French Line Infantry Painting Tutorial Part Three - The Second Highlight

Warlord Games box art really captures the look of French line infantry pre 1812

French Line Infantry Painting Tutorial Part One

French Line Infantry Painting Tutorial Part Two

So finally we have reached stage three which is the best stage in my opinion, as this is where we get to really bring out all the detail and accentuate the character of the figures, helping to show off what the sculptor put into the originals.

The object again is not to cover the two previous shades, but simply to apply small amounts of the highlight to those areas that are nearest to the light. So for instance, note how the Prussian Blue/Off White mix is used along the outer most areas of the sleeves of the jackets in the figures above and by carefully brushing of the folds in the elbows we can show off the creases.

Likewise I have only applied the silver to the bayonets, not the rest of the musket metal work, because in the glint of the peninsula sun, the eye would be drawn to the bayonets of the infantry.

The tops of the shakos and the heels and soles of uplifted boots can be brought to life with a few careful lines of dark grey to draw the eye to these exposed areas of black leatherwork.

The application of the third colour choice can really make the figures pop and take them to another level with very little work. The white straps and lapels have a subtle shading by applying the full white to the tops of the belts and creases thus accentuating the darker shades around them.

With Napoleonic infantry the two things that can really make or break all your hard work are the Colours or flags and the basing. They are like frames to a picture and will repay you in heaps for applying attention to them

Note the shorter edges are cut into to record the outer cut markings, before cutting the longer edges

I really like the GMB range of flags and the French fanions are perfect additions to my second and third battalions.

One thing I have adopted as a habit when cutting these out is to cut in on the shorter end marks, before cutting fully along the long edge. This is because as soon as you cut the long edge, you will loose the guide marks for the short edges and by putting cuts on both sides it is easy to cut them completely, still following the original marks.

Once carefully folded, edge to edge it should look like the one below.

With a little application of PVA glue to the centre the cut flag is easily positioned on the staff and pressed firmly together. The next stage is to apply a suitable wave in the shape and allow it to dry.

One thing that will really let your flags down is not painting the edges. I am always amazed when I see this and in this case a simple application of gold along the edges covers any white paper and completes the look.

I covered off basing and how to do it in a previous posting and the links are below, covering my preferred bases and the texturing of them when I did a regiment of Portuguese dragoons.

My Basing Standard

Basing Tutorial

This process is the final but no less important stage, as a great looking base will show off a nicely painted figure and hopefully the composition of your groups will stand out, having arranged your figures in the order of painting on the sticks, as mentioned earlier.

For example, the figure falling forward has been placed next to a fusilier who is glancing to his right as if acknowledging the shock of seeing his comrade falling wounded. Likewise all the different shades of trousers and greatcoats are mixed on each base to give that uniform lack of un-uniformity.

Figures arranged and glued to the bases

The base groundwork applied and drying

The bases have had all three shades applied and now just need a bit of static grass to bring then to life

Et voilà, the finished battalion, ready for its parade shots and mustering with the other two battalions in the regiment. With better lighting you will be able to see more fully the fruits of the work, so I will be posting the parade shots of this battalion when I look at the role of the 96e Ligne at Talavera.

All done and ready to face their first battle

So this battalion completes the sixth battalion and marks a landmark with 25% of the work on the French infantry finished. I hope these three tutorials are helpful, certainly the feedback would suggest they are. I still have some allied infantry units to do, so I may do something similar for the Spanish and British. Let me know what you think.

French Line Infantry Painting Tutorial Part Two - The First Highlight

Fusilier, Grenadier and Voltigeur
The box art from the HaT French infantry 1808-12 gives an idea of the look of the French
 line infantryman on campaign. Note the variations in trousers, water canteens and great-coats.
The rigours of Spain would produce even greater variation, but Fusiliers were still required to remain clean shaven.

Detailed highlighting requires a good brush

French Line Infantry Painting Tutorial Part One

Sorry for a delay in producing this second post, life has demanded more of my time with starting a new job, wedding anniversaries to celebrate and entertaining friends whilst the weather has enabled more out door living. The good news is that in between all that fun I have been putting in the odd hour or two to move this project forward, so on with the post.

So the next stage of the paint job is to apply the fist highlight colours to all the block colours you have already applied.

The one thing you really need for a job like this is a reliable brush that you can use again and again and get a good job particularly with fine work such as applying the top lip highlight under the nose of the 18mm figures as seen with the third figure from the left above.

To do this level of work you need to have a good point to your brush and I first highlighted these Tamiya detail brushes back in 2012. They are quite literally the best ever brushes I have ever used and I would strongly recommend them without reservation
http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/tamiyas-small-pointed-brush.html

I started this next stage in the same order as the first, so in these first three pictures you can see the figures after I have applied Citadel Kislev Flesh, picking out the nose, cheeks, top lips, chins, tops of hands and exposed fingers and thumbs. With the voltigeurs and grenadiers some of them are sculpted with a moustache as with the second right figure above and I generally leave the base colour showing for the top lip whiskers.

The other main colour I started with was the blue jackets and here I have highlighted with Vallejo Prussian Blue, those surfaces exposed to the light looking to leave seams and folds with the darker base colour. The backs of the figures above really show how effective just one shade up can bring out the folds around the turn-backs, straps and shoulder lapels on the fusiliers above.

The next major highlight to do is the light grey, specifically Coat d'Arms Uniform Grey to pick out the top folds of the grey great-coats, grey shako covers and those figures selected to have grey trousers/overalls as opposed to those I will have in their whites which usually form the majority of the soldiers.

Probably the biggest job in this next stage is applying the off white to all the dark grey areas. The idea is to apply a white that is thin enough (you are looking for the consistency of skimmed milk when mixing with water) to allow the grey base to show through in the creases and folds of all those belts laid across the front lapels. This application needs to be done as accurately as possible, so don't load your brush with too much paint. However the good news is that you can cover all the grey without worrying about leaving any of it exposed.

The other paint work requires a more accurate application, including the white straps on the blue uniform areas and around the back-packs, great-coats and musket slings. I would suggest mixing the white in a 50:50 with water to get a more controllable and thicker application, but leave areas around loops and buckles with the grey showing, to imply those buckles and around straps in folds of the uniform to create the shadow of straps going under arms.

The art of highlighting is to apply the next shade up taking care not to cover all the first shade but to leave it showing around the edge of the highlight. This effect fools the eye by giving your colours depth. For example, look at the picture below and see how the dark sea blue applied to the top edges of the shakos and to their peaks emphasises those areas exposed to the light.

Similarly the tops of the shakos with dark around the top rim highlights the crown and draws the eye.

This stage is also where I start to apply the lacing edges to turn-backs and collars. Try and be as accurate as possible (this is where a good brush pays you back for the investment). By adding the colour now you can correct any miss-application with the third and final highlight, although I will also take any excess paint off using water (the beauty of using acrylic paint).

The idea of allowing the base coat to show through is demonstrated with the plumes on the elite companies where you can see the base green, yellow and red showing through in the recessed areas of those raised plumes and chords. Like wise, the dark brown helps to provide depth to the brass scales and shako plates.

So there is the second stage completed with a highlight colour applied to all the first colours used. Some people are happy to just go to this stage and varnish. I would suggest the third and final highlight will really make things pop and we are using less paint as we work up to this point so the effect requires less work but will reward you with figures that will stand out on your table.

As always, if you are not clear on any of the stages illustrated or my colour preferences then drop me a comment and I will get back with an answer.

Next up, Part three, the third and final highlight and basing process.

French Line Infantry Painting Tutorial Part One - The Base Colours

The illustration helps to show the effect I am trying to achieve with the
variation in shade as the light hits the more exposed areas of the uniform

It's been a while since I went through a painting tutorial, and now being very much involved in adding significant numbers of French line infantry into the collection and with the 206th anniversary of the Battle of Talavera tomorrow, I thought it might be of interest to illustrate the process and colours I prefer to use when painting these troops.

Getting efficient at producing a nice looking unit is what this series of posts will be a about and lets face it, if you are into Napoleonics you are probably going to want some of these chaps in your collection and probably a lot of them.

The battalion shown below was waiting for the first colour to dry on the groundwork as I began work on the base colours for the third battalion to complete my second regiment, the 96e Ligne. It occurred to me to photograph and record the work to illustrate my method.

The 2/96e Ligne on the desk with the ground work to be finished 

I tend to have two battalions of French primed with undercoat at a time to allow work to proceed seamlessly from one to the next as we want to get on with playing as much as we enjoy painting.

My battalions are in units of twenty-eight including the four skirmishers and my senior or first battalion would normally have the mounted colonel on the command base, my second battalion a sergeant with the fanion group and my third with a pioneer with the fanion group. In addition I like to put in the odd personality figure like a cheering soldier, or in this case a fusilier falling wounded.

First stage base flesh and coat colours

The first stage is to apply the base flesh colour, which I tend to do with Citadel Ratskin Flesh. I find this colour gives a really satisfactory dark base to my flesh and although I have experimented with adding Citadel Riekland Fleshshade wash, now only use this on bareheaded individuals to contrast their hair from the rest of the face. To see the effect of the wash then follow the link to the 2/96e Ligne to see the cheering soldier.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/296e-regiment-de-ligne.html

At this early stage I am focused on making the greatest progress and getting the work done in the right order. The right order of putting colours on takes a bit of time to work out, but when faced with working through multiple units it becomes an important aspect. I will write down my sequence so I can come back to a project and pick up where I left off without having the painful process of re-learning it.

Next base colours to add, browns and greys. Greys include lapels, trousers, great-coats and shako covers. Note I will do straps and lace in grey at a later stage

So in this case, the last major colour to apply will be black because black gets applied over the top of other colours to finish off the base set up, such as black musket barrels over brown wood-work. Not forgetting of course that black is not a colour!

After the Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue jackets, I applied Coat d'Arms Dark grey to some great-coats, some trousers, all lapels and waistcoats, metal mess bowls and water bottles.

Brown include trouser, great-coats, back-packs and bayonet scabbards - fusiliers carry bayonets on the right, elite company on the left with their sabre-briquet 

Next colour on was Vallejo Burnt Umber to my Spanish cloth clad trousered soldiers and all the back-packs.

I then took Vallejo Chocolate Brown and applied that to the muskets, other great-coats and bayonet scabbards - yes French bayonet scabbards are brown, not black, as shown in the header illustration.

"Blacking up" - shakos, musket metal work, boots, swords and scabbards and ammunition pouches

The final large colour - shade, call it what you will, is the black over the primer to finish off the boots, shakos and peaks, musket and sword metal work, sword scabbards and ammunition pouches.

For variety I do shako covers in black, grey and white, thus for a white cover I would use a base coat of Vallejo Buff

With the black work done, the base boundary colours start to take shape and you feel you are making good progress.

All the black done, completes the first main base colours

With this big chunk of block work done it is time to go and make yourself a well earned cup of tea before getting stuck into the final base coat preparation covering the straps, laces, cuff/collar/shoulder straps/plumes and water bottle work before we can start to make these chaps come alive.

If you are interested in your painting skills, I would really recommend checking out the article published in Wargames Illustrated 287 which was available as a downloadable pdf called "The Four C's of Painting" by Joe Sleboda that covers off Colour, Composition, Contrast and Correction and is a very good summary of the basic skill set on deciding what you are going to do, where and correcting those little errors that can creep in to brush work.

So whilst prepping these guys I have been thinking about the groups of four figures that will be together on a base. The stick is organised so each group of four are together and I can make sure that there is plenty of variation in the group as far as castings and colour choices. In addition I will correct errors in the painting as I go ending up a little bit Obsessive/Compulsive but at least I can walk away and do something else afterwards, because I know the job has be done right! - "calm down Jon, step away from the figures!!!"

All the base colours added and stage one complete. Here the four elite figures in my Voltigeur base can be seen together on the stick with three figure variations and different colour combinations to provide variety for the eye

The final stage of getting all the base colours on to your figures should leave your models looking like the picture above. Having done all the large areas we are now doing the smaller detail areas such as small straps, lace, chords, musket slings, turn-backs, plumes, pompoms, brass/gold metalwork and water canteens.

Hopefully my pictures of the finished base coat figures will show you the colours I use for these little areas. Others that I noticed I hadn't highlighted include the raised gold buttons on the backs of the officers habite jackets that are found at the back on the waist line. I touch these in the Camo Black Brown as they will come up a treat when tipped with gold.

Note also that, unlike the British, the French didn't have a standard water canteen and so these figures carry three examples, the ghorde, the whicker framed bottle and the metal canteen, each requiring a different paint job. The four fusilier companies are represented with three groups of four fusilers having blue, orange and purple pompoms. I represent the first company with my drummer having a green pompom. The staff (officer and fanion bearer) have white pompoms and the elites including the pioneer either in grenadier red or voltigeur green/yellow. Note also that my elites carry distinctions peculiar to the 96e Ligne, hence the illustration at the top of the post as another reference to commonalities between regiments.

The volitigeurs of the 96e Ligne wore yellow cuff slashes as seen above, instead of the more standard white. Note that I haven't done all the piping, such as around the collars, some cuff slashes, turn-back and lapel piping. These will get done in the next stage as they can get in the way of the primary highlighting and it is simpler to add them later in the process. Likewise there are some small straps across the front of some of the fusiliers from which the water bottles are hung and are easier to apply later in the job.

So that is the base coat finished and now we can move on to the really fun stuff of shading up to a third coat to try and make these little chaps pop. However it is worth stressing that a good result relies on the foundations laid in the first stages, undercoat and base coat and attention to detail at this stage will reward you later.

The other aspect I would highlight here is that of colour selection. The predominantly blue coats of the French lends itself to a "cold" white, hence I have based my white areas on a grey. The British and Spanish in the red and brown coats lend themselves to a "warm" white and thus I would tend to base coat the white areas with a buff base coat.

You will note that the figures look dull in their dark colours. This is deliberate as these dark shades will underpin the more vibrant upper shades and provide the contrast in the shadowed areas. This technique is the same for painting 28mm figures and we are not relying on any black lining to delineate colours or areas of shadow.

Next up - Part Two and the first highlight colours

Portina Stream - terrain build tutorial

Back in October 2013 I put together some stream sections for my planned Vimeiro game using a very versatile material, roofing felt. I have had questions about these simple bits of terrain so thought I would run through the construction.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/game-terrain-esthetic-functional-often.html

The Portina, not significant in its effects, was significant in being a central feature and marking the front lines in the northern sector.

The battlefield of Talavera has quite a bit more water running over it than at Vimeiro and so I needed some more stream sections. This is part of a general project to get the terrain done for the southern sector which was started with the completion of the Pajar Vergara gambions done in conjunction with the Spanish artillery.

http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/spanish-artillery-and-supernumaries.htmlter

Later I will be adding to my small olive tree collection and I plan to do some more cloth roads to add to my current collection.

The banks constructed with the water area covered in dried PVA. The 2/4th GDW Regiment look on, awaiting their turn with the brush.

The Iberian peninsula is land covered in mighty rivers with many small tributaries and streams leading into them and so having plenty of these little bits of terrain is really useful.

As before, I cut lengths of roof felt and then added little off cuts along the edges fixing them with general purpose glue. I should say that I work with the smooth side of the felt rather than the gritty weather protected side.

The next stage was to paint a layer of PVA glue on the water section which makes that area smooth and slightly textured giving an impression of water.

Once dry I covered the banks in PVA and added the sand and grit for texture.

The new sections with older ones for comparison

The next stage was to take a jar of household water based emulsion in a suitable dark chocolate brown and paint the whole sections. In the UK I like to use the Craig & Rose 1829 Edinburgh range of chalky emulsion 100ml tester jars, clove brown. It really dries dark and washes out of the brush easy.

Once dry I then dry brushed the ground work with a light brown and cream shade of acrylic paint and painted the water area a dark green (citadel dark angels green - they probably have a new name for that colour now).

Once the green is dry I added a coat of gloss varnish to give my water a bit of shinny depth. I should add that if this was a wider water course I would shade the green lighter from the centre to the banks to create a shallows effect near the ground work.

Once the varnish was very dry, I then started to paint PVA along the banks and add two shades of static grass plus a few grass tufts of various shades to create an impression of reeds and rushes at the water edge.

Finished section with static grass and tufts giving a nice variation for the eye

The finished sections can be seen below on the cutting board. In 18mm these little sections represent a noticeable stream as pictured in the photo heading this post.

The really great thing about these roof felt streams is that they remain flexible and I am able to get them to conform with my rolling terrain mat and with little dressmaker pins suitably disguised with a piece of clump foliage pin them in place so they don't get moved around in the heat of battle and they secure the mat in the bottom of the valleys. The pins also make sure the sections of stream stay aligned and the clump foliage softens the joins.

Note the little bits of clump foliage front left, centre right, on the stream sections covering a pin that holds everything in place and takes the eye away from the joins

So that's the Portina done, just some roads and trees to come.

Next up, Talavera, the complete table build and the 2/4th Grand Duchy of Warsaw Infantry