Ohh Chuma chabela mitwe

The Ruga-ruga were mercenaries of East Africa who were used as armed guards along caravan trade routes, and later employed in various European colonial militaries. Members were typically displaced peoples, and included Ngoni warriors uprooted from the south by the Zulus. They rose to prominence under the leadership of Nyamwezi chieftains like Mirambo and Nyungu-ya-Mawe.

In 1/72 scale, Ruga-ruga are manufactured by HäT Industrie as part of their WWI line, but I think they can just as easily be used for the 19th century.

The box consists of 48 figures in 9 poses, but if you look at the illustration on the box, there is a 10th pose which apparently did not make it into production.

I was originally not a huge fan of the type of rubbery plastic used for these figures, but it's grown on me because it allows me to use a hot knife to sculpt the plastic and create practically seamless conversions.

For the fighting poses, I did some simple head and feather swaps to add variety to the figures.

For the porter figures, I altered some of the baggage being carried, and also modified two figures to carry elephant tusks.

I'd like to have more ivory porters, so it may be necessary to perform the Dark Art on some of these conversions.

NYPL Digital Collection