Confederate Officer Uniform

[Mongo Mel]

Greetings all,
I need your help.
I picked up Bonapartes Confederate Officer bust at the D.C show. I've been searching the internet for pictures or sites with good information to help me paint it but I can't seem to find anything that "really" helps. Does anyone out there have any links that they'd be willing to share with me?
I've not done any Confederate figures before and I have no information on either the uniform or the hat. I'm looking for guidance on colors for the coat, the collar and help with the rank. I believe he represents a captain. I do have the box art picture plus the website picture but I'm looking for any options to make mine a little different if possible.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
Craig

Here's the box art:

 

[Mongo Mel]

And the website picture:

 

[KeithP]

Craig-

Lovely bust. Can't wait to see you paint him up...

Here is a link with some confederate info from Phil Kessling. Personall, I have not tried them.

Good Luck!

Keith

http://members.aol.com/mmsi2k/newmmsipages/blugrey.htm

 

[KeithP]

Also, here is one I recently discovered as I made my way trying different flavors of white and Khaki in Oil. There may be some of interest to you too.

http://members.cox.net/captnpete/oilchart.html

I'll be interested to see what works...

 

[Joe Hudson]

Hey Craig,

Here are a couple of options. Look forward to seeing this one.

Joe

http://www.tombstoneoutfitters.com/store/civilwarhome.htm
http://www.westernindependentgrays.org/advance_guard_cav.htm

This is a good site for other uniforms as well.
http://www.ushist.com/wardrobe/cs_cw.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Fort/2754/Funiforms.html

 

[Mongo Mel]

Hi Keith and Joe,
Thanks for the links. I'll probably not be able to check them out until this evening.
I tried to get on here last night but wasn't able to get to the site. Don't know it the problem was on my end or the site or somewhere in between. Here's hoping that I don't have the same problem tonight .

About the bust...it's a very good looking bust but I do have some problems with it. First, it took over 2 years to get it. Seems the manufacturer wasn't producing it or something because my supplier wasn't able to get one from him until just recently.
Some areas of the casting are pretty crude and need more clean up than I would have thought. Not terrible, just unexpected. And the manufacturer added something to the resin that makes it feel like it's made of marble. It's okay for the head, body and arm but it has made for problems with the hat. Whatever it is, it made the hat too brittle. I was trying to clean up an area on the hat when the brim snapped off. Where it broke was very hard to get at to sand out the resulting seam so I've tried to mask it by making it look like a felt material. I did this by repeatedly dunking the hat into plaster while the spray primer coat was still wet. We'll have to see how it turns out.

Thanks again for the help guys,
Craig

 

[garyjd]

Craig, Check out this stuff. There are several examples of the real thing (ignore what they sell/sold for). there are a lot of great items here and in the other catalogs including headgear.~Gary


http://www.garyhendershott.com/productlist.cfm?SearchText=23

 

[Mongo Mel]

Hi Gary,
Thanks for the link. It looks good.
I did get a chance to look around some today and managed to find this site:

http://www.sutlers.co.uk/acatalog/THE_SUTL...Coats__100.html

I really like it as it shows several of the colors available and the pictures are fairly large. And this has the best explanation of how the coat fronts can be worn that I've found.
I'm thinking I might try painting mine in the butternut color.
Anyone know if the hat could still be black? Or any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Craig

 

[PeteC]

Gary,
That link is great. I'm thinking about sending for a catalog. What a good reference source (good Rev War stuff too).

 

[garyjd]

Pete, There is some great stuff there, the prices reflect that collecting the "choice" pieces make it a rich man's hobby.~Gary

 

[KeithP]

Craig-

Have you completed any other Bonaparte busts? They have some very nice ones listed at Red Lancer and I just wonder how the rest of the line is. They have some lovely knights and ACW busts that I have been considering...

Keith

 

[Mongo Mel]

Hi Keith,
The only other Bonapartes bust I've done is the Greek No. 1. It was an absolutely beautiful kit and I think that's why I was surprised by this one. The one I got was a short cast on the head that I didn't feel I could fix myself. It took me several months and a couple of phone calls for them to replace it with a good one. But it did come so I'm not complaining (too much ).

As for their other kits (busts), I've also seen a couple of them that I like. But seeing the trouble I've had with the hat on the Confederate bust, I'd look to avoid kits that had many thin or delicate looking pieces.

Here's a picture of my version of their Greek bust: