Although I had a command stand for
my Austrian forces as seen in Post 38,
I did say that I would probably have
to convert a figure if I wanted one
looking more like FML Rosenberg-
Orsini in Johann Krafft’s Aspern-
Essling painting (right).
Sometime last summer I set about
making myself a Pendraken
Rosenberg by converting an
Archduke Charles figure from
Pendraken’s Austrian High
Command pack (NPA26). The model
has Charles waving his hat in the air,
revealing a rather too bald bald-head
for the Archduke – he wore a toupee
to protect his forehead against the
sun. First, I trimmed down the crown
of his head to see if the hat freed
from his hand could be fixed to his
head. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make
it fit fore and aft – so out came the
modelling putty. As I was pushing
putty around, giving my Rosenberg a
new hat, I took my eye off the job,
distracted by a phone call. That’s my
excuse! In the cold light of the
following morning, it was obvious
that I had failed to capture the
essential shape of the
bicorne, especially how
it was worn tilted back.
Mine was much too flat-
bottomed and upright.
And somewhat comical in
its shortcomings. The very
same day (it also happened to
be my birthday) I visited the
National War Museum and the
regimental museums within the
historic setting of Edinburgh
Castle. There I chanced on Sir John
Moore’s cocked hat from 1809 that
was kept by Lord Lynedoch, Moore’s
aide-de-camp who was with Moore when he
died. It was the type of bicorne that staff officers
throughout Europe wore and Moore’s was very similar to those worn
by Austrian officers. So there I was looking at the real 1809 deal. How
those feathers must have flown about in any sort of wind!
ABOVE Sir John Moore’s cocked hat in
Edinburgh Castle, unfortunately behind
glass that reflects a video presentation.
The Story of a Hat
POST 132
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