This is an ongoing project inspired by my long term interest in the First Nations of the Northwest Pacific Coast of North America. The Tlingit tribe (pronounced ‘klink-it’) were famous for their carved wooden masks and canoes . The 28mm figures shown here were produced by Varang Miniatures of Russia and were an absolute pleasure to paint.
Varang Miniatures can be found on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/varangminiatures/
If you are interested in gaming this period, there is an article by me covering this subject and the initial clashes between Russian fur traders and the Tlingit in Wargames Illustrated 399: https://www.wargamesillustrated.net/product/wi399-march-2021/
Mark Boam of WI also put together this rather neat two-minute video describing the encounter on Nuchek Island in 1792: https://youtu.be/RT6hbvymut0
On the workbench: more Tlingit and Aleut
Currently I’m planning to create a Battle of Sitka 1804 game, but am going to need a lot more Tlingit and Aleut. There’s about 50 on the painting table at the moment. These are mostly Varang Miniatures with a fair few conversions. There’s also a couple of converted Frostgrave minis that I’m trying out.
Painting is mostly GW Contrast paints over Halfords white undercoat, shown in various stages.
Left: image from unknown 1970s/80s magazine posted on LAF. Please let me know if you know the artist/ magazine.
Tlingit Gallery
Russian Gallery
For Russians to oppose the Tlingit, I had to resort to conversion (Varang Miniatures are working on some Russians but they are not available yet). These are 28mm metal figures by Galloping Major and Kings Mountain Miniatures with some conversion work and headswaps to make them pass for Russian promyshleniki. Next, I will need to source some sailors for the 1804 Battle of Sitka, where some of the crew of the sloop Neva took part in the fighting.
mogsymakes 