Perry Brothers ACW Union Cavalry Muster Into Service

"Around her neck, she wore a yellow ribbon ...and if you asked her, why it was she wore it, she said it was for her lover who was in the cavalry."

I might have been whistling that tune as I finished flocking these troopers the other day.   They represent the contents of a Perry Brothers box of plastic 28mm American Civil War cavalry, assembled and painted as Union cavalry.  I could have assembled the figures with carbines or pistols in hand, but the look of the sabres is iconic, even though probably not very common in the later war period.  At any rate, I'm very happy to muster this new unit into service.

Not a huge complaint, but after painting the three mounted Roman gents I showed here recently, these Perry figures felt like a slight step down in quality.   To be fair, the Perry brothers were fairly early adopters of injection plastics, a decade or so ago now, whereas Victrix is probably benefiting from newer design and production technologies.  the Victrix human faces are sharper, and the horses have much more texture in muscles, manes and tails.     However, when you paint a dozen of the Perry figures, the overall impression is still impressive.

This batch was mostly painted using Foundry paints.  The tri-tone system gives good results for the horses, and the Union blue for the tunics and kepis looks especially good.  I free-handed the yellow piping, and some came out better than others, especially the tunic collars.  The flag is by Adolfo Ramos.

These gallant lads, together with what's already in my collection, gives me two brigades of Union cavalry, or three groups of eight, depending on the rules and game scale.   There are many mounted actions that would make great games, such as the cavalry encounters before Gettysburg or actions in the Valley, so we may some rebel riders in the painting queue at some point.

Thanks for looking.  Blessings to your brushes!

MP+