Review 71st Regiment Sgt Major from Siskin Miniatures

[Nap]

Hi to everybody,

We have seen a previous release from recently namely the Military horse reviewed here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/military-horse-from-siskin-miniatures.75484/watch-confirm

Well now its time to have a look at the other one that was released at the same time .

I refer of course to this:

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The Regiment has an illustrious history featuring in many battles both Napoleonic and before , including the Peninsula campaign and of course Waterloo itself.The most distinctive aspect in my pinion is of course the shako woth its diced band of red and white with green centre checks and the hunting horn capbadge .

The Regiment carried out Light Infantry duties when on the battlefield.

Facing colours were buff with buttons being pewter(silver for Officers) , the belts were also a buff colour .

The most distinctive and often feared person in the Napoleonic infantry was the Sgt Major the highest non commissioned rank distinguished by the 4 bar rank badge worn on the arms and the wearing of Officer quality shoulder wings , he and his Sgts also wore a whistle on a chain.

As usaul references are readily available

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.....there is also a reenactment group who form and live the life of this regiment .

The medal is one awarded to a member of the Regiment at Waterloo



Continued in next post

Nap

 

[Nap]

Title: Sgt Major 71st Highland Light Infantry

Ref: NA

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Gray resin

No of parts:5 plus a length of wire

Sculptor: Piotr Czyz

Box Art: Przemyslaw Szymczyk

Casting: In house at Siskin

As with the horse release the previous packaging which had a slip over paper surround has been improved by having a nice box with a magnetic flip over side
A lot of thought on the company image has been put into the box by using a hard wearing black cardboard with gold lettering and a well reproduced colour picture on the top .

On opening up we find not only the resin

but also some giveaways in the form of a sticker and a pin badge plus a couple of business cards with e mail and FB details ( Oh and another picture of Peter!!), in addition to these we have a larger pictures (approx A5 flyer size) of the painted version of the resin.

Lets look at the Prep needed on the resin , the larger of the pieces the torso needs only the underside sanding to tidy it up a bit , having said that the finish is been worked to replicated a textured surface so any uneven areas could be included ...thats all thats needed here as the rest of the torso is totally clean of any casting concerns ..nice one Siskin .

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The head now , no blemishes on the surfaces but make sure you test fit the head to the torso as I sanded away a bit of the neck to fit better into the recess ( the sculpt has been done so the head fits at an angle and not straight on).
Then we just have to fit the plume and also the whistle and fittings and use the wire to make the chain between them .
Starting on the main part the Torso, firstly the casting is totally free of any lines which is a nice start , the first thing I noted was the extremely clean lined work done by Piotr on the lace , very nicely done including the beading of red that was in each one, fine casting has brought this out even more.

Running up the centre we see the regimental buttons on the lace , on each one we have the bugle horn , these can be brought out even more by the painting ( our Sgt Major would probably have worn officers silver ones if he
could have got them

The arms are only the top part just above the elbow, the rank chevrons are well done but not all 4 are there , perhaps as its a Sgt Major it would have been good to have the full rank ...I will probably increase mine to show this.
Across his chest we have the SNCO sash worn by Sgt's and above. , this is suitable reproduced with good folds , under the sash we have the sword belt , this has a slight surface texture replicating the material used to make the belt. On the belt we have the top piece of the whistle fittings , underneath this we have the belt plate this perhaps it could be a little more prominant but the details worked on it are very good indeed.
Moving to the collar , the lace edging is to the same level as the other lace, peeking over the front we have his shirt.
On now to the shoulders and the epaulettes and wings , this is an area where Piotr has excelled , we see the distinctive wings with the fringed edges with great detail on the remaining parts , including a cracking bugle horn ..time for a round of applause here ....details are what Siskin pride themselves on and it shows here.

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Now to the Head, thankfully Piotr has gone for a face full of character ,not dashing , he has a slight smile on him , together with good facial features including the ears, despite him having a peak on his shako the eyes are easily accessible to paint which is nice to see .......

what I also like is the nose , its long and large , this shows a good understanding that all humans are not perfect ...I think he would have had a regimental nickname given to him by the rank and file !!
Hair is fairly long and well textured with a very period pair of side whiskers again well done.
The shako is the correct shape , with really good undercuts showing on the peak , the shako sits slightly back on his head , around the base we have the diced band , the pattern has been thoughtfully worked but not too deep , working around to the back there is a gap where the band meets , looking at reenactors this is correct so obviously Piotr has done the research .
The badge on the front is nicely shown above which you will have added the rosette and the plume.

The final bits now ...tiny so carpet monster alert here!!!!, these are all held in a separate bag and include the rosette , the plume , the whistle in a small container and some wire to twist for the chain ( I might actually ise a fine linked necklace) , I would definately suggest that you drill and pint the plume .

So there you have the latest from Siskin ...Sgt Major 71st Regt Highland Light Infantry.

Final thoughts
I like this a lot , full of character ( love that nose!!!) very well sculpted and presented , it will make a nice display in the cabinet , well done to Siskin on the subject matter , good choice and a interesting project to work on.
For more information on this and other products from Siskin have alook at their website:

www.siskin-miniatures.com

Follow on FB at: facebook.com/SiskinMiniatures

E mail Peter: [email protected]

Thanks to Siskin for the Review piece and to you all for looking in

Happy Modelling

Nap

 

[Nap]

Hi Folks ,

Here's a couple more pictures for you ..enjoy

Nap

 

[peedee]

Another great review Kev,
thanks for the work you have put into it.
I spent some time 'chatting' with the guys at Euromilitaire and their standards are indeed very high.

Paul.

 

[swralph]

Great review Nap.
Alway's enjoy reading your review's

 

[Old Pete]

Just one point it was not in fact a shako it was the highland bonnet cocked up in the shape of a shako and some pictures show the red torie on top

 

[Nap]

Just one point it was not in fact a shako it was the highland bonnet cocked up in the shape of a shako and some pictures show the red torie on top

Thanks for that information be interested in more references on the "bonnet" details regarding it being cocked up to the shako shape in the reenactors above there is a smaller bonnet style but none show the torie in place.

I would also be grateful if you could share the torie pictures for this period ..it will be easy enough to add onto the sculpt.

Nap

 

[Old Pete]

Hi Pete,
In 2 of the pictures you posted you can see the torie one I think from Osprey also the peak at this time would be tied on as with the highland bonnet and the bow and tails would be hanging at the back. the HLI or the Royal Highland Fusiliers as was is a local regiment their headquarters being in Glasgow.The expert on the regiment is the military artist Douglas N Anderson
George

 

[Old Pete]

Hi Pete,
Found this on the Napoleonic Wars Forum.So I,m afraid the reinactors have got it wrong though some of their caps seem to be a bit smaller than the regulation cap.By the way the officers wore a plain Light Infantry cap with no band
1810.01.31 Letter from Horse Guards to CO of 71st, Lt Col Pack, asking why his regiment is still wearing tartan trews and Highland bonnets. Pack replies that, with the blessing of the Duke of York and the Commander-in-Chief, the 71st had permission to retain "such characteristics of the Old Corps as were in no way objectionable and out of which in point of esprit much good and no possible harm could arise; it was under this impression that the Bonnet cocked as a regulation Cap* was submitted to the Horse Guards for approbation."

*This was the Highland military bonnet with diced band and tourie on top, stripped of feathers and blocked to resemble the infantry shako.

1810.04.12 Lieutenant Colonel Pack receives confirmation from Horse Guards that "there is no objection to the 71st being denominated Highland Light Infantry Regiment, or to the retaining of their pipes, and the Highland garb for the pipers; and that they will, of course, be permitted to wear caps according to the pattern which was lately approved and sealed by author
George

 

[Nap]

Hi George ,

That's great information wonder why reenactors never put it on ? easy enough to add the tourie and the ties at the back , this is a very interesting bit of information, found the Osprey reference as well ( see picture in review ) show the tourie in what looks like green..for Light Infantry.

Thanks for sharing


Nap

 

[Nap]

Hi guys ,

I contacted the reenactors and had this reply :

71st Highland Light Infantry The peak should be tied but the torrie is a mistake. Depending on what time period you are after (certainly post 1809 when we became light infantry) we hade a plume (as per the sergeant in the picture)


71st Highland Light Infantry

It should also be noted that the sergeant is incorrect - his sash should be running across his shoulder (like all highland regiments), his cap should be diced like the private and would be armed with a carbine and a basket hilted sword (but again, there were so many changes during the Peninsular Wars that it can get difficult to pin things down)


71st Highland Light Infantry .....Oh - and the Sergeant and privates would have had blue caps (are current are of research!) rather than black


Really good of them to take the time to reply , the picture of the Sgt they refer to is the larger of the 2 above from Osprey

Nap

 

[Old Pete]

Hi Pete,
I bow to their research but it just seems strange to me that as they wanted to be seen as still a highland regiment and it was the bonnet cocked up why would they remove the torrie since it was part of the bonnet under the feathers and still tie on the peak.We will just have to agree to differ since I do,nt think there are any of the shako,s still around but I hav,nt been to their museum in quite a while
George

 

[Nap]

George

You raising these points have brought up some interesting facts so thanks for that .

Nap