"ACW Union Pictures" Topic

Hi all!

I've just gotten around to uploading some photos:

link

Constructive criticism on the painting would be appreciated :)

Thanks, Ryan

Very nice. based upon the images, I'd say you have the coat and trouser colour pretty darned good.

My one caution would be with the blankets. Red blankets were very much a unit/place/time thing, and especially early war. Same with other colours. By and large, sticking to gray or brown is a good thing. Two other options are available. White canvas, an off-white, actually, to represent the shelter half outside the blanket, or more commonly, gloss or satin black, to represent the blanket rolled inside of the rubber blanket to keep it dry. Soldiers quickly learned to put the rubber blanket outside, and keep the wool one dry, rather than risk ending up with an extra 20 or so pounds of ater-logged blanket if it rained.. :)

But yeah, I think those are VERY nice minis. Please post more when you can!

Nice job!.

Tom

Nice! I might add one more shade of highlighting, but it's a matter of taste.

You can sign up on the Steve Dean forum and post your links on their boards. They have one for constructive criticism and that board is totally nice to people of whatever level, and there are a load of good painters on it.

Look good! I like the color variation between the jacket and pants. Some painters have them to much alike.

My one caution would be with the blankets. Red blankets were very much a unit/place/time thing, and especially early war. Same with other colours.

Myself, I have gotten very flexible with things like blanket colors. I simply make the assumption that units have been on campaign for awhile and they will liberate a nice, warm blanket, regardless of color, if they just happen to run across one.

So my regiments will have a fair mixture of blanket colors whether Union or CSA. I suspect the uniformity of a unit was less and less, the longer soldiers were soldiers at war.

And yet, the most uniform a regiment ever appeared was when it stepped off on campaign. Every unit had the opportunity to replace items that were worn with regulation items prior to leaving on campaign. The whole notion of the ragged campaign look is quite a bit over done, in my book.

They are, of course, your units, and you can certainly paint them as you wish.

Look pretty good, some good basing work on the stands will really be the icing for a great look!

Very nice- by an odd coincidence, I was painting some ACW Perrys in Union colours last night

I do the eyes with black/white then pupil, but then again that is probably just my OCD

I really like your uniform colours – as noted, it is easy to get the trousers wrong, and you a have done a great job – as well, the officer figure is great

As to blankets, for the Union I mostly paint them black (gutta-percha) or grey, and use more varied colours for the Rebs – but, as noted, there was lots of variability, and I know of at least two Union regiments who had a regiment-widfe issue of red blankets

Very nice indeed. I have a few Foundry ACW stuff to paint up somewhere……this has given me a bit of an urge!

hussarbob1746.webs.com

Just a few comments…

Overall a nice job. Not a bad color choice for the coats. Some would use a dark, dark blue, as I have for some of my figures. Colors varied, so there is no right answer. All the acouterments seem to be the right colors – blankets have already been mentioned.

Here are my nitpicks:

Officer's infantry scabbard would black leather with brass. It looks like you did a steel/brass combo, which is a officer's cavalry sabre. Here's a good picture of an officer's infantry sabre. link

Oh, and another link that shows the whole gamut of Union edged weapons: fcsutler.com/fcswordsabers.asp

You can go with a darker, greener shade for the pants if you want. They seem to have that coloration with reconstructed pants made with authentic dyes.

I can't tell if the canteens are modeled to be wooden or metal, but if metal, they were often covered with wool (gray, brown or blue wool), and if wooden, were often painted (various colors).

You may like your figures to have a semi-gloss look but I prefer a matte finish, and use Testor's Dullcoat to achieve same.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions folks! I'll certainly be taking them on board! :)

One question though, and it's a question that may well have been raised and discussed:
Why a green shade of blue for Union trouser (pants)?? I've always been under the impression that 'light' blue was the given colour for their trousers. Why is there now this perceived (at least by me) shift in suggesting that they were a green-blue?

Help for an amateur, please!? :)

Brummie … I'm a novice at gaming the ACW myself, but in answer to your question about the pants, it has to do with the dyes in use back then.

Yes, the pants are light blue to start. But through repeated washing and wearing and exposure they started to fade. They did not simply fade to an even lighter blue, but to a bluish green.

Somewhere there is a long description of the dyes used, how the clothes faded, and why the hue turned from light blue to a greenish blue. But I can't find it.

So there's nothing wrong with painting union pants that light blue. Depending on how long you want your minis to have been "on campaign" they can have a greenish tint if you want.

BTW … what specific paints did you use for the coats and pants?

Hi Brummie i'm in Solihull and i'm doing Perry's as well..

A big take off for Perry I think???/

Would a faded turquoise green be close, or is that going too green? Some painters are good at mixing for effect , but many need a more stock bottle!

I agree that they'd look better with a matte varnish or spray. And I like your light blue.

I don't think I would actually paint them a shade of green. I would paint them the shade of light blue that works as new pants, and then either (a) try a subtle wash of green, or (b) apply a subtle drybrush of some aqua-green color.

And I never mix paints. I'll never be able to duplicate the color ever again. So it's straight from the bottle for me.

I would probably give GW Hawk Turquoise a subtle drybrush try. Or Vallejo Model Color Field Blue M58/70964, which is more of a grey than a green hue when you look at a swatch online, but might have the same effect without being too greenish on a 28mm model.

Also, like Don, I always use a matt varnish. Several light sprayed coats. Protects the paint job, eliminates any shine caused by washes and inks. If there is something that is supposed to shine, then I go back over that with the proper paint.

Thanks for the responses!

SeattleGamer: (Using Vallejo Game Colour)
For the coats I used Dark Prussian Blue, highlighted with Prussian Blue. For the trousers I used a base coat of Grey Blue, highlighted with Pastel Blue, and then everything except the skin was given a wash of GW Devlan Mud.

The varnish is actually Vallejo Matte varnish, Nothing shiny at all! lol

And I never mix paints. I'll never be able to duplicate the color ever again. So it's straight from the bottle for me.

Actually, that is a major attraction of mixing paints. Each unit has a unique shade of color. In real life, nothing is an exact match.

Actually, that is a major attraction of mixing paints. Each unit has a unique shade of color. In real life, nothing is an exact match.

Well, that may be true, but I'd prefer to be able to duplicate success, instead of getting it "just" right for one batch, and never getting that same look again.

Plus … I'm color blind. So once I start mixing paints, there's no telling what I end up with.

So I go for straight out of the pot. I can drybrush a different color to get whatever shading/effect I might need, but mixing paints is just not in my future.