Probably the most iconic troop type in the besieging army are the Mumakil. Vast elephants bearing howdahs full of Southron warriors.
And I can tell you they have been a right headache from start to finish. The first problem was sourcing the correct elephant figure, available in 1984. Britain's produced 2 African bull elephants. An older less detailed one which is fairly easy to find, and then a charging one in the later 1970s which is quite rare and commands a high price even if broken and missing tusks. I started looking back in 2019 and the first ones I saw the sellers were asking £50. As I needed 3, that was not an option, but I eventually managed to ferret out ones listed as "old plastic elephant" and the like, paying no more than £7 each. 2 were missing tusks, but happily an enterprising eBay seller produces pairs of replica tusks in white metal which slot into the empty sockets.
All well and good. I then had to build a howdah for each which fitted squarely on the back but still left room for a mahout figure to perch on the neck. The way the elephant's head is tilted back made the ears extend too far down its flanks to fit the howdah on, do I had to remove the heads, pin them tilted forward a fraction, and then milliput some more neck, avoiding making the Mumakil look like a giraffe/elephant hybrid.
a rare WIP shot, you can see the metal tusks here, and milliput neck extension.
The howdahs had to be built and painted separately, so I could paint the elephants body fully. As it turned out, I was very glad I did this. Upon completion of the modelling, I primed the Mumakil in acrylics, (I often use an enamel undercoat), remembering that Britain's plastic can react with enamel paint. Feeling smug I thought I'd better varnish them by hand with a Humbrol acrylic varnish which looked promising when applied, but overnight dried milky, ruining the meticulous layers of drybrushing I had applied. There was nothing for it but to start painting again.
Anyhow, once to the beasts were finished I was able to glue on the painted howdahs and fill with angry Haradrim. Hinchliffe again. The spearmen are from the fantasy range, the archers from the Renaissance range available from Lancashire Games. The mahouts are good old Minifigs.
For once Tolkien seems fairly clear about the Haradrim livery.... scarlet black and yellow/gold. Their badge being a black serpent on red field and shields black and yellow. I tried to do a stylised eye on the howdah shields, attempting to make it look like a North African design. The banners and side curtains are made from tomato puree tube and the tusk gilding from adhesive stickers wrapped round.
I'm a good way through painting the Rohirrim and seem to have overcome my aversion to painting horses. I've finished 60 horses and bridles now, and am starting on the riders.
