15 mm Hellenistic Elephant (Essex)

I spent quite a bit of money during my trip to "The Other Partizan". My purchases were mostly bargains so my shopping bag was very heavy by the end of the day: I bought lots of 15 mm goodies.

One of my favourites was a £1 bag containing two Essex elephants (from MEPA24). The bag also contained two mahouts, one howdah and two crew. Having painted one fully crewed elephant, I'm wondering what I can do with the second elephant and mahout: suggestions please in the comments.

I added a couple of runners armed with slings to add interest to the lower portion of the piece. They are also from Essex and I think they are from MPA8.

Figure review

The elephant model needed a bit of filling. I used greenstuff for the belly joint and Vallejo plastic putty for everything else as the gaps were much smaller. I also used a blob of greenstuff under the howdah as well as some superglue. Overall the fit was excellent and far better than with the Donnington equivalent (see below).

The mahout needed some attention to ensure a good fit. I should add that there's not a lot of options when placing the crew. The figures are based and this dictates how they fit in the howdah.

The elephant was a joy to paint. The detail is not very deep, so dry brushing wasn't an option, but the details is there and wonderfully done. I was able to pick the detail out with a fine brush in no time. The folds in the cloth beneath the howdah were also really well done. An excellent piece considering the age of the model.

Closing remarks

Finally, here's a comparison of the Essex and Donnington elephants I painted in January. The beasts aren't that different in size, but the howdahs are noticeably different in both height and style.

I now have more elephants than I'll ever need, and that's just how it should be.

List of all the project posts