"Looking For Plastic Figures" Topic

I suspect the figures I am looking for are some kind of Napoleonic soldier figures in soft plastic.

I want to re-create at least a few figures from each of these US Army units pictured below. My plan is to find soft plastic, 1/72nd scale figures that are similar to these,and then using head swaps or other plastic surgery, to create at least a squad of troops from each of these units. I may make up to a platoon, of about 50, depending on how difficult the conversion work might be.

Drawings from Military Uniforms in America, The Modern Era from 1868, Presido Press, 1988.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

I think you are bang out of luck there- the nearest I can think of are 1859 Austrians (Waterloo 1815) but…

Many of them do indeed have that Italian/Austrian Wars era look about them. Good suggestion. Wars of Italian Unification?

Soft plastic though, tricky. I always think conversion is more difficult than hard plastic. Gluing, carving, removing detail……

Been searching around.

I am sure you know this site. It is superb and I do spend ages in a nostalgia trip reading reviews. Nearest I could get was with some French North African cavalry. Chasseurs d'Afrique, but they seem poor models frankly. I had thought Franco Prussian War might reveal something else…but no

link

For the cavalry, perhaps some Charge of the Light Brigade figures, if anyone makes them?

Or, Hat Kings German Legion Dragoons (for the 106th Cav)http://www.hat.com/Curr2/Bx8014KG.html, Napoleonic British Dragoons for those with helmets hat.com/Curr/Curr8033.html, and some assorted hussars for the rest of the cavalry? For infantry, I don't think you will have much luck, except maybe a mixed conversion of ACW and Napoleonic figures.

Rob

Crimean War is a good idea indeed. Again Chasseurs d'Afrique, British Infantry, all are on that website I quoted earlier.

An example of Austrians;

link

I imagine you are looking for parade figures?

For the Hussar looking ones,
link

When shopping for this era or type of uniform, think Crimea French.

deadhead, I spend a couple hours of PSR before asking the question. I know almost nothing about 19th Century uniforms. Mostly I looked at the Napoleonic. My assumption is that there would be some decent bodies and with a head swap, which I am very good at, I could at least get close. I am happy to use hard plastic figures, but I don't know of any that are 1/72nd scale that are even close. If you can suggest any, that would be great. Thank you for your good suggestions, so far.

Katzbalger, you seem to have the same idea I had, ACW figures with Napoleonic figures mixed together may get me at least some of these guys.

companycmd, that's a good idea.

Pauls Bods, I expect to visit your blog and find you already did them!

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

Crimean War French from Emhar look like an easy mod for the first two. Heck, paint them gray and the first one is covered. Cut the fronts of the coats off, shave the pants down a bit and the second is too. For the hussars the Streletz Crimean war hussars look like they'll do, though the quality isn't so great. The last one, Chassuers d'Afrique as already mentioned. Franco-Prussian War Prussian infantry have the spikey helmets.

For the Philadelphia 2nd Troop, try German Hussars fro the Franco-Prussian war or WWI. As their uniforms were directly copied from the Germans.
Chicago Black Horse, I would look at Union ACW can in shell jackets with a head swap.
For the New York infantry units try some French second Empire figures.

Hope this helps – Would like to know more about this project and to see some photos when some are done.

Those are very nice uniforms from an era of the USA that I do not know a lot about.

What book are the illustrations from?

wmyers the book is Military Uniforms in America, The Modern Era From 1868, from the Series Produced by The Company of Military Historians, Presidio Press, 1988.

link

It's a great series, and this is the only one I have.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog