SAE Figure Conversion

   One reason I want to work on sculpting is so I can produce 19th century American militia units. While looking at Battle Game of the Month blog for inspiration, I was trying to decide what scale of figures to use for this project. As I have a sizable collection of SAE 30mm ACW, 30mm would be my next project. While looking at some Kinney Militia cigarette cards, I got the idea of converting some of the figures using "green stuff" instead of trying to create my own. 

    For the first attempt I decided to use a recast SAE British Guards figure. I trimmed down the front of the coat, added "swallowtails" to the back of the coat, converted the boots to trousers, and added epaulettes to the shoulders. I did this hurriedly before leaving for a couple of days. When I got back in town, I threw a quick coat of paint on the figure to see the results.  I am happy with the result; although hopefully with more practice my work will improve. I also have to  make the time to do such work.

SAE figure with trousers, swallowtails, and epaulettes added.

Front view with coat front trimmed off.

Figure with a quick paint job to see the results.  

I'm happy with the result, considering it's my first attempt at conversion using "green stuff".

My next goal is to find my collection of Kinney militia cards, which I have managed to misplace (hopefully I didn't accidentally throw them out!)

German Uniform Cigarette Cards

With my last couple of posting of militia uniform cigarette cards, I heard from Ian Dury that he has a book of German cigarette cards and was willing to share photographs of the uniforms with me.  Of course I would love to see them. The cards I have are Kinney Cigarette cards that were published in the USA. While my main interest in the Kinney cards are militia uniforms, I have gotten some of the foreign uniform cards they published, including 4 from the German Empire. I though I would post them to show Kinneys version of European uniforms.

1800's American Militia Uniforms

One of my interests is the American history of militias. The height of Militias was in the 1800's.  By the 1830's the idea of every man turning out for drill was pretty much a thing of the past. However, Volunteer militias started blossoming in cities throughout the country. They tended to be more social clubs of the merchant class and upper class. They chose their own uniforms and names. While most units were of company, battery or squadron strength, some units were regiment strength. These formed the basis of both the Union and Confederate armies at the start of the Civil War. Even after the Civil War  the Militia was an important part of the United States military and continued to wear uniforms of their choice until the early 1900's.  

Several years ago I came across some old cigarette cards featuring Militia uniforms of the late 1800's. Shown below are some of them. I think they would be ideal for painting Peter Laings for use with imaginations. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.