Plastic Soldier Review - MIR Arabs of Sharifian Army

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MIR

Set 25

Arabs of Sharifian Army

All figures are supplied unpainted (Numbers of each pose in brackets)

Stats

Date Released	2003
Contents	16 figures
Poses	8 poses
Material	Resin
Colours	Grey

Average Height

22 mm (= 1.58 m)

Review

The Arab Revolt is a fascinating part of the history of the Great War, in large measure due to the sharp contrast with the static, dirty and unglamorous warfare that epitomised the western and eastern European fronts. Of course the reasons why Sharif Hussayn proclaimed the Arab Revolt in 1916 are very complex and mostly related to local issues, but it had a significant effect on the progress of the wider war, and it was long overdue some plastic figures to represent these men, particularly now that Turkish troops are available.

The larger part of the Sharifian Arab Army was made up of irregulars from the many tribes of the area, but to be effective against the Ottomans it needed a core of trained soldiers, and these were to be found from Iraqi and Syrian ex-Ottoman prisoners of war. The British clothed and supplied these men, and sent thousands to the Arab army, and it is these men that are depicted in this set. They wear standard British battledress except for the traditional Arab kafiya headcloth, though since most of the figures are face down on the ground it is difficult to make out much detail. The quality of the sculpting is not sufficient to identify weapons, though one seems to have a Lewis gun.

Since this is a set from MIR all the men are on the ground. On this occasion at least the majority seen to be alive and healthy, though an all prone set is of very limited value.

Sculpting and detail are not good, and there are some odd gaps in certain places and limbs at unnatural angles. Since these men are meant to be unharmed, there is no excuse on this occasion. Once again the resin has failed to fill the whole figure, and while this is most apparent in the bases, much of which are missing, it also damages the figures themselves.

This is an interesting subject, but the execution of the set is very poor. Faces are vague and with few features, and the same goes for the rest of the figure. However the main question is to what use can these figures be put. Since to date no one else manufacturers this subject, there seems no point in having an army of figures which are all lying on the ground. As MIR do not seem able to produce standing figures, they should restrict themselves to subjects where this enormous limitation is less of an obvious handicap. Sets like this are interesting but pretty useless.