Headwear detail - Von Lossberg Regt -AWI

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Nap

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Hi everyone

Currently basecoating this release from TFB , https://www.planetfigure.com/thread...-miniatures-1-9-hessian-fusilier-1776.441660/

.....been searching to confirm about the headwear

My questions

Are the panels on the crown facing colour or a dark blue as in uniform ......references differ !

The area behind the front plate ....is that facing colour or leather ....can't find and rear pics to show this

Any help/thoughts/ideas/suggestions is appreciated

Nap


IMG_3896.JPG
 
Hi, Nap!

I don't have photographic sources immediately available, such images of original caps, only secondary sources. In one, John Mollo's "Uniforms of the American Revolution", the Lossberg fusilier cap is depicted with a brass front without any added color, such as enameled details (plate 67 on p. 93) (in contrast to a Rall grenadier's cap, same page, with the red and white stripes on the Hessian lion.) My educated guess is that the Lossberg grenadier caps also had plain brass fronts.

I hope that helps, prosit!
Brad
 
You've probably done some searching, so you may have seen these images:

The first image shows a mockup of a Lossberg fusilier, at the Smithsonian. His cap has a plain brass front:

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gYHHAYiq...usilier_mockup_army.mil-2008-03-20-100346.jpg

Don Troiani also depicted the cap as a solid brass front, with no colors added:

TRW38%2B-%2BHessian%2BFusilier%2BRegt%2BVon%2BLossberg%2B1776-700x600.jpg

Not conclusive, of course, but it tends to support that the cap plate was just plain brass, without color. But I'm curious to see what others might have.

Prost!
Brad
 
Cheers Brad

It's a minefield as with uniforms , looking at Prussian uniforms which Hessian were based on , some have a facing colour behind the plate

The actual brass front was pressed out , possibly NCO and officers were more elaborate i.e. Enamelling ?

Looking at the Osprey book 535 German Troops in the American Revolution , the colour illustration shows black ....the text on the Regt says a black crown sections ...so presumably the rear of the cap plate would be same

The collar according to Osprey is the Regt facings which shows on the colour plate ...a plate in the Hesse State Archive shows dark blue !!

Seems to be variations ......as usual

Happy times

Nap
 
Hi Nap yes it’s a mine field, when we commissioned him we had various art works to work from and they all had various colours and we just said base it on what you as the sculptor thinks is right. We contacted various people and it was the same, different answers. So it’s going to be a case of stick with the paint guide or see if something comes up.

Cheers

Steve
 
Füsilierregiment von Lossberg


The regiment was a fusilier regiment, which means it consisted of three battalions of fusiliers and one battalion of grenadiers.

The difference was simple:


Unlike Fusiliers, Grenadiers were also trained to become hand grenades...:








To do this, they wore a metal capsule with a glowing fuse on their bandolier, on which the fuses of the throwing grenades could be ignited...:



Since a tall man has longer arms, which promised more throwing distance, tall recruits were mostly put into the grenadier battalions!

In 1770, however, the thing with throwing grenades was only folklore, against muskets that hit fairly accurately at 60 to 100 meters, grenade launchers no longer had a chance, which is why the metal capsule on the bandolier was often omitted.

However, a tall grenadier theoretically had a higher rate of fire than a smaller fusilier, because taller people were better (and faster) at handling the ramrod of their long muskets.

Here we have a Hessian grenadier cap:













The front peak of the cap, the side border and the peak of the cap consisted of embossed sheet brass (the poor pigs must have been cleaning their caps stupidly!).


The fabric parts of the von Lossberg regiment were not blue, but black, like this fusilier's hat...:









The uniform tunic was dark blue, the "Hessian blue" was a touch lighter than the blue of the Prussians! (I would use "Prussian Blue", lightened with a little bit of skin tone!)



The quality of the paint was poor, these skirts faded incredibly quickly in the field meaning if your blue comes out a little lighter that's absolutely no problem.

The lapels on the chest and the cuffs were dark orange in the Lossberg regiment...



... on the cuffs also a thin crimson piping!



Here is a picture of an original uniform...:



The coat tails, on the other hand, were NOT dark orange but red - in ALL Hessian regiments...:



Here again the uniform of one of the Lossberg Grenadiers...:



I think that answers your questions.


If there are more, please get in touch!


Cheers


A little anecdote: A member of this regiment - his name was Köster - found the free life in America much better than that in Hesse, deserted to the Americans and stayed in the New World after the end of the war, like many of his comrades.


Of course, the man Americanized his name to "Custer" - one of his descendants was Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, who led his 7th Cavalry Regiment out of lust for recognition on June 25, 1876 at the Little Bighorn...
 
...Are the panels on the crown facing colour or a dark blue as in uniform ......references differ !...


Oh, duh! Only now does it occur to me that you meant the crown as in the top of the body of the cap! I took it to mean the embossed crown on the Hessian lion on the front plate! I thought you were talking about painting the voided areas of that crown dark blue, as if they were punched out to show the backing, or enamelled. Duh, duh, duh!

Prost!
Brad
 
Oh, duh! Only now does it occur to me that you meant the crown as in the top of the body of the cap! I took it to mean the embossed crown on the Hessian lion on the front plate! I thought you were talking about painting the voided areas of that crown dark blue, as if they were punched out to show the backing, or enamelled. Duh, duh, duh!

Prost!
Brad


I knew what you meant Brad ...lol

Nap
 
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