The Relief of Byklabad...

[former user]

very appealing collection, scenery, scenario etc, thank You

some time ago I had a discussion with a hobby colleague about the introduction of pith helmets - since I saw a british unit in red wearing those, I would like to ask:
can You tell me when these were introduced (at least inofficially)
is this unit of Yours authentic or just a very acceptable stand-in?
I would just like to know, there is no uniform nazism intended here   

[joroas]

I plead, "Not Guilty by reaon of insanity!"
David

Noone who knows you would contest that plea............. 

[Trooper]

very appealing collection, scenery, scenario etc, thank You

some time ago I had a discussion with a hobby colleague about the introduction of pith helmets - since I saw a british unit in red wearing those, I would like to ask:
can You tell me when these were introduced (at least inofficially)
is this unit of Yours authentic or just a very acceptable stand-in?
I would just like to know, there is no uniform nazism intended here   

former user, at the risk of being corrected, I am pretty sure that the Indian Mutiny was the first campaign in which British troops wore a pith helmet in action. I have not found any evidence to the contrary. How official the introduction was I don't know, but it certainly became official in a short space of time. The first helmets were, I think, locally made wicker versions. Hope this helps.

[joroas]

...and it isn't a pith helmet in the shape of later ones.........

[former user]

my knowledge is limited, but the only ones I saw in pictures were on officers heads
anyway, Indian uniforms were irregular in many ways, so I must have missed this one

not that Your troops would look out of place and time in any way...
I was just curious to learn more

[Plynkes]

Sun helmets weren't very common as rank-and-file headgear in India at the beginning of the Mutiny. A forage cap with a pagri wrapped round it or a cover with a neck cloth over it seems to have been the most common headgear. The airpipe style sun helmet was common among EIC officers, but not amongst Queen's officers.

Many reinforcement units arrived in India in uncomfortably hot red uniforms and shakos. The shakos soon went and troops took to wearing their forage caps instead. Over the winter of 1857-58 mass production of sun helmets was set up in India, and these were issued, along with lighter cotton uniforms to units in need of such things.

Riflemen of the Camel Corps, for example, replaced their rifle green clothing and shakos with this :

[former user]

THX Plynkes
I was actually waiting for You to pop up with the info   
so can we understand that the "classic" pith helmet in use until the wolseley sun helmet made its apparition
"Over the winter of 1857-58 mass production of sun helmets " ??
and that its tabletop use outside of historically accurate scenarios could be acceptable?

sorry for derailing

[Plynkes]

The introduction of the "classic" type came a little later. Those locally-produced ones which resemble it only seem to have been in use during the mutiny itself, and I'm not altogether clear what their design was. I haven't seen any actual photos of them. If the Osprey illustration is accurate they weren't of the air-pipe style. Speaking of which:

After the Mutiny the British in India adopted the so-called "Air-pipe helmet" for all ranks, so-named because it had a crest-like air vent on the top:



This type of helmet had been a common sight on officers during the mutiny, but it became the standard headgear for British infantry in India after that:



It was also worn in China, and on the Abyssinian expedition.

It was replaced by the "classic" type seen in the Zulu War, the Sudan, etc. in 1870, which was worn pretty much everywhere outside of Britain.

[joroas]

.... and that is why I love this site......... 

[former user]

.....
and there are very few manufacturers making troops with the airpipe helmet I guess....
apart from the fact that it produces the problem of not being able to use the same kind of british troops models if one wants to stay historically accurate....

THX again

[Plynkes]

Foundry make some, in fact I think the ones in the battle report might be from Foundry:





And Mutineer Miniatures did the odd officer or two wearing one, last time I looked:



But you are correct. There is no generic British infantryman figure that will work for the whole second half of the 19th Century. They changed how they looked in almost every war, just to spite wargamers and figure painters. 

If you only want one British army for all your gaming, you are going to have to accept the fact that they will be slightly-to-extremely wrong for most of the games they are in. If you can accept that, it isn't a problem. If you can't then you're going to have to get painting. Simple as that. 

[joroas]

I think most of Dave's figures are Foundry, with the occasional Perry/Redoubt and, of course,  his lovely Empress Zulu War............

[former user]

"If you can't then you're going to have to get painting. Simple as that."
which is not my current strength, unfortunately 

sorry again for the diversion
The Byklabad campaign is very interesting with the multitude of units employed, and I am very inspired by it and was curious to know more

[Plynkes]

One way to do it, former user, is to choose figures for the campaign you are most interested in, and don't get hung up about it if they aren't quite right for other campaigns you plan to play. Lots of people do that.

I paint slowly and infrequently, so I empathize with you, and understand the appeal of a single one-size-fits-all army over having to paint lots of different ones. But I enjoy painting too, so it isn't too a great burden for me.

[Yankeepedlar01]

I don't know, a chap goes away for a few days in the 'frozen north' and comes home to find all this earnest discussion about 28mm toys' headgear. "Keep calm dear, its only a game you know." as a Prime Minister might have said.

The figures in my Indian Mutiny games are all from the Foundry range, except for a very few Phil painted for me and the guns from Mutineer. The infantry are in air pipe helmets as are one or two officer figures, but the rest are in early versions of the locally produced sun helmets I think.

I chose the Foundry range over the growing Mutineer range when I started collecting figures for the project as I am lucky enough to be able to get over to Foundry ~ benefits of being retired ~ and avail myself of the many £5.00 'Bargain Blister' offers on the Open Days; cost being an important factor for me, as it is for most of us I imagine.

Interesting to see all the information its elicited though...
David