"28mm Iron Brigade: Mounted Bugler Green and Color Plate" Topic

The pre-release order phase for the Iron Brigade will last until the 14 of February: I want to thank all the customers who had already pre-ordered.

Now here is a green/puppet of the mounted bugler accompanying the mounted staff and the colour plate made for us by André Jouineau we will send to the customers who will pre-order before the 02/14/2014.

I should post pictures of the completed greens in two or three weeks.

The Final pre-order phase will start then and the release is still for the end of March 2014.

All is here:

link

Cheers

Franck

Wow I think I have never seen such a beautiful bugler in shell jacket.

The plate is really cool: hum makes me wonder about a pre-order !!

Who is the sculptor if I may ask ?

The questions which arise are two:

1.) The bugler is a musician, and thus a "non-combatant". He would not be wearing a revolver.

2.) Musicians normally carried a "Musician's Sword". Much like the NCO Sword. Now, while it might be more common to see a cavalry saber carried by musicians in a mounted unit. this musician would be drawn from the enlisted ranks of one of the infantry regiments, and thus have a Musician's Sword, along with blue lacing on his mounted services jacket. Of course, being drawn from the enlisted ranks of an infantry regiment, he would be either given an untrimmed mounted services jacket, or perhaps have cut his dress coat down to waist-length in order to ride more easily. It's possible he'd still have a full dress coat, as there were tails in it and that would make his riding easier. But odds are he wouldn't have a light-blue trimmed mounted services jacket, especially with the Iron brigade's penchant for sticking to regulations.

Having said that, just to play the wag, if we're sticking with regulations, then the blanket was folded and carried between the inner and outer flap of the knapsack. The straps on top were to affix the greatcoat and were to be used to strap the greatcoat, rolled, when turned into regimental storage prior to the spring campaign.

Just saying.

One last point:

There is no need for a percussion cap pouch on the sword belt when only a revolver is worn. Revolver caps were carried in a small tin in the soldiers coat pocket, as were a spare block or two of cartridges.

The percussion cap pouch was to be used for rifle/carbine caps, and when a carbine or rifle was carried, the cartridge box was worn on the waistbelt (normally) which means there isn't room for a separate revolver ammunition pouch/box.

Although this casting (and a very lovely one, at that) will work well for cavalry and artillery units, he's out of place for even brigade staff on an infantry unit. A better (though less colorful) bugler would be one wearing a sack coat (or cut down dress coat) and only a haversack and canteen. No sword belt, weapon(s), etc.

Those are my two-cent's worth. Certainly, if one looks hard enough almost anything can be justified. I'm not bashing the model for quality, etc, just that, IMHO, it isn't representative of what you'd see on staff assigned to an infantry unit. If there is evidence that this was the case for the Iron brigade, then have at it! But absent documentation, I'd say it isn't a suitable representation.

V/R

Tsushima: the sculptor is Alan Marsh

TKindred: thank you very much Tim for your comments; they are very useful and please keep in mind this is a pre-green/puppet that will be used as a base for future models of cavalrymen or artillerymen so he may end with a sack coat or even a frock coat.

Now a lot of your remarks are very constructive and I want to thank you about them.

First of all it is very hard to find anything about the uniform of staff musician or general's flag bearer.

At first after a lot of research I decided they are coming from the rank and have the classic Iron Brigade uniform and maybe the Hardee hats even if uneasy to wear on horseback.

Now after some discussion s with re-enactors, with various artists and a Civil War specialist it appears as you mentioned it that nothing is clear and it varies from one staff to another. Something important is the fact that it appears that sometime soldiers serving as mounted troops liked the colourful dress of the cavalrymen and trade their regular uniform for cavalry jacket.

You have the same problem with the uniform of volunteers joining 4th US Arty Battery B: why would have they changed their famous outfit to wear artillery shell jacket/sack coat: may be because it it easier to wear but there are no evidence of an Iron Brigade volunteer who kept his frock coat while manning the guns.
About the fact that he has a revolver I do agree musician did not have one and wore a sword but swords were often discarded. I have never seen any evidence of a mounted musician with his straight blade sword on campaign.

Now some musicians held weapons for self defense so why not a revolver ?

As you said everything can be justified in the end: I thought my choices were rather serious but I agree others can be made.

To my eyes, the torso looks a bit narrow. This may just be me not used to looking at riding models, though.

Lion in the stars: the fact that he does not have his arms yet makes the torso looks narrow.

Cheers

Franck

Something I want to stress is the fact that as we work with puppets I must try to ask our sculptor to work on a model that will be used as a base but that may be in the end heavily modified.

The final staff musicians and flag bearer will wear a frock coat and a hardee but as I will have very few use of a puppet with such a uniform I decide to ask him to work on a puppet for cavalry musician.

That is not easy to explain and I should have been more specific in saying it is a cavalry musician that will be used to make the staff bugler.

Sorry for the confusion

Cheers

Franck