RFCM

I'm toying with the idea of starting a SCW project and have a question concerning Republican Isobelino Caps.

Was the tassle worn on the cap or was it removed (or was it personal choice) ?

I have googled and have the Painting War SCW guide and am none the wiser. I have seen pictures without it but miniatures with it !

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

Hello Mike
Here are my thoughts and hope they help???

The cap was made with a tassle for military use.
The military ons often have nice stripes going from side to side across the head  too. This is depicted on some of the PP caps.
Military might remove the tassle too for various reasons including silhouette identification (in the same way that modern IDf break up their helmet outline).

The ones used by militia etc are copies of the official cap and most did not bother to add a tassle . Spain was not a major industrial economy and thus many hats and clothing  pieces were made in smaller workshops.
In the same way that the Wehrmacht peaked cap was a  copy of the civilian one.



martin

Thanks Martin.

So I'm  guessing there are no hard and fast rules regarding their use ?

I'll probably assume they were worn rather than try and remove them from the miniature. Unless someone can advise differently.

Maybe I should avoid the Republican army and do Nationalists vs International Brigade !! 😄😄

Mike

The Isobelina cap with tassel and piping (in the arm of service colour, red for infantry, blue for cavalry etc) was the pre-war regular army side cap.
When the uprising took place, apart from the Army of Africa, the army and paramilitaries were about equally divided between both sides.
Any regulars fighting for the Republic would have worn their uniform including the Isabellina (or steel helmet). However, the government caved into demands to arm the workers who began organizing themselves as Popular militia with a union or political party flavour.
There was considerable distrust of the military and paramilitaries, especially officers.
There was a move towards a worker's uniform of the mono (boiler suit) and side cap. If the latter were ex-Army, the side cap often had the tassel removed to appear more "proletarian", if home made copies usually made without. These were often red & black for anarchists, red or khaki/green for others with red stars or union initials embroidered.
When the Popular Army was formed, there was an attempt to create a different look from the pre-war army so the pasamonta, berets and peaked caps were the choice, however the odd side cap could be found, either home made, or less common, from pre-war stocks.

So if creating the very early fighting you could see the Isabellina on both sides with army units; as these began to merge into the militias (then popular army) they become increasingly rare with the tassel on the Republican side.

Neil

Thanks Neil,

That clears things up a lot 😊

Mike