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Thursday, 25 July 2013

Shaab with crusader crew (Strelets)

As part of thier arms range, Strelets have brought out two sets of catapults, an ancient Roman one and a medieval one.
A couple of noticable things.
1. On the box art it indicated that there are 11 Crew and one device, but the set Comes with 12 bods (ok,I suppose the two ammo carriers could be counted as one Piece) and there are in  two devices, the Shaab and a ballista. The ballista is shown on the back of the box, but not alluded to elswhere, even on the Strelets Webpage. (at time of writing)
2. What is a Shaab? The device is without a doubt a Petraria Arcatinus , a combination of an Onager and a bow. All attempts to create a working Versions with wooden throwing arms have so far failed so the device with wooden throwing arms is, as far as anyone knows, unrealistic.

Anyway...one more Crewman is always welcome and the extra device certainly is!!

The "shaab" 14 Glueable Hard plastic parts, the kit fits together easily and takes paint well. I removed and replaced the hook at the back of the "spoon" and added a couple of bits like wheel rims, and some metal straps. The ropes are also extras.
I made the small mistake of adding the ropes at the bottom of the arm. This would only be added if the bow wasn´t being used as the power supply, and is obviously only intended for the Ancient roman catapult.

The 12 bods. Nice selection of poses, very little flash.
With this lot I´ve gone for a "uniformed" look, which I´ll slowly extend to the rest of the siege and artillery Crews.
"You can´t have scruffy unorganised sieges and the introduction of a colour scheme is one step on the way to avoiding that". (King John at the siege of Rochester)
Ammo for the "Shaab" The arms on the stretcher were a bit too short and had to be replaced. Also, a favourite mistake with two bods carrying anything as a pair....they are out of step!!!!!! This probably is the reason for the slightly offcentre pose taken by the bod at the back. A Stone is provided with the set but it´s way to small for the "shaab" as is the one being carried by the bod on the left, but he will find employment on another device so no waste there.
Commander and "gunner". The commander could, with head swop (or as he is) be used as a commander of archers and the "gunner" could have his hammer replaced with an axe.
"Shaab" crewmen pulling ropes or using Levers on the winding gear. The bod on the far left is interesting..the greedy bod has two helmets! He´s wearing a pot helmet and has a classic norman helmet hanging from his belt. The two hauling on ropes could be added to a ships Crew or have pikes added. Mr Two Helmets would make a good Standard bearer.


Crew in "attendance"

The "extra" device...the ballista.

20 hard plastic parts and a bit fiddly to construct, one or two of the parts don´t fit exactly,  Tension ropes for the throwing arms for example. The locating Pins don´t fit in the holes provided so I removed them. Still, it builds into a nice Little device.
The rope, wheel rims  and Trigger I added.
The ballista Crew. The one winding up the device would fit if his base is removed. The one with the flaming torch is, I suppose lighting fire arrows but..................... 
..............he could be following  his hobby as an arsonist . Remove the brand and replace with a sword he´d make a great command figure.
All in all an excellent addition to the medieval 1/72nd ranges. The devices are nice solid objects and the crew has a wide range of possible other roles as they are and they have a lot of scope for conversions. IMHO, a great little set and hopefully Strelets will add even more to the range.

22 comments:

  1. Great work as always Paul
    Cheers .

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  2. This is a nice looking group Paul and I like the flame effect you got on the guy with the torch.

    I could have used a version of the shaab when I was a kid. Would have been great for starting food fights. I can just see a load of mashed taters hurtling through space.....

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  3. Great looking set of figures and siege tools!

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  4. Lovely work Paul, any chance of a tater shot?

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  5. Another set I didn't know existed and now can't live without.

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  6. Great review of this set of figures! Also excellent painted!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  7. Paul you really did a great job on these little thingies, again!

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  8. Clearly the extra crewman is intended to be ammunition!

    A trailblazer in spectacle entertainment... he'd be known forever as "Edmund the Human Catapult-shot"!

    Very nice kits & extra work :)

    I'm in the market for some catapults for a goblin army I'm planning, and since they're Mantic.. scale is closer to true 28 or 25mm even, and they're goblins.. this 1/72 machine might be just their size.

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  9. Fabulous, love the part time arsonist! :D

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  10. Great work once again!!

    The bods with staffs could be adapted into this: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTbeQ4_h44kz299xqD0pjzkKKw7fo5hcpTx9Qp0-aWFu8yEaqAjuQ

    I'm thinking about it.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks David.
      I tried the links but all I got was pitbulls or a dead Facebook page.

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    2. Select it as a sole link. Links to a picture.

      Anyway, I'm sure you have already seen it: "staff sling".

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    3. A Fustibalus. Apparently this was what the trebuchet was developed from, either that or the Action of the sticks/levers used to get water from a well, an idea which apperently came from the east (Egypt)
      I´ve converted a couple of bods (Airfix/Zvezda) to staff slingers, they are among the medieval list somewhere.
      Also, I´ve made one and they are very effective, the distance you can throw a Stone´the size of a chicken egg is massive with virtually no effort.

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    4. I have seen pictures of its use in China too.
      I was researching for my medieval project and those "man-powered" trebuchets when I saw them! Going to include a couple of them, as it seems stone throwing was an expertise quite appreciated!

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  11. that last bod is me... yay fire. no worries though I am not an arsonist. though if you need some one to help with the pillaging and burning and don't particuallary care for the burning I'll be more than willing to help. lets face it burn is in the name :-D

    great work Paul!

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