B is for Box-ticking Barges

In some of the several Egyptian posts we've had this year half by accident (working with what Peter Evans sent to the Blog) and half by design (the stuff I subsequently purchased) to compare, complete or because they were dirt-cheap (the disappointing pens), which actually didn't disappoint as I expected them to disappoint, so they met expectations; we saw the odd piece of Atlantic HO giving size/scale to things, and in the getting-out and putting-away for photographs I found a bag of painted stuff from somewhere-somewhen, we're going to look at them now!

The two barges from set 1505 Boats on the Nile, there was a larger Pharaoh's barge with set-sail and covered throne-canopy-thing, these are the more workaday vessels plying their trade up and down the Nile from the Mediterranean to Sudan.

The box shows oarsman but I'm not sure I've ever seen them, I certainly don't have them and it seems to be a complete sets otherwise, have you ever seen them? There are plug-ins on the lager vessel in the other set but they don't seem to have oars either? The curse of art room pre-publicity photographs/artwork again I suspect (think Airfix Polish Lancers or Esci Carthaginians!).

Both together; these are OBE's as far as painting goes, I picked them up like this as part of a Job lot some time ago, but I can't remember where/when. basically reed-vessels with a sun-shade/cabin.

The two swan-necked finials at port and stern are plug-ins and don't line up terribly well with the hull, or not smoothly as they would if they were tied-in reed bundles, but then; beggars can't be choosers and it was hard to credit anyone issuing Egyptian warships, in small-scale, in the 1980's, and the fact they didn't go with anything on the market - time-wise - was irrelevant!

They came with a complete army, painted by the same guy I think, although with more detail he has done a fine job, compared to the basic blocking-in of the boats. A complete set also contains a full Pharaoh's Court runner, which I may have sorted into their section, or the seller may have split-away or kept them?

I particularly like the rendering of the Nubian's/Sudanese/Southern Tribesmen; I have an old Humbrol Authenticolour paint-tin called Polished Leather, and it is one of my favourite paints, a semi-gloss or silk (you have to let it dry overnight) it's brilliant for dark-skin, horse-hair, wagon-details, baggage straps, rifle slings, puddles (puddled), oil-stains (thinned-down), all sorts, I don't know what I'll do when it runs out!

That's it, ancient Egyptians, vessels, Atlantic - boxes ticked, because . . . by accident - it's been a bit of an 'Egyptian Year' here at Small Scale World!