[Open-Box Review] 28th Regt Drummer by Kevin

Hi , We all know that the napoleonic period is full of subjects that have been released and now Nuts Planet in collaboration with Fer Miniatures have released the one we will look at here .

As you can see we have a drummer from a very famous napoleonic unit the 28th North Gloucestershire Regt at the Battle of Quatre Bras

A collaboration between

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The battle itself was was fought on the 16the June 1815 between Ney and Wellington and was a very hard pressed battle which itself was the prelude to Waterloo 2 days later on the 18th and its was noted that the 28th "did their duty well" , units involved included the Foot Guards, the 44th Regt , also with troops from Brunswick, Nassau and Hannover and others including the 69th who lost their colour to the French Cuirassiers.

Drummers were often "sons of the Regt" born to camp followers/wives , joining the Regt at a very young age and suffering the hardships alongside the men braving the battle line, carrying a drum nearly as heavy as themselves!!

Uniforms consisted of reversed colours ie the 28th had yellow facings so the drummers wore a yellow coat with red facings ( the men's redcoat)with the cheverons on the arms being in the regimental pattern lace

Shako details

Back Badge

The 28th had the distinction of wearing a back badge with a Sphynx on it , this commemorated the service in Egypt , this tradition is carried on by the Regiments successors

This drum above was actually carried at Waterloo by the 1st Foot Guards

This is the pattern for the 28th

Drummers sword details

Lace positioning for the men

It goes without saying books are in abundance here are a few I would recommend looking at there is of course also the Regimental Museum "Soldiers of Gloucestershire" itself ( well worth a visit and located in the historic docks )

Details Title: Quatre Bras 1815 28th Regiment of Foot Drummer Reference: NP 75009 Scale: 75mm Material: Gray Resin No of pieces: 11 Sculptor: Eduard Perez Box Art: Myeong-Ha Hwang

Parts consist of the main figure itself less left leg , the left leg, 2 arms , head with shako, plume, sword, backpack , water bottle, drum and a base.

Prep Main Figure... Remove casting plugs (x 2) from under foot and 1 from jacket tails Left Leg...Take off small plug to remove from under foot and fit to main piece Arms...Cut away small plug from each at the shoulder and fit arms to main piece Head...Take off small plug from under the neck area Backpack..Remove resin block from the lower inside Drum..Remove casting remnant from underside , and a very fine casting line Water bottle and Plume ...Remove small plugs and fit to figure Base...Remove plug from edge All easy to do and it took me longer to type the prep than to do it!!! The Main Piece consists of the torso and the left leg , beginning with the leg it looks long and the trousers look too large ...no doubt this was maybe a soldiers pair he was given ...good attention to this detail , trousers look loose in the folds , all of which are soft and well done , under them we have the gaiter edges , and the shoes again good shaping. The jacket is full of good details from the folds and the lacework both on the front and the back , the wings on the shoulders show nice shaping , the torso is strewn with belts , including the drum belt itself and also the haversack on top of which there is a formed area for the water bottle The crossbelt for the sword has the plate on it with the regimental number and the crown clearly seen

The left hip has a fold which when the left leg is fitted looks really good and natural .the left leg again has the same folds all very natural

The Arms fit well to the torso with the chevrons lacework on each the right hand holds the drumstick the right hand is cast to the drum as though he is resting on it the drums sticks are delicate and nicely sculpted

The Head now this comes with the shako and the first thing to say is the face looks very young exactly as he should be , upturned nose peeking out from under the shako , the collar is good with the side lace and button being clearly seen .

The Shako is the ones the Regt wore in the Peninsula ( they were not issued the new Belgic shako ) , the shako has been sculpted knocked about a bit with a hole to take the plume at the front , on the front we have the distinctive plate

easily seen and well defined , at the back we have a diamond which is for the back badge.

The Waterbottle and the Plume are nicely done and when in place look good the same goes for the backpack , our drummer is lucky he has a good pack with a mess tin in its cover together with the blanket roll , looking like its has been rolled up which is good to see

The Sword , good styling and a nice thing to have on the figure the handle itself is shaped as in the reference .

The Drum is as it should be but has been left plain for the design of your choice ..this is a great thought as any regt could be depicted with suitable adjustments to the figure

As you can see the left hand has been sculpted onto the drum rim , sitting naturally , we also have the cords and the rims very cleanly cast .

The Base a simple rounded piece of undulating ground , suitable for purpose some might like to use it within larger basework

Final Thoughts This is a nice figure with 2 excellent companies working together on it , it could be part of a vignette with the Colour Sgt also recently released by Fer. The quality is very good as is the casting and of course the presentation. The piece has the right look of innocence and offers the opportunity to depict other regiments as well with a bit of converting Thanks to Nuts for the review piece and to you all For more details on this and others