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Hi,

I'm looking for some help/recommendations planning a future project. For next year I want to get a Forgeworld Gorgon and want to fill it with 30 soldiers in a kind of relaxed/standing at attention pose. So definitly not "advancing" or pointing their guns anywhere forward etc.

The specific of this unit is, that I want them to be a homage to the french tirailleurs algerien/tirailleur senegalese of the pre-WW1 to WW1 era So we are talking about something in this direction:




So what I'm looking for can be basically summed up as:
1. "baggy" fabric pants
2. long sleeved shirt with ornamented vest
3. face with african features and either fez, turban or a mix of both
4. Bonus: fitting arms holding a gun that looks more like a lasgun than a 19th century rifle (no must, but a nice bonus)



In the net I found a pic refering to Perry miniatures american civil war Zouaves which seem to be a pretty perfect basis for the bodies, especially since it seems they can be build in the pose I am looking for and they are relatively cheap:

Has anybody ever build those and can tell me, if one box is enough for 30 soldiers standing at attention as in this pic?

For 4 I have found the wargames atlantic weapon sprue might fit my needs:
https://wargamesatlantic.com/collections/demo-collection/products/death-fields-weapons-upgrade-sprue-001
Has anybody an idea how those compare scale wise to perrys models?



Which still leaves me with point 3: heads with african features (like... subsaharan african, not arabs) wearing a Fez/turban or combi of both. Has anyone of you a good value recommendation were I could find those? I found these on shapeways
https://www.shapeways.com/product/VKRYYX5SW/28mm-heroic-scale-tirailleurs-heads?optionId=218719912&li=shops

but maybe there is another alternative?




Last but not least: anybody aware of a nice leader/hero with a similar style of clothing? As the american civil war Zuoaves seem to have used a very similar uniform, maybe from this direction? I'm not well versed in american history, therefore I lack knowledge of names I would have to google for.

Well the Zouaves match them pretty closely as they are a direct in period impersonation of the french tirailleurs algerien/tirailleur senegalese. It gets weirder when you get to the fact they're US Zouaves, impersonating the original French Zouaves, who are impersonating the French colonial tirailleurs. As the saying would indicate, there was high flattery applenty.

The Perry’s also have a Mahdist/Sudanese plastic set that might get you the heads you’re looking for. Or you might need to greenstuff some fezzes.

@ Cruentus: nice tip. But I found some more heads with Fezes that might work. And if those are to big, I'll fall back to the Perry Mahdists.
@ Oldmate: yes, that is pretty funny. But understandable, that uniform looks great.
I first considered doing some german Askaris from the same era, as those had an interesting history, especially in WW1. But their uniforms look really dull unfortunatly.

I searched a bit more and will post here for reference. I mean for myself when I really dive into this project as well as for others who want to try similar:

1. another provider of fitting heads wearing a Fez:
https://www.ludocortorum.fr/sets-de-tetes-francaises-alternatives-f822328.html

=> also a bit cheaper at 6 € /10 compared with the other heads. I think I will mix both suppliers, this way getting around 15 different sculpts

2. A good source of a rifle fitting the image I had in mind:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/TUB9SHMEW/28mm-dieselpunk-laser-rifles?optionId=84095928&li=shops


3. another suplier of minis in the pose I wish:
https://www.hlbs-redux.co.uk/store/p323/Tirailleur_Algerian_Marching_-FC5.html#/

I really do not think you will be able to find the decorated coat for any heroically sized figures so i think these guys or the Zouvaes are the best bet. Not so sure about the guy with the rifle horizontally on his pack as it may interfere with other miniatures in a tight press, but you should be able to remove it and perhaps sling a rigle over his right shoulder. The guy with his rifle down by his side may be an issue, but it maybe simpily enough to solve.

Judging from my own experience with ForpostD6's 3d printed las rifles they are a bit slimmer and generally smaller than the ridiculous cadian ones and a fair bit slimmer than the anvil rifles(in general they are pretty comparable in scale and sizing to Victoria miniatures stuff(this is the best example i can readily think of)so they should fit these guys pretty well.
Victoia miniatures special weapons being quite small should fit them pretty well if you want to make them a reasonably welly kitted line unit. But massed rifles could also work.

Now if you wanted to you *could* drill a hole in their puddle base and glue in a magnet, put a heap of magnets into the floor of the gorgonand then magnetise a heap of 25mm bases for them as well. The puddle bases should not be apparent when they are in closed ranks within the gorgon so a pretty basic desert theme might well fit you army's asthetic thus far when the fellows are on foot, and it'd not be getting in the way or get damaged when loading or off loading them from the gorgon.

P.S: the very tall packs could be helpful for unloading them from the gorgon without damaging them.

That's a very cool idea with the magnets.

So far my idea was:
1. carefully measure out the Gorgon transport compartment when I got it
2. cut out a Plasticard sheet so that it fits through the front hatch or build the Gorgon in a way that I can remove the struts over the compartment and lift the plasticardsheet out
3. glue some copper mesh I have lying around on the plasticard sheet
4. paint it so that it looks like the Gorgon floor
5. remove the puddle bases from the Zouaves and glue them on that plasticard sheet.

=> then I could put them in and out as I like.

But your idea is even better. I could use a metal sheet instead of plasticard and leave the puddle bases, glueing strong magnets to them. Maybe make the metal sheet look a bit muddy, as if they dragged in some mud with them and make the puddle bases also look like this
Then get a bunch of 25mm bases, magnetize them and make them also muddy. This way the soldiers might look good in the Gorgon as well as on their 25 mm bases...
Alternatively I consider if it is possible to build them in a way, that they go unto a shared "squad base", so that they are a bit less fidly when they are out of the Gorgon. So something looking like this




Also thanks a lot for sharing your experience with ForpostD6. That sounds exactly like I want it. I'm not completely decided, but currently tend towards going pure rifle with them. I want them to look like a uniform parade unit and I think the image looks more stunning if they are all armed the same instead of the odd guy with a grenade launcher and stuff with them. And like 25 or so guys without backpacks in the front and then maybe 5-10 with the backpacks in the ranks in the back.

I feel it may be a bit late to mention, but the wargames Atlantic french great war infantry set includes both helmeted and capped african heads. Bodies may be a bit too boringly uniformed though.

Yeah that metal plate is a much better idea than individual magnets and i would personally like to have the choice to remove the fellows from the vehicle and use them as well, I mean you're modelling and painting up 30-40 guys and then glue something like this on top of the metal plate to make the floor of the pasenger compartment. Metal strips maybe easier than a single plate. https://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/textured-sheets/129-abs-plasticard-diamond-textured-sheet-double-thread-a4.html

Vejut wrote:
I feel it may be a bit late to mention, but the wargames Atlantic french great war infantry set includes both helmeted and capped african heads. Bodies may be a bit too boringly uniformed though.

Thanks, I had another look at them. As you already suspected, the uniforms are a bit to dull for what I had in mind. The heads would work though. I'll have to consider how economic it would be to get a Wargames Atlantic Box just for the heads compared to the mentioned 3d printed heads. I tried getting spare heads of that set before but had no luck so far.

But I'm always happy for the input. This project will start mid 2023 the earliest

@ Oldmate: good idea, and also thanks for the linked profiled plasticard. That should come in handy