13th US Cavalry, 1916

[lazyschnauzer]

Me again with WIP on the first of several planned WWI cavalry projects.

Still a long way to go. The figure is mostly there. Lots of horse equipment and other stuff still to do. The equipment is listed below so you'll get an idea how he'll be equipped.

The scale is 120mm or 1/15th. I've used some resin parts from various kits - head from the Lost Battalion, campaign hat from Alan Ball's recent sculpt of a USMC officer, hands from Verlinden, boots from Verlinden.

13th US Cavalry Sergeant, Mexican Punitive Expedition

Horse

M1904 McClellan saddle, light brown leather, with darkened brass fittings

- Unusually this saddle has no fender or ?sweat leathers?, it was produced without them

- Horse hair cincha

- Ring chape

- Wooden stirrups and leather stirrup hoods

- No curb bit

- M1908 saddle bags

- Blanket bed roll

- Tin cup and M1902 canteen

- Rolled M1912 coat

- M1903 Springfield rifle in russet brown leather scabbard

The figure is a Sergeant halting a column.

He's wearing

- M1902 OD green shirt - the shirt is worn with the first few buttons unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up.

- M1912 trousers

- M1912 campaign hat

- M1910 first aid kit

- M1911 Colt 0.45 caliber automatic pistol

- M1903 canvas cartridge belt - I'm a little concerned about this. I may have gotten this a bit to small. It may have to be redone.

This is supposed to be taking place in and around Columbus, NM just after Villa's raid on March 9, 1916. The 13th Cavalry were based in Columbus. During the attack, they put up a fierce resistance, surprising Villa's men. Immediately afterwards, Troop H under Major Frank Tompkins and Capt Rudolph Smyser were ordered to pursue. Early in the pursuit Troop F under Lt. Castleman joined in the fight, making a total of 56 US cavalrymen pursuing Villa's gang of 300. In spite of these odds, the cavalrymen inflicted 75 - 100 casualties and only broke off the fight because they'd used up almost all their ammunition. The US cavalrymen were not, unfortunately, all recognized for their heroism because of the US-Mexican political situation at the time. Tompkins was promoted and received the DSC eventually.

All the best,

Dan

[lazyschnauzer]

This is WIP, so I'm correcting things. Since I posted the photos, I've removed the shirt pockets and replaced them higher on the shirt, slanting the one near the raised arm slightly. I've also added more vertical folds under the raised arm. Also 3 rocker stripes on the lowered arm and a bit of the upper stripe showing on the raised arm above the cuff. Lots more to do...

All the best,

Dan