Franco-Prussian reference needed

[Sambaman]

Hey all you experts out there, I need a little help. I'm working on (among other projects) a bust of Prussian soldier from the Franco-Prussian war (1870). He is sporting the fantastic helmet with a picklehaub and has a fur (brown?) backpack and what appears to be the standard infantry uniform. The box art shows his shirt to be a dark blue-gray-ish color with white eppaulettes and red trim. Does anyone know the specific color of the uniform shirt for these guys? Was it grayish or greenish? Did it tend toward cool grays or warmer grays? Any help with pictorial or written reference for this period would be most appreciated! Thanks in advance for any help!

Jay H.
OKC

 

[Johan]

Hello Jay,

Not sure what you mean with "shirt" - I take it that is the uniform tunic you mean.
Well, for Prussian Line infantry that's supposed to be ... Prussian blue. Many of the best acrylic figure painters today interpret this as a dark blue which tends to go to the cool side - they mix vallejo dark prussian blue with black, and add some turquoise to get to that cool shade of dark blue.
What bust is that by the way ? I believe Verlinden did one like that, but that's world war I, nothing to do with Franco-Prussian war.

 

[Jason W.]

Jay,

Do you have a picture of the bust? The F-P War is a favorite of mine. Didn't know there was a Prussian infantryman bust out there!

As for the soldier's under shirt. You would probably be safe with any off-white or grey color. Images and paintings of soldiers from that era that show under clothes are pretty rare. Let me check my references. But like I said, you'll be safe with a light color shirt. Not to be nit picky but like most armies from that time period the government relied on a cottage industry for articles like that. So I'm sure you would see a variety in cut and color but "uniform" in appearance for each regiment.

Johan is right the unifrom coat should be very dark. If I were to paint one I would mix Prussian blue with black and be very careful with the highlights.

Jason

 

[Sambaman]

Jason, Johan,
thanks for the info. Sorry guys, yes, I meant tunic. I have shot some pics of the bust and downloaded them to my computer. I should be able to post them up tonight. Keep an eye out this evening! Thanks again.

 

[Sambaman]

Sorry Gentlemen, I didn't realize Red Lancers caries this piece! It's done by Enrique Rubio. I had picked mineup from another vendor at Atlanta, It's a real gem! Here's the link:

http://www.redlancers.com/displaypic.asp?item=20547&hot=

HTH,
Jay H.
OKC

 

[Johan]

Thanks for the picture link, Jay. That Prussian bust looks like it's of a guardsman, look at the white litzen on the collar. Maybe Jason can confirm this ?
Colours in any case : tunic prussian (dark) bleu, collar ponceau red (I think a cool red ?) and white litzen. Shoulder straps look somewhat odd, didn't think they should have piping of any kind; I thought they would be white for 1st foot guards, red for 2nd, yellow for 3rd, blue for 4th.
Foot guards are not to be confused with Guard grenadiers ("Gardegrenadiere")- different uniform details also !!!!!!! The guard grenadiers were the ones who took Le Bourget, as you can read in the instructions for the 75mm elite figure - .... except that the elite prussian hauptman is a perfect sculpting of ... an officer of the Foot Guards !! That's actually the only flaw in that kit, well if it is really a flaw, as i said you can paint it perfectly as a captain of the Foot Guard ("Garde zu Fuss") regiments ; beware though, litzen colour for the officers followed button colour : yellow metal buttons = gold litzen, and not silver, as in the picture on the Elite box.

... Ah well, back to your bust ; looks like a good one, and as I said I think it's of a Foot guard soldier.

 

[Sambaman]

Thanks for the update Johan! Are you saying that the eppaulettes should be a solid color and not outlined in red as shown on the box art? So they could have been either solid white, red, yellow, or blue depending on the regiment they were in? If that's the case I might like to pick a color that will compliment the over tunic. Yellow with the prussian blue would look good and be a nice challenge since I find it to be a tough color to get right! Thanks again!

Jay H.
OKC

 

[Johan]

Jay, also have a look here :
http://www.kaisersbunker.com/gtp/waffenrock.htm
I think you should find some good information there.
Success with the bust !

 

[Sambaman]

Johan, that's a BEAUTY! Great site, exactly what I needed. Thanks for the link!

Jay H.
OKC