Thank you everyone including Lord Vader.
Tents and conversions
My very good friend Thomas Mischak has sent me the new Hagen command set along with the Lee and Longstreet set for my project.
I can never thank him enough for his kindness.
I have decided to utilise these figures for a Union command scene with our friend George.
The Union HQ was at the Pry house but I do not wish to construct this edifice for just one picture as it is off the table. I therefore thought a command tent would be in order.
Another head swap and ‘Little Mac’ is busy pondering his latest West Point theory presentation in a command tent. Mr Porter ( Fifth Corps) is in attendance.
The tent is balsa , picture wire and tissue. I would recommend using split twigs as uprights as the construction is very flimsy.
The Union staff set up telescopes and binoculars for the good general to observe the action.
I fashioned a large spotting telescope from a thin rod of plastic with glued tissue paper to enhance its bulk and lens/ eyepiece. It is mounted on the Stretlets camera tripod.
George’s map is a reduced print ‘ Ala Egbert style’ taken from an original army map.
I was going to use four horse teams for the artillery but felt that the six horse teams had a better look.
This means lots extra horses so I used tissue and greenstuff to make up the riderless horse packs on the Zvezda Russian artillery horses.
I also found some more surrendering Germans and a cowboy.
They chop up nicely to make Confederate prisoners.
The Stretlets Union officer pose comes in for criticism from PSR and quite rightly so.
However, I think that the idea is sound and by replacing the hand and sword with an Italieri cavalry chaps weapon a more acceptable result is achieved .
The Stretlets bugler in enhanced by chopping off his trumpet and replacing it with an Imex bugle.
Incidentally, this period of the war saw the increasing introduction of bugles as a more efficient signalling system than that of drums.