1st Canadian Mounted Rifles, Pipe & Drum Band. (1 Viewer)

Should be easy to spot the newest one of the five now - he's wearing white socks! No - not the piper - his Nag - silly!:D Cheers Trooper!

Come to think of it - we had some lino - a bit like those bases in our bathroom - back in the 1950's.
Remember Lino? - Then you're older than you think!
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You're very welcome Scott - thanks for the excellent picture that you sent me - which helped this project get off the ground in the first place. For me, that's what this Forum is all about - sharing info and stuff to help us all enjoy the hobby to the full.

Didn't get much done yesterday - too much rugby to enjoy - (well I enjoyed it, my French chums weren't quite so happy!).

In the cold light of dawn, however - through one slightly bleary eye - a piper on a dark horse emerged, pretty close to completion now - along with a one armed base-drummer and a second attempt at a base drum. Chose scarlet this time for the shell - but still way too bright. So- will revert back to a favourite mixture of reds for the shell - crimson and red. (Crimson always looks a bit dark to me - almost maroon - so the red lifts it a tad -withot becoming garish). This was the mix that I used for the Cherry Pickers trousers - which I call "Cherrry-red". Other bits and pieces for further pipers are developing -along with the drummers arm with a single drum stick - the outstreched arm of the rider holds the rim of the drum.

All will become much clearer, when I eventually fit the drum to the horse.

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In the meantime - a little question for Brian (as I know you're keeping a friendly eye on things), or maybe even Trooper ( who generally keeps an eye on such things too).

I'm just having my first peep at the CMR Tenor Drummer, two of whom carried bugles, used to communicate commands.

As a "Rifle Regiment - would I be correct to assume that the bugle-cords for these two lads would be dark green - as are those of British Rifle Regiments?

Many thanks - johnnybach
 
Hi John

Rugby was excellent it was only a shame England didn't win the grand slam. Still I lifted a glass and toasted Wales's victory, as well as England's of course.

Trumpet cords are a source of extreme annoyance as most Regimental histories when they describe the Uniform very rarely give the colour of the cords. On general principles Royal Regiments have mixed red, yellow and blue cords while non-Royal Regiments use dark green. There are exceptions to this rule but the Canadians generally followed the same rule at this time so I think you can safely paint the cords dark green on your drummers.

Keep up the good work.

Brian.


johnnybach said:
In the meantime - a little question for Brian (as I know you're keeping a friendly eye on things), or maybe even Trooper ( who generally keeps an eye on such things too).

I'm just having my first peep at the CMR Tenor Drummer, two of whom carried bugles, used to communicate commands.

As a "Rifle Regiment - would I be correct to assume that the bugle-cords for these two lads would be dark green - as are those of British Rifle Regiments?

Many thanks - johnnybach
Click to expand...
 
Latest pic shows the latest piper at the rear on a very dark brown horse has been added to the line-up. I'm now at the half-way stage for the piping element of the band.

In front are a few more horses underway - I just paint these with whatever appropriate paint I have left on the palette now. The nearest horse is for the tenor drummer whose arms I have already fitted. I'm rather pleased about the colours on the base drum - which is loosely pinned to the drum-horse. The red is a mixture of crimson and bright-red. The base drummer is the one with the right arm outstretched, who is ready for a bit more development next - and may get a moustache before long! ( Ah! - The Power!!!). :D jb

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Latest pic shows the Bass Drummer now fitted to his horse and just had his drum beating arm (just the one), added to the figure. The horse has now been completed - as has his drum (just varnished). Quite a few detail bits and pieces have been touched in - so I was afraid to fiddle around fitting the drum to the figure yet. He's not far off from being completed now - so hope to be able to show him finished later today.

First fit on a tenor drummer just done - as I wanted to see how he would look with drum (temporarily) in place - and arms swinging the drumsticks. Quite an animated figure, this one. My six finished pipers provide the background.
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And here he is at last - One Bass drummer - the like of which I had never seen before. Even stranger than seeing a man on a horse playing the bag-pipes, maybe? jb. He took a while longer to finish - but he's in the band from now on.............Nite all, jb
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Hi Johnny,

These have come on! It's nice to see something a little out of the ordinary.

Well done.

Jeff
 
Hi Jeff. A BIT different! They are certainly that alright. I had never seen a Bloke on a nag squeezing a bag - before. Never saw another geezer on a nag bashing a big bass drum either! I had seen pictures of side-drummers on horses before - but they have always been in times long since passed - so to find all of these in a band around 1914-1918 period - was just too extraordinary to pass up on. And yes - they seem to be turning out quite well - and I'm getting some good advice and tips on how to paint them up along the way too. Very enjoyable. jb^&grin
 
Re the bass drummer,Johnny, the US Cavalry had similar side and bass drums although their bass drums were slung right out on one side of the horse, must have had a hell of a job keeping a straight line. I have seen photos at the time of the Mexican expedition at the turn of the century with the band in khaki wearing the "Smokey Bear" hats. Trooper
 
I don't know whether you have seen this picture Trooper - and this one may be a little small - but it is of the 123rd US Mounted Cavalry Band - taken at Fort Knox in 1937. Interesting thing (if you can make them out) - but tenth and eleventh in from the left - you can see a Base Drum slung out to the right of the horse - and a kettledrummer next to him. Not only that - but how about those two Sousaphone players as well! Wowser!{eek3} jb:D
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I've been working on two (of my three), Tenor Drummers (TD) over the past couple of days - and have reached this point with them. First front left - is one of them who carries a bugle slung over his shoulder - which hangs down at his right hip (I should have painted this "brass" to show it up better).Two out of the three TD's carried bugles in this manner. I have had to fabricate the cord - which has caused a bit of experimentation.

I tried various thicknesses of wire - twisted and plain - but nothing seemed to give the effect I wanted - until I had some help from an unlikely source - some crocheting yarn from la Commandante's sewing box. Just the right thickness, braided, strong - and highly flexible. With a dab or two of glue - it set beautifully just where I wanted it. Just run a little superglue onto it, once in place - and it sets off, very stiff ,(removing any surplus from the cord and figure before it sets). A little paint applied - and I will soon have him looking present and correct.

Next across is another Tenor Drummer - with drum nearly finished painting - and mounted permanently now (no bugle for this figure). He is nearing completion - and I hope he will be finished very soon. Last across is another horse for a piper - again, very near finished - unlike his rider. I have been quietly using up dribs and drabs of paint on this mount - so haven't done much with the piper for him.

At the rear are my finished figures - which I have moved around a bit - so that you can get a clearer view of some of the detaling on them. jb.
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Johnny, my trick for music cords is to take a fairly long length of 5 amp fuse wire, double it back on itself then double it again so that you have four lengths which you then twist by means of a small hook in the jaws of a drill. This gives you a fine length of flexible wire which is in scale and easy to glue or solder. Trooper
 
I remembered the trick you mentioned from before - but couldnt get the fuse-wire to twist evenly and kept snapping. I then tried other wires - including brass, copper and some beadwork wire which twisted better - but I couldn't get any of those to stick evenly in place on my test piece using super-glue. I then even tried solid , thin galvanised wire - same result - but too thick and springy anyway - then tried Araldite glue instead - which took too long to go off - and which stuck me better than the wire, which I was trying to hold in place. (Good job I wasn't using the actual figure for most of these trials). Finished up peeling myself off some scrap metal - and then found the first-aid kit! By this time my hands seemed rather stiff - and roughly twice their normal size - and I had a superglue lid permanently attached to my thumb, and the tube to my other hand.{eek3}

My figure looks okay to me, with this very strong and thin cord in place - and with a touch or two of green paint - it passes muster. It just gives the impression of a bugle cord - and I have to say, better than many figures I've done in the past which often just have a suggestion of a cord cast into the body of the figure. I'll do the other one when I recover the use of my hands.:redface2:

I guess that I'll have to practice with the fuse wire a bit more, until I get an even twist.

I'll let you know where to send a bunch of grapes - when the plastic surgeon from Intensive Care, says it will be okay to take the bandages off - I get rid of this desk-top that I'm carrying around - and I get some fingerprints back.:D

All the best - johnnybach.............."Nurse, the screens please! Sorry, didn't mean to hit you with this desk-top. Eh? - Well - it's a long story......."{sm2}
 
Hi John,

See your having problems with twisting your trumpet cords! I generally use Alan's method but if your drill is a little fierce and the wire is breaking try the following method:-
Clamp a paint brush or length of dowel vertically in a vice. Loop the wire to be twisted over the dowel. Ensure the other ends are twisted together so that you have a loop of wire to twist. Push this end through the centre of a cotton reel and loop around a second paint brush. Pull the wire taught, hold the cotton reel and wind the second paint brush, this should give you an even twist and the wire shouldn't break until the twist becomes too tight. Takes longer than putting the other end in a drill but does not put so much strain on the wire.

I hope this is of help.

Brian.


johnnybach said:
I remembered the trick you mentioned from before - but couldnt get the fuse-wire to twist evenly and kept snapping. I then tried other wires - including brass, copper and some beadwork wire which twisted better - but I couldn't get any of those to stick evenly in place on my test piece using super-glue. I then even tried solid , thin galvanised wire - same result - but too thick and springy anyway - then tried Araldite glue instead - which took too long to go off - and which stuck me better than the wire, which I was trying to hold in place. (Good job I wasn't using the actual figure for most of these trials). Finished up peeling myself off some scrap metal - and then found the first-aid kit! By this time my hands seemed rather stiff - and roughly twice their normal size - and I had a superglue lid permanently attached to my thumb, and the tube to my other hand.{eek3}

My figure looks okay to me, with this very strong and thin cord in place - and with a touch or two of green paint - it passes muster. It just gives the impression of a bugle cord - and I have to say, better than many figures I've done in the past which often just have a suggestion of a cord cast into the body of the figure. I'll do the other one when I recover the use of my hands.:redface2:

I guess that I'll have to practice with the fuse wire a bit more, until I get an even twist.

I'll let you know where to send a bunch of grapes - when the plastic surgeon from Intensive Care, says it will be okay to take the bandages off - I get rid of this desk-top that I'm carrying around - and I get some fingerprints back.:D

All the best - johnnybach.............."Nurse, the screens please! Sorry, didn't mean to hit you with this desk-top. Eh? - Well - it's a long story......."{sm2}
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You may well be right about the drill being a bit fierce Brian - as the control trigger on my cordless device is a bit "all or nothing". My electric toaster is the same, you know.

It's not done yet - not done yet - then - whoops burnt to a cinder!

I may very well give that gentler method a go whenever I have cause to do some cords again. However, I seem to have perfected the Crochet Cord method at the moment, so won't take it off - as it doesn't look half bad. I'll paint him up a bit - and show you again later.

These grapes are lovely dear - pass me a Crochet Hook - I want to make a balaclava.^&grinjb
 
I haven't done as much as I would have liked today - due to other things getting in the way - but thought you might like to see how the two types of Tenor Drumer are developing. Left hand black horse is nearly finished - just a few bits and pieces left to do - whilst the right hand brown horse is developing a bit more too. Note the bugle hanging from it's green cord now painted - and rider developed a bit more too. This is the bugle-cord that I fabricated from a very strong non-metal material. Looks fine to me - and is firmly anchored in position.
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