Hi All,

Well, so much for the break :lol:

Motivated by Kenneth's "Abe and Friend" and inspired by Gary D's Civil War subjects, I'm jumping back into my first love, the ACW.

This vignette will show Western Theatre Federal infantrymen at the Battle for Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1863. It will not be portraying any regiment or depicting any particular part of the battle. It will be more of a study of the soldier during this campaign. I have not decided as yet to what headgear they will wear. I do know they where fond of brimmed hats such as the M1858 dress hat ("Hardee")or any civilian hat they may have acquired. It will probably be a mixture, one with the "Hardee", one with a civilian style hat, and the other with a forage cap. All will be wearing the four button sack coat or fatigue blouse with issue trousers. This project will give me another chance to practice w/ weathering

I want to get the same feeling as Troiani's "Eagle of the Eigth". Shown in the following pic's~


Forgive the Frankenstein looking boots :lol:

Please note two of the figure have half a shoe. These will be sculpted after the figure is finished and mounted onto the base.

Looking like a great start Jason! Looking forward to see it progress!

Jason,that's an AWESOME start you have there !! I'm really honoured that my little vignette has inspired you to do this ACW project of yours. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next step in the series.Cheers !
Kenneth :lol:

Jason,
Exceptional! Can't wait to see this come alive; 54mm, right?
Will this be a "one of" or commercial offering?
All the best

Patrick

greeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaat!! i'll buy some popcorn and take a sit! let the show begin

Jason, You're off to a great start. I was eagerly awaiting a NEW Civil War piece from you.~Gary

Fantastic Jason.......I was hoping your break would not be too long

Hi Jason, I look forward to watching your progress on this one! I like your idea of the hats but would suggest you steer away from using a forage cap. By Vicksburg, they were pretty much an oddity in the Western Theater. I reenact with the 33rd Wisconsin (they fought at Vicksburg) and we have shared a lot of research with the "Mudsills' and other Western units. In my opinion, you would be better off with one Hardee hat and two different private purchase hats.

Our research has turned up a couple other interesting facts that might be fun to include. Many of the soldiers discarded their cartridge box belt and attached the box directly to their waist belts. Also, during the heat of summer, when going into action they often unbottoned their sack coats and tucked the sides down into their waist belts leaving the front open to expose their shirts and help to keep them cool. In the Western Theater there were many more leather straps used for the canteen than in the East. I love this stuff and would be happy to share additional information if you need it!

Kreston

I really like the composition. Needless to say I'm eager to see the finished vignette!

Dear Jason, looking forward to your SBS. Looking at their shoes, am I right to say that you will be doing some craving to them?

regards

Jason

Looks like an other awesome vignette !!
Very interesting to see how you make the shoes. I should try this some times!!
Keep the sbs coming!!
Greetings
Erik

Jason,

Looking really nice. I look forward to seeing more of your sbs.

Joe

Jason, Kreston's suggestions are really great. I also like a jacket/coat with just the top button buttoned and the rest left open. Another thing is trousers, one guy could have them rolled up and cuffed because they're too long. I also like the idea of three different hats. Who says there's not variety in Civil War uniforms?~Gary

Hi Jason

Great introduction! And some of the ideas coming your way suggest this should be a great piece of work!

Question; the half shoes? These are the feet in contact with the ground? Whats the reasoning for this?

:lol:

Rob

I'm glad you did not take your break too seriously





Edited for schpellink errror

Sorry for the late reply everyone.

Here's what I've been working on. He is pretty much complete.

I like Kreston's suggestion of the cartridge box on the waist belt... I will do that with the last two figures. This made me question if they may have gone to the extant of "tossing" the box plates as well? In my research, I've found a few Federal soldiers pics with no breast plates too. Suggestions Kreston?...Gary?

Having tried on a cartridge box with 40 live rounds on just the wait belt, I can tell you it is NOT light. I found the only comfortable position for it would be in the middle of the back while marching then pulled to the front in battle.

Wong, yes I will be carving the shoes. Although this gives me good practice on carving cured putty, I should really make masters and start casting.

Rob, at first I planned on sculpting the rest of the boot once he was painted and glued into place, but that sounded to difficult considering the ground work and the other two figures will be in the way. So I decided to go ahead a sculpt it and carve to the shape I wanted.

Looking great Jason!

Hey Jason!

That really looks good! Love the folds on the pants, excellent!

Jason, My friend that is just fantastic. I really love the look of the uniform. As for doing the cartridge box with or without the box/belt plate, I'm not sure. I just read not too long ago about the very subject, it may have been one of the reenactor forums. I think by 64 some of these items were no longer being issued. I will search for the proper answer later today (after some sleep, just got in from work). Again, great job on the figure.~Gary