Rose Miniatures, sculpted by Russell Gammage were originally sold in kit form or ready painted. Later they were sold by other manufacturers in one form or another and still are. My own interest is in collecting and painting the original castings, particularly the Ancient Egyptian range. Because they were sculpted as metal kit figures and a number of extra heads, even wigs and other parts could be bought to accompany them, the figures could be made up as sold in individual ‘minipacks’ or customised. The first image I’m showing is the magnificent chariot set. It’s not easy to construct, needing a lot of care, but the finished product is worth the effort. Judge for yourself. My only addition to the original castings is the shield; just a personal thing.

I will be adding to this post in the coming months with more figures from this range; it’s an ongoing project. As usual click on any image to enlarge. My posts have been a bit slow lately due to other writing considerations, and it also took me some time to complete this model.

Here are more groups. The Pharaoh with his Sherden Guard, including a huge Barbary Lion, reputed to accompany him into battle and below this Egyptian infantry. These figures, whilst available as standard kits, could be converted using a variety of Rose spare arms and accessories. Whole scenes could be easily constructed. Factory painted figures were simple but accurate and this style of painting is still best suited to them. The Lion is not a Rose model but a hollowcast one I quite like. Click on any photo to enlarge. More to come from this beautiful range.

I have added a couple more today. This one to the left shows a slave being presented to the Pharoah. The baboon is Britain’s. All these are either figures as in the catalogue, or slight conversions using Rose parts. Gammage made many accessories or spare parts for conversions, so all my figures are genuine Rose figures (except some animals).

The one below shows musicians of the Pharoah’s court, there are a few more and I will update this section when I have them. My next post will show more of this range: the Nubians and Numidians (as described in the Rose catalogue), my preference would say they are from the Kingdom of Kush. Most of these castings have been supplied by John Eden, who currently owns Rose Miniatures. Click to see larger images.