The Wrong Hats an RCW Update

This month has been pretty focused on my Russian Civil War project, although not exclusively. I mentioned in an earlier post that having changed unit sizes I am using the spare figures created to kick start new units. This is going really well.

I have been able to complete 3 white units and 1 red unit. Below are the new figures.

These chaps are for the Generral Aleksayiv regiment. The middle two new figures from Russian sculptor Leonid. The other three are Copplestone.

These caps are dismounted far eastern cossacks. One of the units whose caps had to change, of which more later.

The Bolsheviki below are both Copplestone castings.

This base finishes a regular foot unit and has three sculptors/ manufacturers. Left to right Leonid, Footsore and Copplstone.

And then there is the cavalry. Firstly I have the best part of a unit of Siberian Cossacks. There are 6 as I had 2 Copplestone Cossacks left over. Unfortunately whilst both lovely figures Copplestone are are bit bigger and chunkier, they dont really mix.

Now these cavalry from Leonid are just lovely and I really like how they have come out. Unfortunately I have since found that cap colour is wrong.  The table of colours in Osprey suggests that Siberian Cossacks have crimson shoulder boards, trouser stripe, cap band and cap crown. It seems to suggest that for the far eastern cossacks it is yellow for the same things. Other sources, particularly the Pygmy Wars site suggest that the cap crown is blue for all cossacks the other colour schemes being correct.

I had already changed my far eastern cossacks as shown in the earlier picture of dismounted Cossacks. Would I now need to change the Siberians?

Of course the answer was yes you will. Both units.

 The Copplestone ones have only three caps to change. However Leonids......

 

Painful but they do still look great. I then moved on to order some more figures from Leonid. I have made some minor changes to some for which I ask Leonids forgiveness.

 This first red cavalryman is just brilliant and I love the horse. Cossack trousers add a little colour.

 The next figure is also brilliant. The picture doesnt do it justice. Sorry Leonid I used a redoubt horse so I could pinch yours for some Poles I am working on.

I then have the last two Siberian cossacks and yes I had to repaint this cap too. The second one is a minor conversion of the first red trooper.

The next 5 I decided would be a native caucasion mountaineer unit. My research suggests a variety of uniform and fur hat colours with sky blue shoulder boards, soa nice colourful unit. Only 5 so far these rest may end up being copplestone.

 This leads me to my most recent purcashes from Russia. I have decided that Leonids fantastic cavalry in Caucasian dress will be exactly that, Caucasian mountaineers. As native troops they have a variety of colours for both uniforms and fur hats. The sky blue shoulder boards set them off perfectly and I can use them as remnants of the savage division, shkiros wolves, oddessians you name it.

The above trooper is classic for these troops with that great aggressive pose.

The second trooper you may recognise as the same casting as one of the reds. Unusual to be dressed in a shirt but adds to their irregular look. The horse is Copplestone, the Poles have the original.

 The officer is probably my favourite of all of them as is this horse.

 Browns were not as common as grey or black but common enough to mix one in.

 

 Again not sure the picture does this chap justice its a lovely sculpt, very dynamic.

 It looks a little better in the below picture of the one I used to finish my Kuban Cossack unit earlier.

So thats it for now more Russians, Sikhs and the odd Saxon on the workbench.

Watch this space!