Best military uniform history books according to redditors
We found 10 Reddit comments discussing the best military uniform history books. We ranked the 8 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 10 Reddit comments discussing the best military uniform history books. We ranked the 8 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
So now we start a discussion on things totally not connected to the show, but possibly just as interesting. So Black Jack was an officer of the Dragoons, which were really heavy cavalry. In the 1740s the colonel of the regiment would determine what the dress and equipment of the regiment was, so even though an officer would have bought his own equipment, looked after the care of his horse and gear, etc, the type of weapon used was determined by the commandant. Cavalry officers would typically use a sword (or sabre) with both a thrusting edge and a cutting edge. While a thrusting point was almost a necessity when fighting against armored infantry, by the 1740s the cavalry would be fighting against unarmored infantry and a blade with a slashing edge would be more efficient from horseback, especially since a thrusting blade was more likely to get embedded in the target and possibly wrenched from the hands of the horseman. Plus the cutting edge provides a larger impact area, making an effective stroke more likely, particularly in a charge (and yes cavalry was still charging, and always did, even into WWII).
British Ordnance factories were turning out a variety of blades by the 1740s, even though standard cavalry swords probably arrived just a bit later, the most famous patterns being the 1796 heavy and light cavalry swords. The spadroon, by the way was more often an infantry sword, and BJR was definitely not an infantry officer.
By the 1740s the common cavalry officers sword started off using a modified Walloon hilt, which used a double shell guard, tapering down to a single bar. But the influence of various basket hilts also started appearing about the mid 18th century, and had a broad multi-bar knuckle guard with side finials, making it look almost like a basket hilt. With Army deployments in Scotland the influences of the Scottish basket hilt began making their way into English cavalry swords, leading to something that looked like a sort of bastardized basket hilt. The officers swords being more ornate probably resembled a basket hilt more closely, while the swords used by troopers had more open grills on the hilt.
Haven't seen the episode yet, and the hilt may be wrong, but I would take objection to the cutting/thrusting edge argument.
BTW here's a Horse Grenadier Officers Sword from around that era.
https://imgur.com/oJlc7HM
And a great book for sword enthusiasts:
https://www.amazon.com/British-Cavalry-Sword-1600-ebook/dp/B00KDJLW9Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506282751&sr=8-1&keywords=The+British+Cavalry+Sword+From+1600+martyn
But we digress from the woes of Frank and Claire. ;)
If you're serious about learning about the very fine intricacies of the war, the best places are books, I can't stress that enough.
This is a good "starter" book:
Soldat
Huge list of books (some are better than others, but having more than one reference material is always nice):
The Collection
Other than that, I've been engrossed in WWII history since I was young, say about 5 or 6, talking with my great-grandfather and his friends. I've got quite a collection of items myself, mostly allied, though I have some cool German stuff. I also reenact WWII, so I have reproduction equipment, uniforms and the like as well.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Army-1931-45-1942-1945-Men-at-Arms/dp/1841763543/ref=pd_gwm_wish_0?pf_rd_s=blackjack-experiment-2&pf_rd_t=Gateway&pf_rd_i=mobile&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pd_rd_wg=3PZuW&pd_rd_r=939PGWN03SRFZ3QCJ5P4&pd_rd_w=WFAvp&pf_rd_r=939PGWN03SRFZ3QCJ5P4&pf_rd_p=bd8e9f21-b4e3-4e99-af78-307bf18f04ea&pd_rd_i=1841763543
I think that are WW1 soldiers. Or maybe Reichswehr, or very early Wehrmacht. They wear the bigger older helmets
Also they are on parade, so they look too uniform, for gameplay reasons a bit of individualisation has to happen. But thats not a problem, you can do that authentically. Just read a book like this one:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51JDBZM1hDL.jpg
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81dTpBt5KFL.jpg
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71gd0ICHK8L.jpg
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81famaFgeAL.jpg
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81p8fDAxvRL.jpg
Loooots of different but also authentic styles possible
EDIT: Osprey has several books on the subject:
https://www.amazon.de/German-Elite-Units-1939-45-Men-at-Arms/dp/1841764051/
https://www.amazon.de/German-Combat-Equipments-1939-45-Men-at-Arms/dp/0850459524/
https://www.amazon.de/Wehrmacht-Combat-Helmets-1933-45-Elite/dp/1841767255/
https://www.amazon.de/World-German-Battle-Insignia-Men-at-Arms/dp/1841763527
Airbrush is a given.
Outside of that, for a purchase (that also was instrumental in teaching many techniques) I would go with either the original "FAQ" book by Mig Jimenez (now published by AK Interactive -- I think they're up to version 3 now). Or TankArt 1 by Michael Rinaldi
Definitely possible. It could also be a "generic" Transportation Corps device but don't count that as a definitive answer because this outside my area of "expertise". The Googles have failed us so you'd have to look at book on DUI to get a definitive answer.
Haha, I wish! I could tell it was nihontō from the photo, with true hōnoki shirasaya (the "tiger striping" is very distinctive) and what was at least a gold-foiled habaki. At best, I guessed that it might be shinsakutō, but that's really the limit of my analytical powers. I did a reverse image search to find the sale page (which I linked to in the line "sold for $4500"—maybe I should have made that more obvious?), which is where the other details came from. Er, and I already knew a little about Sadahito since I've researched his family specifically before; he's featured in The New Generation of Japanese Swordsmiths.
Had I seen the full-res workmanship closeup, I'd have been able to tell you it is Sōshū-den, with ji-nie, abundant sunagashi & nijūba, etc. And I would have been more confident that it is shinsaku. But I still wouldn't have assumed it was by Enomoto Sadahito. That only came as a pleasant surprise, when I saw the description.
—G
Robson, "Swords of the British Army", http://www.amazon.com/Swords-British-Army-Regulation-Patterns/dp/1845749170 Only covers the regulation patterns, so you need to look elsewhere for early 18th century; perhaps https://www.amazon.com/British-Cavalry-Sword-1600-ebook/dp/B00KDJLW9Q/
That helps. I think you're right, the photocopies make the pages look about the size of a cargo pocket. I hadn't noticed that before.
Maybe one of these books:
Glad to be of help. If it's any help this video is actually a dvd made by Miguel Jimenez. You should look into the other DVD's he has, they are VERY helpful and always a go-to source of information for me. I know it's wrong but the video on youtube is illegally uploaded I think.. Next to his dvd's there's a book he made with tips and tricks;
http://www.amazon.com/F-A-Q-Frequently-Questions-Techniques-Modelling/dp/849652762X
if you are thinking of making more armor models and you can get your hands on it, do so. I have it and it's my precious..
Here's a sample of what I'm working on right now, this is my 5th "serious" model I think and I am doing alot of the weathering using the tips from that DVD and that book..
http://i.imgur.com/lu1Pk4H.jpg?1