800 people). Unable to enforce their writ in the region, they changed tactics and played a game of divide and rule, installing puppet Pashtun rulers and dividing the Pashtuns through artificially created regions and ruling indirectly so as to reduce the chance of confrontation. Despite this, occasional Pashtun attacks did take place, including the Siege of Malakand, well documented by Winston Churchill who was a war correspondent at the time. (Wikipedia)
This figure represents a private of the 1st Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment on the North West Frontier of India in 1898. Although the 1888 Slade-Wallace equipment had officially replaced the 1882 pattern Valise equipment the 1st Royal West Kents had yet to receive it and soldiered on with the 1882 set.
The figure is the Barrack Sargeant PMC body with a Hot Toys head. The head was supplied by my Mike. I added the 'tache and gave him a repaint with oils. Some of the paint has rubbed off his whiskers but I left them like that as it looks like he's been caught in a dust storm. I must admit I had my doubts when the head turned up. I didn't think it could be made to look like a convincing Brit. All credit to Mike, he was right and I was wrong :clap
His helmet is the Cotswold FS helmet. I've covered the whole thing in Milliput and added the ridges and zinc top. I finally worked out how to wind a purgree properly. It's so simple I was kicking myself!
His uniform is hand-tailored from bed sheet material. Buttons are Battlegear Toys. Buttons and pockets work. Puttees are cotton tape. Boots are Newline German with the sole thinned down as demonstrated by Misterscruff UK in his tutorial.
His leather equipment is scratchbuilt as is his haversack. The buckle came from Tony Barton. His ammo pouches each contain two mock packets of .303 ammunition The Italian pattern waterbottle has had a skim of Milliput across its surface to fill in the awful fake woodgrain that the manufacturers gave it.
His Mk1 Lee Enfield is made from a BBi Mk3 up to the middle sling ring. From there to the end of the muzzle it's scratchbuilt using plasticard and brass tubing. Inspiration for fabricating the front end came from Mondo/Plastic Boy's Lebel Carbine. The bayonet is the BBi British pattern that comes with the Mk3. It's been modified to look like the one issued at that time.
His mess tin is one of Tony's. I've left it uncovered this time. It's had a polish with wet and dry paper to really bring the shine up. His rolled greatcoat is old t-shirt material.
His haversack contains these items. He has some provisions including biscuits, packet soup and cocoa. He also has a shaving brush and mirror, field dressings, boot polish and letters from home.
Also made a different pattern canteen just in case the powers that be might upgrade the rest of his gear to the 1888 set. There are two extra sets of headgear; a covered FS helmet and a balaclava.
Wearing the balaclava......
.....and in the covered helmet
"God Save the Queen"
Hope you like him. Pleased to report that Mike does. I hope he doesn't mind me saying he's one of the most enthusiastic and encouraging people I've worked with. It really was a pleasure Mike.
All comments welcome.
Andy
I bet your photos are amazing to look at. It would be interesting to see how the soldiers looked after a while on the Frontier considering the conditions they had to endure.
