Pendraken WW1 Arabs

Pendraken’s WW1 Middle East range included an Arab mounted miniature (ME25 Irregular Arab Cavalry). Unfortunately, it was Pendraken’s only Arab figure. Of course, one casting couldn’t really inspire an Arab Revolt and it would have been nice if there were more Arab sculpts in the range. The miniature itself had its obvious quirks, including the rider’s blobby hands and overly short right leg. The cast- ings also had a variety of gaps in the horses’ reins. I decided to give each rider a new right foot and fill in the gaps in the reins with modelling putty. With expert timing, only after I’d started painting, of course!

As Pendraken’s WW1 Middle East range didn’t have any Arab foot figures, Dave at Pendraken selected some Afghan tribesmen castings for me from the 1890s North West Frontier range that he thought could stand in as Persian or Arab tribesmen. Certainly, old-fashioned rifles were still being used during the Great War even by Turkish troops. However, Dave chose to discard any tribesmen armed with shields but did include the foot command and some mounted figures that did have shields.