Now time to go Nuts !!!

Nuts Planet are a company that release with many different subjects covering all modelling tastes from Fantasy to full figures in all periods and of course busts , the latter is what we will be looking at in this review

Announced here on PF originally and in Social media

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/nutsplanet-s-new-releases-of-december.81723/


With the box art being shown here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/nutsplanet-s-new-release-of-december.81848/

I knew a little about Indians fighting in the Civil War so was intrigued about this release so off on the hunt I went.

Indians fought on both sides of the war but lets look at the Union ones

The Indian Home Guards consisted of three Union regiments composed mainly of Seminoles, Creeks, and Cherokees. In 1862, Indians who were loyal to the Union fled to Kansas for safety on what is known as "the Trail of Blood on the Ice". In the severe winter weather they left behind all their food, clothing and medicine. Indian refugees wanted to return to their homelands to fight Confederate allies. The Union army needed men to retake Indian Territory (south of Kansas) from the Confederates, who controlled a majority of the Indian territory Recruitment of the American Indians commenced.. The Indian Home Guards were not well received,The Fort Scott Bulletin stated of the Indian recruitment,"their principle use is to devour Uncle Sam's hard-bread and beef, and spend his money. They would be as valuable as a flock of sheep in time of action. They ought to be disbanded immediately".

Initially, the Union formed two regiments -The First and Second Indian Home Guards, conditionally these soldiers only saw battle in Indian territory. Command of the individual companies were held by the Indians. Kansas was the only place that the Indians organized into their own regiments.

In the summer of 1862, the Indian Home Guards invaded Indian territory and were joined by captured Cherokees that were formally allied with the Confederacy, the number of Cherokee recruits were sufficient to compose a Third Indian Home Guard regiment.

From 1862-1863 ,the three Indian Home Guards regiments were organized to form the Indian Brigade, refine their art of battle and return to fight in Indian territory: October, 1862-Battle of old Fort Wayne, December 1862, seizure of Fort Davis, April 1863, Capture of Fort Gibson, July 1863, action at Cabin Creek, where the Indian Home Guards saved a union supply train from being captured by the forces of Stand Watie, the most persistent of the Confederate Indian commanders, July 1863, the Battle of Honey Springs sometimes referred to as "the Gettysburg of Indian Territory" the Union army secured a foothold in Indian territory.

The Indian Home Guards made it possible for the Indians to begin returning to their homelands and they contributed to the Union supremacy

The most famous Indian unit in the Union Army was Company "K" of the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters and was the largest all-Indian regiment in the Union Army East of the Mississippi River. The regiment consisted of 146 men, 139 of whom were Anishnaabek, the indigenous people of the Great Lakes. The Anishnaabek were made up of the Odawa, Ottawa, Ojibway, Chippewa and Potawatomi tribes. leverage to secure new treaties, more land rights, equal social standing and financial security.

The Anishnaabek supported the Union because they did not support the social injustices of slavery. Gaminoodhich, a Burt Lake Odawa correspondent for the Grand Traverse Herald in 1862 wrote,"for equality among all men including slaves, to be driven to the man-market for sale, we think, a rank offense before the Great Spirit, and foul blot on the Grand Republic".

In 1863, Union losses prompted the acceptance of Indian enlistment from Michigan, but public hostility still existed. The Detroit Advertiser and Tribune wrote"that as a race,[the Indians] have not yet reached that degree of civilization which should entitle them to all the rights, and place on them all the responsibilities of citizenship. At best they are but semi-civilized,...a poor, ignorant and dependent race".

Company "K" fought in the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Crater.

July 30,1864, the Battle of the Crater, their last military engagement, the Sharpshooters had little ammunition and were surrounded. In his account of the Battle of the Crater, Lt. William H. Randall wrote that the Indian soldiers,"showed great coolness...Some of them were mortally wounded, and clustering together, covered their heads with their blouses, chanted a death song, and died-four of them in a group."

Indians fought sometimes reluctantly for both sides but were known by Indian names as such like Sgt John Chupco or "Long John" of the Union forces .

Often in civilian dress with issued weapons and with Indian clothing also being worn , sometimes mounted and issued cavalry items and uniforms but with Indian "additions" like metal discs and beads.

Our subject is from his dress very well attired , a good shirt ,a uniform coat , well armed and showing all the pride of a warrior , I feel he is a mounted soldier based on the weapon on a crossbelt.

Books are a little harder to find specifically about the Indian in the civil war here are some books that I have found/have in my library.



Continued in next post

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Onto the Box

Release details are :

Title: Indian Home Guard

Reference: NP-B027

Scale:: 1/10th

Material: Gray Resin

No of parts: 14

Sculptor : Jun Sik Ahn

Box art : Myeong-ha Hwang


Again as with all of Nuts planet releases we have a blue box full of colour , easily recognised and with box art on the top and one of the sides , resin was safe between thick foam layers .

Parts consist of the Main Torso , 2 arms , a weapon , a holstered pistol , a knife , a cap , water bottle, 2 pouches , a clip and 2 straps and a base.

Prep

Nothing too drastic to deal with , casting plugs on the pieces , some a quick cut with a knife and sanding is needed some like the one on the head will need snips and then sanding , but once done all is fine with the parts fitting well into the positions , minimal filler will be needed ...if any !!

Again a lot of pictures so in this part I will look at 2 of the pieces ..the torso and the arms

Main Torso

A large bit of resin wearing his uniform coat collar open , the folds on the coat are very good with nice little touches like a small torn part and the seams slightly straining .

Collar area is excellent , very good undercuts, the collar itself is open as said with a shirt underneath , around his neck we have a tied scarf along with his treasured beads , he has added some discs onto the uniform front .

Belts are worn both across the his left shoulder , very well done the smaller has a cutout ready to take the sheathed knife leading down to the holster position, the other for the weapon has really nice work on the buckle and the swivel that holds the weapon .

Buttons are well done , looking with my optivisor I see there is a indication of an eagle on them ...talking of which looking at the belt buckle and we have exactly that a open winged version surrounded by a laurel design , the sculpting on this is really accurate and careful painting will be rewarded even though it will be hidden by the weapon .

The face is without doubt an Indian both front and side views assert this with his long flowing hair having really well done texture , the actual features of the face are sharp with "laughter" lines at the edge of the eyes , a proud face


Arms

These are easy to position as there are very accurate cutouts that match up perfectly to the blocks on the torso , the arms are holding the weapon across his chest .
Again work on the folds are the usual high standard with the upper part having a decorative disc on each .

There is a single stripe on each arm , and it looks like it has been sewn on , the edges are fraying with good surface work on the actual cloth ..another nice little bit of interest .

Moving down to the cuffs there is a pointed cuff , with good edging , I like the detail that is added to the actual button holes , cuffs are open revealing the undershirt ( this can of course be any colour or style ( checked as in box art for instance)



Continued in next post

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Onto the remaining pieces


Kepi

This type was seen on both sides , with a peak which has been well sculpted in shape and cast and in scale , nicely squared at the leading edge ,no insignia but there is a strap again with sharp definition and undercuts leading on each side to a small button . The cap itself has been worked forward to the peak resulting in some very good and natural folds , fit and the look when in place is really good .

Weapon

This is a lovely rendition of the cavalry carbine , very accurate in shape and style , the weapon itself has some really sharply sculpted mechanism , the hammer is forward , nice trigger details , on the rear we have the swivel bar with good detail on the stock as well , there was a slight bit of flashing to take out in between the bar and also a small piece of resin between the trigger and the hand.. The barrel could also be drilled out if you wish

The weapon is being held securely by the hands , extremely well sculpted ( as are all of Jun-Sik Ahn's work) , the fingers themselves are very well detailed with the veins on the back of the hand being easily visible , finger nails are also well shaped ...all in all a triumph of sculpting .




Pistol/Holster

This is in a decorated opened top holster probably Indian made looking at the shape , the handle sits proudly of the top with the cocking handle being seen together with the sides of the grip , fot is simple by means of a small pin to the belt cutout.



Knife

This is an indian knife , sheathed in a decorated scabbard , nice details here with the handle being sculpted to represent bone or antler horn , nice bit of splitting on the surface textures as well , fit is easy with a lug fitting into a cutout on the torso.


Waterbottle
Cylindrical in shape , very good wood effect in the sculpting on both sides and the middle between , again showing skill and knowledge how these were made , you might want to add a cord to the stopper top as seen sometimes .

On the lower edge we have the strap and when in place you can then fit the remaining 2 parts of the straps , again fit is easy .



Pouches /Straps etc

2 pouches are included , both have really nice shaping and both with the retaining strap secured underneath , sharply cast and again fit is easy to do . The straps are spot on in shaping for the water bottle but I suggest dry fit first before committing !!! The carbine catch is delicate so be careful when working with it .


Base

A simple post piece as before , use it if you wish , if so I suggest pin it , if not put it to the spares box and use a brass rod.

Final Thoughts

This is a great subject and one which I am surprised hasn't been done before so WELL DONE to the team at Nuts , again we see HIGH QUALITY in both sculpting , presentation and casting , a painters piece with the textures and fleshtones , loads of details to get your teeth into .

Another one I have pleasure to say I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this



For more details on this and other releases from Nuts have a look at their website

www.nutsplanet.com

or follow on FB and here on PF

Thanks to Nuts for the Review model and for you all for looking in

Nap

Lets have some more pictures from:

Unpainted

Painted

ENJOY

Nap