WWII British uniform colours

[Johan]

I want to make a start this week on Verlinden's old British paratrooper figure (ref nr. 485, which has disappeared from their catalogue long ago - it's the one with the stengun, pointing and shouting).

The idea is to slightly convert him into a glider-borne soldier at Pegasus bridge. He will have a beret instead of the helmet (so I guess I'll have to look for another shouting head and sculpt that beret myself )... Should be finished within max. 2 months. :lol: , after which you'll get ... pictures! Yessss !!!

Now, WWII colours are "unknown territory" to me, so can you people please help a little bit here. I would like to paint it in oil paints.

So, any suggestions on how to paint in oils the following:

- British WWII khaki battledress (for the trousers)
- khaki drill for the equipment
- "maroon" for the beret (.... a brownish purple red??)
- .... how do you paint that Denison smock?

Thank you,

Johan

 

[Johan]

I want to make a start this week on Verlinden's old British paratrooper figure (ref nr. 485, which has disappeared from their catalogue long ago - it's the one with the stengun, pointing and shouting).

The idea is to slightly convert him into a glider-borne soldier at Pegasus bridge. He will have a beret instead of the helmet (so I guess I'll have to look for another shouting head and sculpt that beret myself )... Should be finished within max. 2 months. :lol: , after which you'll get ... pictures! Yessss !!!

Now, WWII colours are "unknown territory" to me, so can you people please help a little bit here. I would like to paint it in oil paints.

So, any suggestions on how to paint in oils the following:

- British WWII khaki battledress (for the trousers)
- khaki drill for the equipment
- "maroon" for the beret (.... a brownish purple red??)
- .... how do you paint that Denison smock?

Thank you,

Johan

 

[Pete_H]

Okay Sparky, here we go:
1. Shouting head - Kirin has one that would fit perfectly. If you can't find it let me know, I may have one lying around here. Also, why not use the original head? It's shouting already. Just cut off the helmet & chinstraps, sculpt in a bit of hair (and any screw-ups on the cheeks from cutting off the chinstraps. I'd recommend sanding them off just to play it safe), and then comes the beret. Have fun sculpting the beret insignia! (it wasn't the jumpwings).
2. Colors - I'm assuming you're painting with oils over acrylics.

Trousers ...
Undercoat - Vallejo's "English Uniform."
Oils - 2 parts burnt umber + 1 part yellow ochre + lighten a bit with Naples yellow. Highlights: naples yellow + raw sienna. Shadows: burnt umber + a bit or raw umber (further shadows by adding raw umber).

Smock ...
Undercoat - Vallejo's "middlestone."
Pattern - this appears as if someone simply took a wide flat brush and randomly painted lines (straight & curved) onto the smock itself. For the colors, I'd recommend Vallejo's "medium olive" and "flat earth." Make sure you study the Denison smock in great detail. That means go beyond Osprey books! I'd recommend Glen's "For King and Country."
If you want to "bring" all the colors on the smock together, try the following:
mix 1 part raw umber + 1 part olive green oils. Apply this sparingly over the entire smock, letting it sit for a few minutes (no more than 10). Now remove as much of it as possible with a flat brush, including the shadow areas. You should end up with a very slightly darker tone to your smock (but don't let it be "too" dark). I know this sounds like a classic "IPMS ******* way of shading," but it's not meant to be. Not only will it help blend the colors together, but it will give you a basecoat upon which to paint your highlights & shadows.
Now for highlighting & shading the smock. For shadows, just use raw umber in the deepest of regions, and feather it out as much as possible. For highlights, you really shouldn't highlight it (or any camo for that matter) that much. Why? Camo doesn't highlight the same was as single colors do. Think about it - would you want to wear a camo smock that highlights so much that you'd become an easy target? I didn't think so Just use the smallest amount of naples yellow upon the highest highlight areas and feather it out as much as possible. Remember: you don't want your shadows & highlights to drown out the camo pattern.
After all is done, place the figure in a crockpot overnight, or in an oven at 120 Fahrenheit for about 1 hour (don't worry, your resin figure shouldn't warp - that is, if it's a good-quality figure).

There you go. Here's a link of almost all my oils & acrylics formulas:
http://members.cox.net/captnpete/PaletteMain.html

 

[Pete_H]

Okay Sparky, here we go:
1. Shouting head - Kirin has one that would fit perfectly. If you can't find it let me know, I may have one lying around here. Also, why not use the original head? It's shouting already. Just cut off the helmet & chinstraps, sculpt in a bit of hair (and any screw-ups on the cheeks from cutting off the chinstraps. I'd recommend sanding them off just to play it safe), and then comes the beret. Have fun sculpting the beret insignia! (it wasn't the jumpwings).
2. Colors - I'm assuming you're painting with oils over acrylics.

Trousers ...
Undercoat - Vallejo's "English Uniform."
Oils - 2 parts burnt umber + 1 part yellow ochre + lighten a bit with Naples yellow. Highlights: naples yellow + raw sienna. Shadows: burnt umber + a bit or raw umber (further shadows by adding raw umber).

Smock ...
Undercoat - Vallejo's "middlestone."
Pattern - this appears as if someone simply took a wide flat brush and randomly painted lines (straight & curved) onto the smock itself. For the colors, I'd recommend Vallejo's "medium olive" and "flat earth." Make sure you study the Denison smock in great detail. That means go beyond Osprey books! I'd recommend Glen's "For King and Country."
If you want to "bring" all the colors on the smock together, try the following:
mix 1 part raw umber + 1 part olive green oils. Apply this sparingly over the entire smock, letting it sit for a few minutes (no more than 10). Now remove as much of it as possible with a flat brush, including the shadow areas. You should end up with a very slightly darker tone to your smock (but don't let it be "too" dark). I know this sounds like a classic "IPMS ******* way of shading," but it's not meant to be. Not only will it help blend the colors together, but it will give you a basecoat upon which to paint your highlights & shadows.
Now for highlighting & shading the smock. For shadows, just use raw umber in the deepest of regions, and feather it out as much as possible. For highlights, you really shouldn't highlight it (or any camo for that matter) that much. Why? Camo doesn't highlight the same was as single colors do. Think about it - would you want to wear a camo smock that highlights so much that you'd become an easy target? I didn't think so Just use the smallest amount of naples yellow upon the highest highlight areas and feather it out as much as possible. Remember: you don't want your shadows & highlights to drown out the camo pattern.
After all is done, place the figure in a crockpot overnight, or in an oven at 120 Fahrenheit for about 1 hour (don't worry, your resin figure shouldn't warp - that is, if it's a good-quality figure).

There you go. Here's a link of almost all my oils & acrylics formulas:
http://members.cox.net/captnpete/PaletteMain.html

 

[Johan]

Muchos gracias - Corona's are on me (do you also drink them with a piece of lemon in the bottle neck? )

Have fun sculpting the beret insignia! (it wasn't the jumpwings).

... I know .... look at my avatar

 

[Johan]

Muchos gracias - Corona's are on me (do you also drink them with a piece of lemon in the bottle neck? )

Have fun sculpting the beret insignia! (it wasn't the jumpwings).

... I know .... look at my avatar

 

[Pete_H]

NO LEMON IN THE BOTTLENECK!!! If there's a LIME in the bottleneck, then how are you supposed to drink out of it?

Just remember: khaki was not the color of the uniform trousers in NW Europe.

 

[Pete_H]

NO LEMON IN THE BOTTLENECK!!! If there's a LIME in the bottleneck, then how are you supposed to drink out of it?

Just remember: khaki was not the color of the uniform trousers in NW Europe.

 

[Johan]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Well, that's how we gringos drink it - it's ok you know, you should try it sometime. :lol:

 

[Johan]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Well, that's how we gringos drink it - it's ok you know, you should try it sometime. :lol:

 

[Pete_H]

"Gringo" = slang for "American."

Duuuuuuuuuuude, we really need to work on this.

 

[Pete_H]

"Gringo" = slang for "American."

Duuuuuuuuuuude, we really need to work on this.

 

[Johan]

In my book: slang for "American" or "Northwestern European"

Meaning : "stranger" or something...

But we might get together though, to work on the Corona + lemon topic

 

[Johan]

In my book: slang for "American" or "Northwestern European"

Meaning : "stranger" or something...

But we might get together though, to work on the Corona + lemon topic

 

[Johan]

Just remember: khaki was not the color of the uniform trousers in NW Europe.

... Now, I always thought that British battledress was of the colour "khaki" or "Khaki drab"????

Can you explain this, because here I'm not with you I'm afraid...