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Monday, August 24, 2015

An Officer of Whyte's Lights

Hello everyone!

Just a quick post before I go to bed. While waiting for my laundry I quickly knocked out another 28mm figure, this time a British officer in scarlet. This chap will be a junior officer from the Light Company of the 1st (Whyte's) West India Regiment, which fought at New Orleans (Remember to click on the pictures for bigger versions).



The other 23 figures which will join this chap in the 1st West India Regiment are on their way, but I needed something to paint in the meantime as a test figure. This is a Knuckleduster figure, from the American Frontier Militia Officers pack, slightly modified to become a British junior officer, namely with the removal of the epaulette on his left shoulder. His uniform consists of Hessian boots, white breeches, scarlet tunic faced in white with white cuffs and turnbacks and a scarlet collar, crimson sash and black round hat. Round hats were favored by officers in hot climates (like the Caribbean), and this man's is sporting the green plume of a Light Company officer. The entire unit will have round hats as well, mainly because I think round hats look awesome.

Even though the 1st West India Regiment was what was, at the time, called a "colored regiment" (i.e. it consisted almost entirely of men of African descent; the title itself belies the casually racist attitudes of the day) all of its officers were Europeans, hence this figure's Anglo-Saxon skin tone. Casualties due to malaria and other tropical diseases were high amongst the ranks of European troops in the Caribbean, so most colonial nations with holdings there enlisted regiments of African troops who could withstand the harsh environment.

All in all I think he turned out nice. I look forward to getting a whole unit of these guys done.

Coming soon: we'll see what shows up in the mail in the next couple of days.

Questions, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

-Chuck

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