Acouple of months ago I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Rolf of RH Models was putting out a range of figures sporting Cossack hats. His packs contain figures with two varieties of Cossack hats, a.k.a. papakhas, the more common cylindrical type and the less common pinched cylinder type. The first type is extremely common within Chechnya. Pictorial evidence shows that during the initial stage of the war it was worn by some Chechen fighters, but afterwards it was worn mostly by civilians. Presumably it was not very practical to fight with such headgear and a knit cap was chosen instead. I've only found one picture of a Chechen fighter wearing the second type of papakha. The pinched cylinder papakha can be seen in use by Cossack forces defending Russian speaking parts of Moldova in 1992 (Transnistrian War). Other limited uses of these hats during the Post-Soviet wars I've seen are in Georgia (usually a far more furry variety, thick fur would need to be sculpted onto Rolf's hats to represent this hat) and a slightly more stouter papakha worn during the Armenia-Azerbaijan war. In the future I might paint a handful more of these guys, but I don't want to over do it.
I also added to this batch two prone conversions.
Next up is a batch of Russian elite forces wearing Maska helmets and winter camouflage for use in the First Chechen War.
RH Models COSSSQU with green stuff jacket extensions, COSSQU
RH Models COSSSQU; URBRPG with head swap; RUS9* with head swap
RH Models URBAK with head swap; RUSAK* with head swap; RMRRPK* with head swap
RH Models URBCIV* with head swap
RH Models PLOPROSNI with head swaps and green stuff collars
Chechen men rally in center of Grozny (December 6th, 1994).
Chechen fighter riding horseback in Novy Ataguy (December 31st, 1994).
Chechen rebel with PKM in Grozny suburbs (January 17th, 1995).
Chechen fighter with young boy (Novoznamenskoye, February, 1996).
Cossacks fighter prepared to defend Transnistria (1992).
Cossack fighters relaxing during defense of Russian speaking Moldova (1992).
They look great- I'll have to get some myself.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Pete.
Thanks! They certainly add the right look. I'm hard pressed to think of heads Rolf hasn't sculpted for these wars. I definitely have a list, but they are quite obscure.
DeleteLovely :) I haven't got the foggiest idea anymore what Rolf has and makes these days as any past attempts to get on his forum have been blocked and you are like the only person I know who actually paints his stuff and shows it :) (as I haven't for ages but that is bound to change soon.....) Oh, one little nicpick....my Blog is 20mm and then some, not theM ;) Carry on :)
ReplyDeleteThanks - fixed your link too. :) (I accidentally made you more folksy!) Rolf's got some cool Cold War gone hot stuff lately that is tempting, but before then I think I'll go with this French Indochina War/Vietnam War range. Just can't beat his variety and completeness. I see a lot of Elheim and AB WW2 stuff about - just not my thing. I'm still inspired by Piers stuff from 10+ years ago. :)
DeleteSame for me mate. Plus Rolfs stuff I can actually afford, even though I only buy through middlemen maybe once a year. AB is way out of my price range and I have no need for most of Elhiems stuff, though his weapon kits are very nice.
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