Two questions from a neophyte

[Jack Nastyface]

Gentles all,

I am recently returned to this fine hobby after a 27 year hiatus. Back in the day, I painted plastic models (mostly 1/72 and 1/48 planes and tanks) and Ral Partha 28mm figures for RPG gaming.

I recently purchased the British 6lb gun and crew in 40mm from Sash and Sabre. I also picked up a good source book (Osprey's Wellington's Specialist Troops) and now have two questions I respectfully submit for your consideration.

1. I have decided to paint the gun crew in 1814/1815 uniforms (grey trousers, blue jackets) as opposed to earlier Peninsula war colours (white trousers). The question I have is - how do I determine what particular colour of blue to paint? Do I hold up a colour chart to a picture in a book, or to a photo of a reenactor, or something else? BTW I am using Vallejo Model colour paints, if that is of any assistance.

2. I have been preparing the figures by filing down flash and molding errors with needle files, 320 wet/dry paper, and emory paper. However...(and this maybe difficult to explain so bear with me)...on some of the figures, the strap for the canteen is "filled in" all the way to the body. Meaning, the canteen is resting on the figures hip, and the strap runs towards the opposite shoulder, but the space that that exists between the triangle formed by the strap, the lower back, and upper hips is a solid piece of casting. See my following ASCII art:

lower back
/| canteen strap
\|
upper hip
( )
canteen

(no "air" exists between the inside of the strap and the figure side, just a big triangle of metal)

I am not sure if I just trying cutting/dremel drilling it out (as it will be very difficult to clean up the area due to limited space for a tool), or fi I should just "let it be".

Any assistance is most gratefully appreciated, as I am ever your most humble servant,

Jack Nastyface

P.S. Jack Nastyface was the nom de plume of William Robinson who wrote of conditions below the decks in the Age of Sail. He should not be confused with the "Mr Yuck" symbol used on some modern household cleaning products.

 

[Guy]

This reminds me of the way they used to cast figures. The solution we used back then was to paint the "triangle" black on both sides with the canteen strap the correct color on top. The only other solution would be to take the triangle out and replace with sheet lead for the strap.

 

[renarts]

I would judge by eye as close to your current reference documentation. Close is good enough. The conditions for troops in the field would be such that you would have dust, sun fading, dye lots etc and the variations of uniforms would be slight to drastic. Within the context of the depiction of your vignette you should be fine.

Unless you are willing to increase your reference library, to include specialized titles and books that might contain primary documentation of uniforms for particular armies and campaigns then the Osprey will do just fine for reference.

Good luck with the project and be sure to show us some pics. Welcome to the Planet.

P.S. I highly reccomend "The Woden World" if you are into age of sail and British Navy from the 18th c.

 

[vergilius]

I have to agree with Guy; cut it all off and replace it with a metal strap. I use a coppersheet for those things. Off course it depends how realistic you want it to be.
with the colours I can only suggest to mass as much fotographic material as possible to get a good idea (or visit a museum if possible) of the correct colours but bear in mind that colours do fade, get dusted etc.
and welcome back to our wonderful hobby

 

[Jack Nastyface]

Gentlemen,
Thank you kindly for your sage words of wisdom. I am going to try "cutting" most of the waste metal out on one figure, and see how it goes. I have a fine point engraver for my dremel, so it looks like it might work. I will endeavour to post photos as I progess.

Yet 1 more question to beg, however...
When painting white (trousers, for example) is the high-light a whiter-white than the base colour, or a darker white? I ask because any think white that I have usually ends up "darker" (ie: stained, dirty, etc) in the areas that are most exposed to the elements, etc (cuffs, knees, seat, etc) and the parts that are most recessed (folds in inseam) are more pristine.

Again, thanks in advance. The postings at this site are a real inspiration. I just spent $50 on some Vallejo paints as my local hobby store (Imperial Hobbies, Richmond BC) had a store wide sale of 20% off everything.

Most humble regards,

Jack Nastyface

 

[Ashen-Shurgar]

Hi Jack, I am only a newbie myself, but all the great painted white figures i have seen are shaded in the reccesses and "white in the highlights, but to my understanding most people only use an off white color not pure white?

 

[vergilius]

I paint in oils so I can't help you with the colours itself but when painting white, the highest highlight is pure mith. All the rest is darker. You'll have to mix a bit to get a colour of your own liking. De darkest tone (folds etc) can even be pure black.

 

[Wendy]

Yet 1 more question to beg, however...
When painting white (trousers, for example) is the high-light a whiter-white than the base colour, or a darker white? I ask because any think white that I have usually ends up "darker" (ie: stained, dirty, etc) in the areas that are most exposed to the elements, etc (cuffs, knees, seat, etc) and the parts that are most recessed (folds in inseam) are more pristine.

Most humble regards,

Jack Nastyface

Basically, it's up to you how clean or dirty you would like to paint them. In a small scale, the seems are in shadow so one wouldn't be able to see whether they are cleaner than the rest of the pants or not. (Though they idea is an intriguing one for a larger scale.) In painting, it's taking the idea of shadows and highlights and magnifying them more than they would really appear. How much grass stains, mud, or other dirt is up to you.

Here is a good tutorial for painting white, written by Stephen Mallia:

http://www.elgrecominiatures.co.uk/index.html?lang=en-uk&target=d131.html

(Click on TUTORIALS on the left hand side, then on the next page click on painting tutorials, then click on part 3 - sorry I can't get a link to go right to the painting white tutorial.)


Have fun!
Wendy

 

[tonydawe]

Hi Jack Nastyface,

I'm no expert on painting white, but I have recently painted a French Imperial Grenadier Guard, (pics are on my vBench) which is predominantly white in colour. I use Vallejo acrylics, so any reference to colours is the Vallejo equivalent.

I found that the secret was to use another colour (such as ivory) as the base colour instead of white. Ivory is very close to white, but just dark enough to provide a contrast. You can then add white to the ivory to provide your highlights. You can then use pure white on your upper highlights.

Please remember that "pure" white is a relatively modern colour, particularly in military uniforms. Up to the 20th Century most fabrics and materials that were dyed "white" were closer to an off-white/ ivory colour anyway, and with a bit of wear and tear would soon fade to an even darker shade.

I hope this helps.

Cheers