"Union blue go for realism or looks" Topic

So I've always painted my union coats very dark blue, in all scales, and the sources so they to be dark navy blue to dark indigo on color.

I've I've looked at a lot of 28mm, and alot of people go for a lighter blue, they still look like union soldiers, but they lighter blue, is more artisicaly nice, it's easyer to bring out the folds in the cloth, to shade and highlight ect.

While doing 10mm, there is no problem I'll go for the dark blue evey time, but I'm planing on painting a few 28mm to, and I'm thinking about going a few shades lighter, to really get to show of they quality of the paint job.

The cloth faded, too. I think if you go with a mix of shades of blue, Some light (been in the field awhile), some medium, some dark (newly issued), they'll look great.

I like lighter highlights, but its not "accurate" I suppose. All very dark blue in 28mm gets a bit bland I reckon.
jpattern2 is probablly spot on for my own sense of "look"

There were lighter shades of blue used other than just a dark Navy Blue. Different manufacturers and different dye lots. I don't have an example, but do some searches for actual uniforms and even reproductions that are based on genuine clothing. I'm talking about quality manufacturers like C.J. Daley.

I don`t think the blue faded but picked up dust so appeared lighter

Here is a link to a blog entry on the "color" of Union sack coats:

link

He has additional entries on painting 28mm Union and Confederate figures.

If look down on people from a second story window they lack much of their color definition and look… pretty boring. Painting Miniatures is more about suggesting reality than reality itself. I wouldn't worry about being too literal.

One of the issues with clothing colors to keep in mind is that (once again) size matters. A coat that would fit a man, being dark blue, will still have plenty of folds and wrinkles to catch the light. It will appear lighter than a small patch of that same fabric. And the same color, painted on a 6mm figure, might just as well be black.

So when painting one should lighten things up a tone to account for how the finished product will look. Not how well your 6mm miniature, when captured using a high-quality digital camera, will match the color plate in some book, with your figure 6" tall on your monitor.

Or … what JSchutt said.

I painted my 10mm ACW Union GW Royal Blue which is a close match. They very much look the part. I actually don't like straying from the actual color based on size. Mostly it does not matter in the least. At the end of the day, you are looking at a group of small scale soldiers as a unit, from 3-4 feet away and the details are usually lost at that distance anyway.