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!!
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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.
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| 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)
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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.
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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.
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"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.
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| Crew in "attendance" |
The "extra" device...the ballista.
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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.
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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.....................
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..............he could be following his hobby as an arsonist . Remove the brand and replace with a sword he´d make a great command figure.
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