Giovanni,
I read up on the General, and Gosh! He fought throughout all those wars.
I would be inclined myself to paint him as he is in the photograph.
Well as a Beano Boy out for having fun.
I have used A 4 paper cut into small strips glued and
rolled up for those portmanteau`s plus blankets on top.
PVA Glue stuck them into place and helped tidy up each end.
It is surprising what layers of paint can cover up.
For Epaulettes,i have used green-stuff.
Any that have no knowledge of it,it comes in strips of separated blue and yellow in a plastic sleeve.
Mixed together, it of course turns green
and cures to a hard plastic that takes Superglue well in sticking it wherever!
I might be the only one to have gotten a blister mixing and rolling the stuff out.
Hands that type throughout each day get really soft.
I have also used blu tac , plasticine, layered enamel paint,a hot pin to melt the plastic ,and lastly good old reliable dehydrated thick p v a glue.
A good hum drum title for one of my topics could well be
`A modellers life of Make do,Smile and Mend',,,,, I guess?
BB