Confederate Infantry, 1861–1865
ESCI 1:72 Scale Figure Review
The ESCI 1:72 scale Confederate Infantry offers a variety of interesting poses that can be painted as either Union or Confederate troops. In their shell jackets and kepis, these figures look a bit too uniform for Confederates; civilian garments and rolled blankets are largely absent.
Contents
50 Figures with 15 Poses – 24 mm equal 173 cm Height
- Officer in Frock Coat, with Revolver (3)
- Color-bearer with Hat and Sharps Carbine (1)
- Bugler with Kepi and Minié Rifled Musket (1)
- Confederate with Hat and Minié Rifled Musket, signaling (3)
- Confederate with Kepi and Flintlock Musket, standing, firing (6)
- Confederate with Hat and Flintlock Musket, kneeling, loading (6)
- Confederate with Kepi and Minié Rifled Musket, advancing (6)
- Confederate with Kepi and Minié Rifled Musket, loading, capping (6)
- Confederate with Kepi and Minié Rifled Musket, prone, firing (6)
- Confederate with Hat and Flintlock Musket, standing (3)
- Confederate with Kepi and Flintlock Musket, crawling (3)
- Confederate with Kepi and Minié Rifled Musket, bayonetting (3)
- Confederate with Kepi and Minié Rifled Musket, evacuating Wounded (1)
- Confederate, seriously wounded (1)
- Confederate with Kepi and Flintlock Musket, walking wounded (1)
Evaluation
Excellent choice of subject. wargamers, collectors, and diorama builders can never have enough Confederate Infantry to increase the number of available poses.
Useful historic poses. Most of the figures are advancing, firing in line, or loading their muskets. These Confederate soldiers are well-suited for historical miniature wargames and dioramas.
Satisfactory detail. Kepis, buttons, bandoliers, ammunition pouches, water bottles, metal parts, and weapons are easy to recognize and paint.
The figures carry a small percussion cap pouch on their belts — placed on either the left or right side, at the whim of the sculptor — even though several soldiers are armed with an obsolete flintlock musket, for which they do not need percussion caps at all.
Only one of the Confederate infantrymen is fighting with a fixed bayonet; the other soldiers, unfortunately, went into battle without bayonets. This oversight can be corrected — albeit with some effort — by soldering bayonets onto the muskets. The missing bayonet scabbards can be fashioned from L-shaped pieces of staples, with the short end inserted into the figure‘s waist belt.
With two exception, these Confederate soldiers have long since discarded their cumbersome knapsacks, yet only one of them carries his belongings in the characteristic blanket roll slung over his right shoulder. The blanket roll itself is far too thin to appear realistic.
The color-bearer is carrying a Confederate battle flag that is much too small — featuring only 9 stars and lacking a finial. A better choice would be a battle flag made of paper, measuring 17 × 17 mm (48 × 48 inches) and bearing 13 stars, mounted on a 38 mm long pole made of 0.6 mm piano wire.
The officer carries his revolver in its holster, but mistakenly with the butt facing toward the rear. The small pistol ammunition pouch was worn on the right front of the waistbelt, in front of the holster, not on the left side, above the sabre.
The soldiers carrying a canteen lack a haversack. It appears the sculptor failed to appreciate that the haversack and the canteen were carried on separate straps slung over the right shoulder — with the haversack positioned underneath, so that the canteen rests upon it, preventing it from constantly striking the left hip unchecked while the soldier is running.
Good casting quality, with minimal mould lines. Painting is straightforward, as the details remain clearly visible even after the figures have been primed.
Historical Employment
- Union Infantry, 1861–1865
- Confederate Infantry, 1861–1865
Possible Conversions
- Austrian Infantry, 1859
- Danish Infantry, 1864
The ESCI 1:72 scale Confederate Infantry is well-proportioned and detailed; once painted, they look quite realistic — even though their equipment is incomplete and, in a manner typical of ESCI, appears to have been sculpted onto these figures rather haphazardly.