Neu-Moschi German Boma: Kitchen

The boma construction continues with another section of wall that houses the kitchen.

This build starts with a Gamecraft wall that has been doubled up and treated with stucco texture and sanded. To this, I've added a 4ground Lean To with an added metal roof. The building itself is too small to be a kitchen for a boma of this size, so I've opted to add additional outdoor cooking space.  For the oven, I've based mine on images of 19th Century German designs I found online. The initial shapes were carved out of pink foam and glued to art board.  At this stage, I had not glued them or the base to the wall.

The oven and cupboard were textured with Liquidtex stucco, sanded and painted.  The whole assembly was then glued together.  Two gunports were drilled into the wall and framed with basswood following the same procedure I discussed in the front gate post.

Detailing on the oven and cupboard was done with art card, basswood, and manila folder.  A pot hook was built from a paperclip and rivets added with wood glue. Everything was then painted, scorch marks/soot added, and firewood made from twigs was stacked against the wall.

The final addition was the roof.  Support columns were made from basswood coated in stucco texture and sanded.  Strips of plastic were glued across the posts, and then from the posts to the back wall (providing a small gap for the kitchen smoke to exit out). This was further strengthened using O-scale porch brackets from Grant Line. On top of this was glued art card covered with sheet metal textured plastic card.   Roof painting was done according to my regular method.

Size Comparisons for 28mm African Minitures

As promised in my last post, here are some size comparison photos to help you when purchasing figures.  Photos were shot against a 1 inch (25mm) grid.  Bases are 3mm thick.

Copplestone, Brigade Games, Copplestone, Brigade Games

For the German troops, the Copplestone and Brigade figures are a very close match in size and style, and can be mixed without issue.

Brigade Games, Copplestone, Brigade Games, Copplestone

However, the same cannot be said for their British figures.  The Brigade British are approximately the same size as their Germans (maybe just slightly smaller), but the Copplestone British have grown in size compared to their Germans.  The Indian trooper isn't too bad, but the British officer  is quite large, with a helmet that dwarfs the Brigade counterpart. 

Brigade Games, Copplestone, Brigade Games, Copplestone

This photo better illustrates the size creep between Copplestone's Africa and Back of Beyond Ranges.  It's a pity too, as the Copplestone figures are well sculpted.

Foundry, Warlord, Brigade Games, Copplestone, Copplestone, Old Glory

And here is a parting photo of all the manufactures currently in my collection.  The Foundry, Brigade Games, and Copplestone Darkest Africa lines are all mid sized and work together very well.  The Warlord figures run on the smaller size, while Copplestone Back of Beyond and Old Glory tend to be a bit larger. If you are going to be starting Africa gaming from scratch, I would suggest you focus on Brigade Games, Foundry, and select Copplestone African figures.

Final Troops Completed for East Africa

Well, the last of the figures (at least until I decide to buy more) have come off the table for the German East Africa project.

These are Sikh Infantry from Brigade Games:

As is usual with their figures, these are both nicely sculpted and cast. 

The figures have been painted as the 30th Punjab Regiment, as depicted in Osprey's "Armies in East Africa 1914-1918".

I also finished up some command figures from Copplestone Castings:

The two on the left will be my army commander and his assistant, while the two on the right will command my 129th Baluchis.  These are rather large figures and appear over sized next to the Brigade figures.  I'll put together another post showing how everything in my collection matches up.