Question about painting a busby/bearskin

[amherbert]

Hi

I've almost finished my officer of the Dutch Guard (Napoleonic). I've seen lots of busbies on the guard in Ottawa and London. Now these tend to be very black (blacker than black to use the Spinal Tap term), with a lot of sheen to the fur. Any suggestions on replicating this in miniature?

I painted the bearskin in black oil with a hint of sepia. I used some blue oil for highlights, but I'm not happy with the outcome. I hope to have pictures some day...

The same goes for painting feathers as part of a plume. I'm wondering about the chicken feather approach.

Andy

 

[pkw4]

Hi Andy,
try with an undercoat of Humbrol 170 follow by black sepia oil colour highlighted with alzarin crimson cobalt blue and for the lightest parts a touch of white or,you could try mars black.
good luck
Roberto

 

[Einion]

Hi Andy, here's how I might approach this. Undercoat with Payne's Grey* and when it's dry glaze with Lamp Black. Gentle highlights with Payne's lightened with Titanium White if you think it needs it but let the sculpting and the slight gloss finish take care of most of the highlighting for you; the larger the scale the better this works of course.

*Simply Ultramarine + Black if you don't have the tube colour.

Einion

 

[amherbert]

Thanks guys.

Payne's Grey is a great idea! I have that too.
I'll try using some Payne's with Titanium White on the bonnet as it is now. It dried flatter than I would have liked (typical cursed oil paint, gloss when you don't want it, matt when you want satin/gloss).

I wonder if the bonnets were dyed or treated in some way. I've seen plenty of black bear pelts, and they range from very black to shades of brown. The busbies I've seen are uniformly black. I wonder if that was the case 200 years ago...

I hope to get some more painting done soon, and post pics soon.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by amherbert+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (amherbert)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> It dried flatter than I would have liked (typical cursed oil paint, gloss when you don't want it, matt when you want satin/gloss). [/b]

Hehe, I know what you mean. It's likely that a mix containing French Ultramarine will dry matt because this colour is know for that. At the end you could thin down a drop of linseed oil or Liquin with a lot of spirits or turps and brush this over the entire bearskin to even out the finish.

Originally posted by amherbert@
I wonder if the bonnets were dyed or treated in some way.

That's possible, it's just hair so it could easily be dyed. In the past they would probably have just selected from what was available and picked the blackest ones at a guess. I have seen fur bands on extant pieces that were distinctly brown in areas, which I doubt is due merely to age, and given what I've read about the quality of some Napoleonic gear (really shoddy) I wouldn't be surprised if they were much less uniform than we would suppose in any army.

<!--QuoteBegin-amherbert
I've seen plenty of black bear pelts, and they range from very black to shades of brown. The busbies I've seen are uniformly black. I wonder if that was the case 200 years ago... [/quote]
Yeah, 'black' bear is a bit of a misnomer! FWIW not all busbies are made of actual bearskin today, according to an article in one of the military history mags they can be made from arctic fox since these are farmed so there's a ready supply, it would be much less PC to use an endangered wild animal.

Einion

 

[amherbert]

Arctic fox!!

hmmph, what's the world coming to!

Einion, you are the all-knowing one! Thanks for the help. I painted the highlights with Payne's Grey last night, and I hope to take pics today (sunny)!

Cheers
Andy