Hey All

Just finished off another lovely mini bust from FeR's "Portraits of the American Civil War" series. I love the smaller size of these busts as a stepping stone between figures and larger, traditional scaled busts and half figures.

The bust represents a trooper of the 2nd Missouri Cavalry, known as "Merrill's Horse" after their commander, Col. Lewis Merrill. The formation operated fairly independently in the western theatre of war. The regiment spent the lion's share of the war fighting guerrillas in Missouri and Arkansas... with much success. Merrill was known as a commander who could train horse soldiers as well as instill pride and efficiency in his fighting unit. Part of his method was to adopt a distinctive uniform and to strictly enforce how it was worn and maintained.

To that end, the uniform consisted of a short dark blue jacket trimmed in regulation yellow but in a distinctive pattern... taped around the tall stand-up collar with two long pointed button loops on each side. False plastrons were created with yellow tape on the chest, with ''two point'' corners at the shoulder. Yellow tapes also form welts on the rear darts and around the hem which are pointed in the center, front and back. Finally, yellow tape creates pointed cuffs on the sleeves. The overall effect has a very "lancer" feel IMO.
The kepi is unbanded and fairly wide topped for kepi. It carries a square black leather peak and chinstrap. A brass unit letter is mounted on the crown of the cap near the front. Unique to the unit, the kepi is a medium sky blue with an orange pipe around the crown... the orange colour of the piping is a nod to the US Dragoons where Merrill served his time before the war.

I painted this guy with Vallejo on the flesh tones, Scale 75 on the clothes and Darkstar for the metallics. The base is temporary... next week when I'm on afternoon shift, I'll be sneaking into the wood shop at work to cut and polish a bunch of small bases better suited to this size of bust. I'll post them up when they are done.

Any comments, critques or suggestions I might use on my next piece are as always, most welcome.

Thanks for looking in

Colin

That looks lovely Colin. Well done!

Colin, you finished this one pretty well.

Cheers,
Pedro.

Nice one Colin

Had a chance to see this in the flesh last weekend. Lovely bit of work there, Colin

Very nicely finished Colin.

Looks great.....your best yet. I agree he really needs a smaller base. I was surprised how small these little guys are when I saw him up close

Looking superb, great paintwork.. Whats next?

regards

Thank you gentlemen for the kind words.
I'll have to figure out the appropriate size to make the bases for these busts. I haven't done many so I'm still a little unsure the best dimensions.

What's next, Bob? I have Ellie's Zouave pair (blue/red, blue/white) and a 75mm Sardinian grenadier from Chronos (blue and yellow).... Fire away Roger

Thanx again

Colin

I won't mention the "B" word but I do like the look of the Sardinian Grenadier.

very very nice work!!!!!!!!!

Seeing you have a "blue " thing, go with the Zouave.

Ragrds

Very Nice mate looking good keep it up.

ian

www.elliesminiatures.com

That's a very neat little bust.
Well done.

Cheers,
Andrew

Superbly done - excellent job bro.

Go for the Zouave - and lease share your palette as you paint it.

Cheers

Huw

Great finish Colin.
Superb throughout; Uniform highlights and shadows of the blues are perfect and the flesh tones with the exposed to the weather tones are exceptional.
You must be very satisfied with this one Mate?
All the best,
Keith

Bravo Colin!!!

Cheers

Excellent work Colin! Love what you did with this little fella. I was looking Sunday closely and it is really inspiring what you did!
Cheers mate!
Zeno

Thanks guys for all the supportive comments... much appreciated.
I may never be a full on bust convert (nothing beats a good set of legs in my book) but I'm feeling much more comfortable with them... I'll definitely do more of there little FeR gems, maybe even take a swing at a larger scale bust or even a half figure... I'm really digging on the Red Lancer half fig (then again he's not blue ).

For now though, I made a solid decision... the grenadier and the zouave pair... same time!!!!!!

colin

Good stuff Colin!