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Posted

Bactrian Camels x 2 (F72399)

1:72 CMK by Special Hobby

 

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The camel, known colloquially as the ‘ship of the desert’, is a large mammal that is as cantankerous as it is capable, having a huge fatty water storage hump on its back that allows it to travel for up to 40 days without a proper drink, its long legs and large padded feet making it a capable of travelling vast distances without taking one step forward and two back on sand dunes.  They’re still used everywhere there’s a desert, although 4x4 transport is taking over where the need arises.

 

We have already reviewed a few more camels than we ever thought we would, and still they keep coming.  This set from CMK is something like the 7th now, if we count both 1:48 and 1:72, and it’s highly likely that we’ll be updating this review with additional pictures to show the 1:48 Bactrian camel set, as they have a habit of arriving in pairs, much like the humps of this shaggier camel variant.  Unlike the Dromedary, the Bactrian is also capable of enduring extreme cold and high altitudes, which along with their stamina and tolerance for meagre rations, were probably prime reasons for their use travelling the Silk Road in days of yore.

 

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The set is 3D printed in 1:72 for your next desert diorama, or one already built that simply needs more camels in it to achieve perfection, whether it’s in the background or playing a more central role.  The set is supplied in the usual clamshell box with card header, with the small instruction sheet trapped in front of the header, all secured by a single staple.  The instructions are simple, consisting of a line-drawn visual of the model with markings examples.  There are two camels in different poses in the box, and they each still have supports attached to the underside, which are easy to clip off and sand the remaining pips back flush.  One camel is sitting with its legs folded, while the other is in an ambiguous standing pose that could be walking or stopped to admire the view, and both have shaggier fur that is concentrated around the tops of their humps, necks and in a fringe around the top of their heads.

 

 

Conclusion

They’re camels, miserable spitty things that are lucky they’re good beasts of burden, or they wouldn’t be so numerous.  CMK's designers have done a good job of replicating their look and the texture of their fur, then it's up to you to paint them as well as you can.

 

Highly recommended.

 

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Review sample courtesy of

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Posted

One thing to remember is that these are not suitable for a Saharan or Arabian diorama.  For that you should use the single-humped dromedary.   Bactrian camels are native to central Asia and so are suitable for a diorama in the Gobi desert.  :smartass:

Posted
9 minutes ago, Enzo the Magnificent said:

One thing to remember is that these are not suitable for a Saharan or Arabian diorama.  For that you should use the single-humped dromedary.   Bactrian camels are native to central Asia and so are suitable for a diorama in the Gobi desert.  :smartass:

:tired:

 

 

Huh?  What? :wicked:

  • Haha 1
Posted
54 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

 

I presume they were intended for Afghanistan dioramas?

 

They would be dromedaries as well.  That's all I ever saw in Afghanistan and none to many of them either.  The locals tend to use donkeys as pack animals.

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Posted (edited)

Suitable for Eastern front during ww2, Silk Road, China and Roman dioaramas.

Yes you read that right, Imperial Roman army extensively used both dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) and bacrtian camel (Camelus bactrianus) as well as hybrids in Europe as beasts of burden during imperial era.

Good sources on Roman use of camels in Europe: 

Camels on the Northeastern Frontier of the Roman Empire by Weronika Tomczyk

Camels in antiquity: Roman Period finds from Slovenia by László Bartosiewicz & Janez Dirjec

Kamele im westlichen Treverergebiet –ein nahezu vollständig erhaltenes Dromedaraus dem vicus Mamer-Bartringen (Luxemburg) by Franziska Dövener, Carola Oelschlägel, Hervé Bocherens in Archäologentage Otzenhausen

Camels in Antiquity: the Hungarian connection by László Bartosiewicz

A camel skeleton from the Viminacium amphitheatre by Sonja Vuković & Ivan Bogdanović

Dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) and Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) crossbreeding husbandry practices in Turkey and Kazakhstan: An in-depth review by Maurizio Dioli

 

The first and the third ones are particularly usefull as they give a map and list of all Roman era camel finds in europe.

Basicly if you see a diorama of Roman with bactrian camels don't go "wrong time, wrong place, wrong camel"

 

EDIT:

to find those books go to

academia.edu

Edited by TISO
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