Libyan Spearman

 

This is the Libyan Spearman that first appeared in the Miniature Figurines 72/73 catalogue as PB49s and subsequently in the 75 catalogue as PB 49.

Both PB ranges were based on Phil Barker's books Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars and Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome. This figure is taken from illustration 49 in AMPW.

The 's' designation was used to distinguish the newer 25mm style of models from the preceding, smaller 1/72nd range. The transition was soon complete and the 's' - special - was dropped from the figure codes thereafter. 

The base is stamped PB49 on the upper surface in the usual manner.

As is generally the case, there is a thick-spear and a thin-spear version of this chap, this being the thinner variant. 

This is not a great casting - but all the forty odd examples I have are the same so perhaps it's not untypical. There is a bit of sinkage of the shield, which can be remedied with a little putty. The right half of the face is mostly obscured by what looks like a tear in the mould, and the plume is leaning off to one side. The boss on the shield also has a tear in the model, though this can be trimmed back fairly easily. 

Hopefully there are better examples to be had!