54th Mass, Louisiana Tigers, And Zouaves, Oh My!

[Brickadier General]

So, I had some time today to fiddle around with my minifigs and ready 3 American Civil War regiments for photographing. I had already done the 54th Massachusetts and Zouaves using the Bespin guard torsos about 2 years ago but never really took any individual photos. The Louisiana Tigers were, a product of my tinkering around with minifig parts this evening to do something different. So here we go:

First up, let's take a look at the 54th Massachusetts, made famous by the movie Glory (the officer I made is probably wrong, but I've never seen the movie). From what I understand, they were one of the key black regiments in the Union that paved the way for more black regiments. I would like to make more of these in the future, but the brown hands are harder to come by.

Next up, we have the Coppen's Zouaves, who fought for the Confederacy [ignore the U.S. on the officer's belt ;-) ] These are perhaps the most famous of all the Zouaves during the Civil War, as their clothing was the closest to their French counterparts. The uniforms were pretty flashy (and my personal favorite). Soldiers in the regiment would either wear a red keppi or red fez with a colored tassel. From the moment I saw the Bespin guard torsos, I knew that I could use them for this unit, as the gold trim on blue fit right in with the coloring of the uniform. I will add more over time, but Bespin guards are not cheap.

Last but not least, we have the Louisiana Tigers, whom were reputed for being fierce fighters for the Confederacy. People also often associated them with drunkenness and other lewd behavior. Many nationalities were represented within the Tigers, including French speaking Zouave units. I have looked for pictures on the internet and seen a few different things. One of the common things I've seen is the red uniform and brown overcoat, and white pants with vertical stripes. I also saw a picture of a Tigers unit in toy soldier form that had a "mixed look." Two of the soldiers had overcoats and the red fez, but the other guy didn't have the overcoat on and was wearing a regular "cowboy-style" hat. I wanted to try and emulate that "mixed look," so I found a good use for the Wild West deputy (with brown arms instead of red) and Flatfoot Tomphson torsos. They worked pretty good. And because I don't paint on my bricks, I gave them plain white pants. If you look closely, you will see I've incorporated some of the Indiana Jones parts in these figures, and I think they look quite nice with these figs. If you look at the bottom two toy soldier pictures, you can see those soldiers have pouches very similar to the Indy ones.

I'd like to do other regiments in the future. In particular, I want to find out a little more about Native American units and how their uniforms looked. In the mean time, I hope you like what I have here.

[WesternOutlaw]

Excellent job General. I like the 54th the best. Good selection of soldiers you've got there.

[meschepers]

Wow. The Zouaves units look amazing. That is a really good version. I think I may have to make one. I especially like the detail of the red keppi. Doesn't that make him from an artillery unit?

[Brickadier General]

Wow. The Zouaves units look amazing. That is a really good version. I think I may have to make one. I especially like the detail of the red keppi. Doesn't that make him from an artillery unit?

I am not an expert on the uniforms, but yes, I have seen pictures of Confederate artillery soldiers with red keppis. But the Zouave officer has one. Plus I read somewhere that Zouave soldiers used the red fez, and some even had red keppis.

Edited February 3, 2008 by Brickadier General

[xwingyoda]

Hey Brickadier General, I love your Mass54 ;-)

I think that your Robert Gould Shaw (colonel of the 54th Mass Infantry) fig is pretty good !!

You probably would need a smaller beard and not in redhead ;-)

US Civil War fan ON !!

*yoda*

[zouave]

Very nice civil war figs. I guess my fig is a Coppen's Zouave. If you get a chance, you should see Glory.

I once saw a uniform used in the movie in a store. Where did you find pics of the Tigers? I've searched but never found anything.

[Cardinal Brick]

There all very nice figs, but I'm most impressed with the Louisiana Tigers without the use of decals you've made a very good looking regiment. I'm not sure but I think you might be the first person to create a CSA Zouave regiment, good work.

[Brickadier General]

Hey Brickadier General, I love your Mass54 ;-)

I think that your Robert Gould Shaw (colonel of the 54th Mass Infantry) fig is pretty good !!

You probably would need a smaller beard and not in redhead ;-)

US Civil War fan ON !!

*yoda*

I seriously didn't try that. lol I had no clue what he looked like. I just picked a random head. I'm not sure of too many minifig heads with a mustache and small goatee. There is the "professor" guy from Time Cruisers, but he is cross-eyed and that would probably look strange.

Very nice civil war figs. I guess my fig is a Coppen's Zouave. If you get a chance, you should see Glory.

I once saw a uniform used in the movie in a store. Where did you find pics of the Tigers? I've searched but never found anything.

I will definitely have to watch it some time. And your fig can be whatever you want it to be. It's Lego after all. :-P I did an image search on the Tigers (+ civil war, otherwise you get a lot about the football team). Plus, I used to collect toy soldiers and had a few old catalogs on hand for reference.

There all very nice figs, but I'm most impressed with the Louisiana Tigers without the use of decals you've made a very good looking regiment. I'm not sure but I think you might be the first person to create a CSA Zouave regiment, good work.

I don't know either. I got the idea for using red pants and red pirate rags from someone on Brickshelf a long time ago, but they used the U.S. cavalry torsos. Funny thing is, at the 2006 NMRA show I put these guys on the Northern side by mistake.

[Lt. Col. Thok]

Very nice figs! My personal faves are the Zouaves, but, as you said, the rarity of the Bespin guards means that we see very few of them. Still, great figs! X-D