"Painting Napoleonic French Artillery" Topic

I'll shortly be panting a battery of Foundry French Line artillery, and have no previous form in this area.

Can anyone suggest a link to a blog or website on assembling and painting Napoleonic guns?

Also, does any 28mm manufacturer sell the sort of pariphinalia you'd see lying around a battery position (spare rammers, buckets, cannon balls et al?).

Thanks, Simon

Stick the wheels and barrel onto the carriage. Paint the woodwork green*, the ironwork black and the barrel bronze.

*the 'correct' shade of green is open to debate however ;)

Acquire a copy of this link

My Osprey book artist has the carriage in a dark tone of pea green (or olive green).

The correct color is "olive green". Olive drab" works fine and is easily obtainable. Same color is used on all artillerie equipment.

Sash & Sabre includes a small metal sprue of including a bucket, spare rammer, and various tools with his packs of Napoleonic artillery. The guns themselves are very nice, although no detailed pictures on his site:
link

Steve

I've got several of the plates from that Osprey in another Osprey publication.

I'd love a few spare buckets, every gun must have has one or more on the ground. I did read on a blog that Eureka do them; I'm ideally hoping to find somewhere in the UK…

Was the black ironwork relatively glossy?

Simon

Here's some pics of a modern-day deminstration (I'm guessing that's either an 8- or a 12-pounder) at the Musee de l'Armee in Paris. Note the colours of:-

(a) the gun, especially the barrel
(b) the gunners' uniforms

link

This is a 6-pdr taken at Waterloo; as you can see, the carriage and barrel are not the same colours as the other gun (even allowing for the different weather/light conditions). This one was manufactured outside of France, which may explain the variations. Or it may not. Napoleonics can be like that.

picture

Thanks Supercilius. Presumably, though, the 6pdr must have been repainted quite a few times since its capture.

I was in Paris a week ago, wish that I'd gone to the Musee de l'Armee! Great looking display. Next time.

Thanks, Simon

Super Max -

I think that captured French gun is on display at Chelsea Barracks, London. It was repainted in British artillery colors.

Dear Dan
The French 12-pdrs at Chelsea Barracks are on British 18-pdr bracket carriages.

Remember the French Artillery Green was 100 parts yellow ochre and 1 part lamp black. There was a Japan varmish giving a browner shade. This was made up in the field or in garrison so there was considerable variation. It would be best described as olive drab.

The picture of the AnXI 6-pdr from Wikepedia from the Tower of London is upon a reproduction Gribeauval 4-pdr carriage constructed in the 1980s. It is not contemporary and the wrong carriage. This will be explored in the next issue of the Smoothbore Ordnance Journal.

The other picture is probably on the yellow ochre side and some may have been darker. It certainly could not be a brilliant green.

Please ignore the colour let alone the details in the colour plates of the Ospreys.
Stephen

Ah Summerfield, that is very timely, as I hwill be painting my artillery battery later this month.

Is there a picture or colour sample on the internet that would give me the correct colour? Or can you suggest an appropriate Vallejo colour?

Thanks Simon

Dear Simon
This is very difficult matching colours from the internet swatches. Green alas is the hardest colour to match as it does not have a particular absorbance band but absorbs across visible light. Also a high proportion of people are to some extent colour blind.

Looking at the vallejo colours. It seems to be between Vallejo 31 Camouflage Green and Vellejo 63 Desert Yellow. Alas I do not use these paints so have not seen their colour upon a gun. As you can see it is not really a green. I would have described it like the British Khaki Drab used on vehicles in the early part of WWII.

Also you have the scale effect to take into account. The smaller the figure normally the lighter the colour required to get the effect.

You can see my 1:60 scale drawings Stephen Summerfield (March 2011) "Towards Tactical Mobility," Wargames Illustrated Issue 281. Scale drawings for most of the ordnance systems are available from me. Eventually these will be published in book form.

Stephen
link

Thanks very much Stephen, I'll secure the Vallejo colours and see what they look like, and get hold of your article. It is handy to know that it isn't a green, as one so often sees in illustrations! I'd already bought a can of green spray…

Cheers, Simon

Would the metalwork be a flat black, or slightly glossy, please?

Thanks, Simon

I can't help with the glossiness except to say that it usually disappears over distances. Look at cars 100 metres away – they don't look glossy.

On the black itself IIRC it would be a very dark brown. I have a feeling Stephen posted the formula some months ago. Lamp black isn't as black as carbon black, which is the blackening agent used in tyre rubber. The solvent was often turpentine or linseed oil which are also both brown in colour. There was also some other agent in there, a fixative I think, which is dark orange. So super dark brown with brown highlights gets you there, I think.

Dear John
That is a good summary. It is almost charcoal black with a hint of brown. It would be satin rather than gloss in colour.
Stephen

Splendid, thank you both very much. Black with a hint of brown sounds great.

I've just come across, in my loft, some very old gun carriages c. 1975 painted in what I recall to be Humbrol "French Artillery Green". How accurate was that as a colour, please, if you've seen it?

Cheers, Simon

Dear Simon
The Humbrol French Artillery Green was a reasonable match as I would not call it green but a khaki olive. Matching the colour is very difficult and then you have the scale colour problem.
Stephen

Super, thanks. That gives me something to compare to- I've been trying to find a spray paint/stain combo that is a reasonable match, as I have quite a lot of guns to do.

Simon

Dear Simon
You could try dark desert yellow (yellow ochre) and a dark green-brown wash. Although I have not tried this.
Stephen

The best Montana Gold match I found (having tried 4 or 5 different cans) is Reed G 1150. This is still slightly bright, but dulls down nicely with a coat of Army Painter Dark Tone or similar, and a coat of matt varnish. The final colour is quite close to the old Humbrol French Artillery Green I found in the loft.

Montana Gold Olive Green gives a similar effect, but slightly too green, I reckon.

Thanks for your help, Stephen. If anyone has a host of French guns and transport stuck in the painting queue, might be worth a try.

Simon

Dear Simon
I am pleased that I have been of assistance.
Stephen

Resurrecting the thread – same issue with 15mm scale. Preferred paints are coat d'arms and humbrol acrylics. Any colour suggestions appreciated.

Ta in advance

Mix your own, as the original color is yellow ochre mixed with black. I know the Howard Hues color for French Artillery is very close to the old humbrol enamel color.

Coat d'arms 503 field drab or 508 olive drab? Thoughts