Normal service resumes

Calpe French regimental command greens.

When I last posted about the computer difficulties I was experiencing, I hardly expected a hiatus of a month before I’d be able to return to the blogging fray. Yet that’s how it turned out what with the trauma of getting the technical issues resolved eventually butting into our fortnight family holiday (and beyond). However, I’m delighted to say that things are back to normal – in fact, they’re probably back to something better than the previous normality even though it’s proven to be more expensive than anticipated. The old computer turned out to be beyond repair and so I’m now typing this on a shiny new one at BfK HQ that’s equipped with newer and better software than its predecessor.

All of which means that I can begin to make good on the teasers I promised a month ago. And, for our first selection from the menu of arcane delights, I’ve chosen to share some visual evidence of progress on the French range from the Calpe Towers workshop. The above composite picture is of greens of three of the six figures that will comprise the regimental command pack for the route march set of figures. These three chaps are, left to right, a drummer, a sappeur and an officer. The other three figures in the pack will be two eagle guards and an eagle bearer. I took the pictures of these chaps on our return from our long weekend visit to Belgium (which seems soooo long ago now). One of the benefits of the new computer is that it came bundled with much more modern and effective picture editing software so I’m really pleased with how the quality of the photos I took has been preserved through the editing process.

It would be remiss of me not to add a few observations about these three figures. The drummer carries his drum on his back in a fashion that clearly shows the purpose of the two straps that hang down from the bottom of the drum. So, if you ever wondered what they were for, here’s your answer. The sappeur wears a greatcoat but what you can’t see from this picture is that it is buttoned back in such a way as to afford a pleasing view of his apron. Finally, the officer wears the standard habit-veste and Peter F. has sculpted him with the small officer’s bag that was introduced under the Bardin regulations and which is nicely illustrated in the Rousselot plates.

This pack is now available as Product Code F10. Additional Product Codes for other newly available packs in the route march set are as follows: F4 for fusiliers in uncovered shakos, F5 for voltigeurs in uncovered shakos and F6 for grenadiers in uncovered shakos. I’ve got some official photos for some of the packs in this set now from Peter F. so I’m now in a position to add the first French page to the Calpe website. I’ll let you know when it goes live.

Next time I’ll begin sharing some of the pictures we took on the Waterloo battlefield.