Sioux Warriors
IMEX 1:72 Scale Figure Review
Two of the original clay master figures created by Bill Farmer, who also sculpted US and Confederate soldiers for IMEX and Revell. This box includes enough mounted warriors to create a small war party. Photographs used by permission of Bill Farmer.
Contents
- 28 warriors in 10 Poses – 23 mm equal 166 cm height
- Mounted chief
- Mounted warrior with carbine, open hand
- Mounted warrior firing spencer carbine (4)
- Mounted warrior firing bow (3)
- Mounted warrior with shield, open hand (2)
- Warrior firing minie rifle (4)
- Warrior firing bow (4)
- Warrior with bow, open hand (4)
- Warrior with stone axe and knife (3)
- Warrior with open hands, running (2)
- 11 horses in 3 poses – 23 mm equal 16.1 hands
- 2 lances
- 7 tomahawks
- 2 knives
Evaluation
Cast in a medium brown plastic which lends itself well to speed painting.
The mounted chieftain is a nice figure, sculpted in the act of signaling to his men. The figure would have deserved a stationary horse to add even more drama to the pose.
Many action poses. More than half of the figures are firing a bow, musket or carbine. All the riders are firing to their left, and they seem to be shooting at each other when mounted on a typical wargaming base. Some cutting and turning of upper bodies will be required to make the riders fire in different directions.
The selection of spare weapons includes a lance, tomahawk and knife. The lance is great, but there are only two on the sprue. We would have liked to see more variety of tomahawks, particularly the type which is featured so prominently in "Dances with Wolves".
Good casting quality, but some flash will have to be removed.
Compatible with ESCI, HaT, Italeri, and Revell.
Sculpted by Bill Farmer.
Two of the three horse poses are sculpted with an incorrect gait, they seem to be walking with their hind legs, and galloping with the front legs. One of these two mounts looks stunted: Its head and neck are too large, the back appears too short, and the hind legs are noticeably longer than the front legs.
Approximately 30 % of the men carry captured US cavalry carbines and revolvers, but not one of them has appropriated a cavalry jacket, kepi or hat.
Stone axes and infantry muskets may not be entirely appropriate for prairie warfare, but the mix of weapons works quite well.
The miniatures might have been modelled more closely on the characters from the movie "Dances with Wolves", without running into any licensing or copyright issues. In addition, there are the many paintings by Frederick Remington and other contemporary artists which might also have inspired the figure designers and the sculptor. It is unfortunate that manufacturers habitually miss such wonderful opportunities to turn a good product into an exceptionally beautiful and profitable one.
The box cover shows warriors in red and blue loin cloth, but the Sioux, and neighbouring tribes like the Crow seem to have preferred off-white or beige clothing colours. Some form of colour coding was necessary to distinguish friend and foe on the American plains.
Historical Employment
- American Frontier Wars
Possible Conversions
- US Cavalry Scouts
The Sioux warriors are a welcome addition to the growing range of Wild West figures on the market today. Atlantic figures still rank as number one for period flavour and broad coverage of a historic subject, but every new set of figures adds a number of new poses which are of interest to the collector, modeller, and wargamer.
IMEX Miniatures sample from Loose Caboose