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Indian Home Guard

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by Larsen E. Whipsnade, Sep 11, 2021.

  1. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    My next project: Indian Home Guard 1:10 scale resin bust by Nuts Planet.

    He's been done a number of times here in the past few years. If you aren't aware of the Home Guard (I wasn't) I recommend to search out Nap's post from a few years ago. It's well-done, detailed, very interesting and finishes with a succinct critique of the kit and its parts.

    On to the kit. The kit has sharp detail and very little flash or excess plastic to trim. Pic shows the parts laid out and primed with Tamiya Light Grey Primer.

    Screen Shot 2021-09-11 at 11.39.31 AM.png

    My only question about the historical accuracy of the kit is the carbine. It appears to be an 1859 model Sharps carbine based on the shape of the trigger guard and the patch box. The Sharps single-shot carbine was probably the second most sought after weapon of the ACW, the first being the 7-shot Spencer carbine about which it was claimed, "You can load it on Sunday and shoot all week."

    Given the Sharps' popularity and considering the often less than honorable way in which native Americans were treated by the Federal government I wonder if the army would have equipped these troops with the highly sought after Sharps or would they have given the Sharps to other troops and equipped the Home Guard with weapons of a lesser *ahem* calibre? (sorry) I don't know. An internet search wasn't able to discover with what weapons the Home Guard was equipped.

    Anyway it looks like fun. Lots of fiddly bits to assemble and fine detail to paint.

    Rick
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Martin64 likes this.
  3. sd0324 PlanetFigure Supporter

    Interesting point about the rifle. Looks like a great bust. Look forward to progress. You should have fun with this one.

    Steve
  4. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks, Steve. Maybe someone here might know what weapons the Home Guard was equipped with.

    Rick
  5. sd0324 PlanetFigure Supporter

    I may or may not know some "gun guys" that might know but it's a long shot. Those carbines were everywhere so I'd just go with it. It's a cool bust.

    Steve
  6. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Only because I raised the question of whether or not the Sharps carbine is historically accurate to the Home Guards. The following quote is from the book Native American Mounted Rifleman by Mark Lardas. Not proof positive but perhaps indicative of the actual arms issued?

    Screen Shot 2021-09-12 at 9.52.45 AM.png
  7. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    You're probably right, Steve. And I am planning to go with the Sharps because of its ubiquity.... chalk it up to curiosity and all that.

    Rick
    sd0324 likes this.
  8. Martin64 A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    Nap, Larsen E. Whipsnade and sd0324 like this.
  9. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks, Martin.

    Rick
    Martin64 likes this.
  10. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    I decided to begin by painting the black hair. Black hair is (for me) a challenge. How do you highlight and shadow it without turning it grey or brown? Looking at pics I noticed Native American hair is very black, yes, but under some lighting conditions it appears to be a blue-black color.

    Aha! Says I!

    I began with my shadow first, a pure black wash to fill in the deep crevices, followed selectively by very dark shades of grey (almost black), blue, brown, red, and then semi-gloss and gloss varnishes diluted and applied sparingly. And finally I topped off the whole mess with a blue wash.

    Comments and suggestions are welcomed. Thanks.

    Rick

    Screen Shot 2021-09-13 at 10.57.35 AM.png Screen Shot 2021-09-13 at 10.58.11 AM.png Screen Shot 2021-09-13 at 10.57.53 AM.png
  11. Steve Brodie PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Chair pulled up. His hair is looking good. Yep black is a pain to paint / shadow, but as you say, go black for the shadows and highlights in very dark grey/blue.
    Nap likes this.
  12. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Rick

    I am enjoying this SBS , great posts and references ....hairs looking good , nice to share ways to paint

    Following with interest

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
  13. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks, Steve. Thanks, Kevin.
    We've got a face.... or at least he does now. Personally I've had mine for quite some time.

    Screen Shot 2021-09-14 at 1.52.38 PM.png Screen Shot 2021-09-14 at 1.53.07 PM.png Screen Shot 2021-09-14 at 1.53.40 PM.png

    Rick
  14. William Scotts New Member

    Nice start with the painting.Regarding the carbine,is this where the phrase sharp shooter came from?
  15. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Most sources give a couple of options for the derivation of the phrase so I can only give you a definite maybe on that, Bill. It's also possible it came as the translation of the German word 'Scharfschuetze' - Scharf "sharp" - schuetze "shooter" Thanks, Bill

    Rick
  16. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Not entirely sure about the carbine...looks more like a Spencer to me.
    Perhaps the picture will explain things...

    spencer carbine.jpg

    Your choice of course. I'm sure it'll look good whatever

    Mike
    Nap likes this.
  17. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks, Mike.

    Two reasons I think the carbine is likely to be a Model 1859 Sharps. One, the Indian Home Guard was formed in 1862 and the Spencer carbine wasn't issued until 1863. Also, the Model 1859 Sharps had a patch box in the stock (which disappeared in the Model 1863 Sharps). The Spencer didn't have a patch box. But who knows? And, in any case, you're right, either will look ok.

    Rick
    Nap likes this.
  18. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Haven't had a lot of time to work on the bust and it's kinda complex (for me anyway) so I thought I'd do this one a little bassackwords to get some bench time in by doing the fiddly bits first.
    Screen Shot 2021-09-24 at 8.59.18 AM.png Screen Shot 2021-09-24 at 9.02.20 AM.png
    Nap and Martin64 like this.
  19. BRAN Active Member

    Country:
    France
    Nap likes this.
  20. Larsen E. Whipsnade Moderator

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks, Bran. Your indian is remarkable. Love the checkered shirt, don't think I'm up to that. Still trying to decide how I want to paint it.

    Rick

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