F Troop
Well-Known Member
FYI - I did a short review of this 75mm Zone Miniatures .....see below
Thanks
This is my 75mm 79th New York Highlanders by ZONE Miniatures (ZM-75002) The figure consists of 22 pieces and the casting was flawless with crisp details and I really love the face. Details are sharp you can even read the “79” & “NY” on the glengarry. Of course, painting such details with my aging eyes was a challenge.
Only the first 4 companies of the 79th received kilts and they wore them on parade as they left New York and when they arrived in Washington, DC. It is doubtful the kilts were ever worn after that point.
I made a number of changes to the figure based on 1861 photographs, extant 79th uniforms and accessories, and period descriptions.
ZONE may have based this uniform on the standard British Army kilt. Unfortunately, the tailors used by the 79th NY were not experienced kilt-makers and their kilts bear little resemblance to traditional highland regimental kilts. Most obvious is that the 79th’s kilts were flat box pleated rather than military knife-pleated. There were about 12 flat pleats in the construction of their kilts. Further, the pleat was not to the stripe as with military kilts but a half-hearted attempt was made to pleat to the sett. So, I chose to paint an irregular sett pattern across the back of the kilt. The Cameron of Erracht was a bear for me.
ZONE gave their highlander a rifle, cap box and a canteen. I removed the canteen and replaced it with a scratch-built cartridge box with a PE plate which seemed more appropriate. The 79th also wore a narrow waist belt so with a bit of thinning of the belt, a 54mm PE plate fits nicely.
I engraved side panel seams on the back of the jacket and added the missing single braid trim around the lower arms about mid cuff. The sporran cantle was corrected and I added the watch pocket flap, watch chain and a cockade per 1861 photographs. Needed to thin down the glengarry and hose ribbons too.
The Sergeants wore gold chevrons and gold cord overlays on their red fringed epaulettes. I corrected the epaulette crescents and added the “79” using PE numbers.
I used Scale 75 & Vallejo acrylics and the actual blue is darker in actually. The camera seems to have washed it out a bit and the yellow over-stripes are not quite as wide as they appear in the pics. Being on parade I kept weathering to a minimum and polished the steel on his rifle.
I thought the supplied rifle was a bit thin so I replaced it with an 1861 Springfield from Venko (“Weapons design for figures” – 3D modeling forum) a member here. His stuff is really beautiful and he scaled my rifle to the exact length I needed to replace the kit item. Scales simply are not the same between different manufacturers. I’m still hoping for a Model 1853 Enfield popular in the ACW.
I enjoyed this figure and it’s the first one I have touched since 2015. I made a lot of changes but I don’t fault ZONE miniatures because being based in Hungary they probably didn’t access to the resources I did.
