Saturday, June 18, 2016

Egyptian Chariots - Black Tree Designs

Literally "rolling" of the painting table are a quartet of Egyptian chariots by Black Tree Designs. When they had their sale on Ancients infantry this winter, the Chariots were, oddly, included. So who am I to complain about semantics? I needed more chariots to crush the foes of Egypt, Semitic or otherwise!


The first set is one of the several BTD codes for Egyptian Light Chariots. I imagine only the crew figures differ between the sets.

As is often the case with any manufacturer's Egyptian Light Chariots, it is often a challenge to fit the crew figures into the cab. The driver on the left of the picture has his foot braced on the opening of the leather cab, and is leaning back hard to restrain his team. At least that's my story!


The chariots, horses, and crew are all very nice sculpts, and they assembled quite easily otherwise,


Note the position of the Driver's foot...


On the other hand, perhaps the driver was just the victim of a well placed enemy arrow!


This second pair of chariots is one of the "Egyptian Heavy Chariot" codes; the only difference seems to be the size of the cab.


Much more spacious! One gets the feeling that the crew of the light chariots in particular
 would have been constantly bumping into and rubbing on one another during action!


I think I have the crossbar on  the yoke glued upside down (should be on  top of the long piece rather than underneath it), but eh, it works!


Regardless, Pharaoh is happy to have them added to his army, and all ready for my Historicon game !


No don't look at the messy blobs of epoxy I used to get these guys to stay firmly in place, LOL!


This top down view is interesting...


Note the difference in the cab size and crowding of  the crew! With it's dominant color of yellow, this unit will go to reinforce the under-strength chariots of Division Ra.

23 comments:

  1. Put chocks under the wheels, this will prevent the chariots and charioteers from rolling off the table. You are welcome. ;-)

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  2. Lovely looking models and painting. The wheels seem a little small for the figure scale? I know what you mean regarding fitting/placing figures on the cab/cart I have the same problem with 15's and sometimes with Xyston 18's chariots and Elephant Towers....

    cheers

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    1. Thank you, Phil, Yes, space can be a problem with some of these ancient war machines!

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  3. Good to see your chariots rolling off the table. Good riposte by Pete by the way! I wondered about the yoke placement when I built mine. I put the yoke flange on top over the shaft. One of us has it correct!

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    1. I am pretty sure it is you, Jon - it was just easier to assemble with it on the bottom!

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  4. Those are eye catching models indeed :-)

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  5. They look the bomb Peter I can't wait to see them running around the table. Having spent desperate moments just last night pushing Mitanni Chariot archers back in place before the glue hardened I understand your frustration. Though I always assumed 25mm/28mm collectors never had that sort of problem. :)

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    1. Thanks, David. Enjoyed your report as well! I think it is inherent to the close quarters that existed in real life!

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    2. Good point Peter. Metal figures a much bulkier than real life so if the chariots are built to scale then that would leave less room.

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    3. A good point as well, David. In one of my earliest Egyptian posts, I linked to a 2 part Nova series on producing and field testing a replica of a NKE chariot - fascinating and well worth watching if you haven't done so already!

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  6. Super chariots Peter. Ditto David's comment: it will be great to see them barrelling around with their fellow Egyptian 'infantry' units! :)

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    1. Thanks, James. They should be on the table in less than four weeks now!

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  7. Very nice work, Peter. I like this BTD range.

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  8. Thank you, Dean. I have been very pleased with the BTD Egyptians. The range is also very extensive.

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  9. Lovely work Peter. I have always thought that riding a chariot into battle would be one of the more uncomfortable things to do.

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    1. Thanks, Lawrence. I think it would have been... interesting!

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  10. Nice models and paint job, these btd figures are great additions to your egyptian force.
    Best Iain

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