"Painting buff-faced British Napoleonics?" Topic

Most of my Napoleonic written data (books; plates etc) are packed away, hoping to move, but I have a copy of a page from and Ospery book on Wellington's generals. It shows "Daddy" Hill in the center, handing a flask to an infantry drummer from a buff-faced unit on the left; and a colonel-looking officer on the right, from the same or different buff-faced unit. I seem to remember comments in the original that the Colonel was "old school," continuing to wear his hair powdered and in a queue. He also has his bicorn worn right-left instead of fore and aft.

I want – eventually – to do 40-figure units of the 3/27th Inniskillings in Cole's IVth Division; and of the 48th – also to be used in the IVth Division under Cole. These illustrations may be for the 48th, but I'd appreciate any comments you who have this Osprey book can make.

What causes me grief is how to paint the units in 28mm. The drummer has a buff-painted cover on his backpack with a red disk and regimental number; buff pack straps! buff leather protection on his left leg to cushion the drum; and buff coat, faced red. I think I see a buff belt over his right shoulder, which probably carries a short sword. The casing of his drum appears also to be buff.

The Colonel also has buff facings, breeches, and sword belt.

How do you Napoleonic gamers paint buff-faced units to allow for the red and buff dominance? I will probably use Victrix plastics for these two units.

Also, in the Waterloo period, did the buff-faced units continue to have buff belting, etc? Years ago, I had a friend paint the 40th (served with the Inniskillings in Spain in the IVth Division, and with another Inniskilling battalion at Waterloo) for 1815, and the belts are white.

GdeP

I use cel vinyl tan highlighted with delta ceram coat trail tan for the buff and cel viny middle red and red for the red. I'm about to do a buff unit next, actually.

I just use Revell Beige, nice and simple

Ferg

If were doing units for the 7YW, we might make the belting look like light-brown leather – different from the collars and cuffs. Would that be possible for the Napoleonic period?

I was not aware of the Revell paints. The tins look like the Humbrol paints of years ago.

Any chance you can post pictures of hour buff uni when you complete it, Pictors?

GdeP

There is a chance but it will be a little bit, I've just started on a white faced unit now and since they are 36 man units it will probably be a while before I finish the buff unit.

If you look in our gallery here:

link

at the 2nd picture down on the left you can see some AWI guys with buff trousers if you are just looking for what colour my method produces.

I'd paint the leather items a different shade than the cloth, personally. I'd also use a pretty intense red (say, Vallejo Model Color Bermellon Red or GW Mephiston Red) to get it to stand out against the buff-brown color.

Ray is this a help?
link
or this?
link

IF I were painting them the Buff cloth items would be closer to a tan and the leather a straw color in other words the cloth more to the brown side while the leather more to the yellow.

Buff facings on uniforms came in different shades and some were noticeably darker than others; they could vary from a desert sand/brown to almost a very pale cream. The first report of the facings of the 3rd Foot ("The Buffs") in the late 17th Century was that they were "flesh colour".

I've heard different views on whether the belts were painted buff or whether they were allowed to remain in their natural colour – ie not whitened or pipeclayed ("buff" comes from "buffalo" – the hides traditionally used to make the belts).

Theoretically, buff-faced units had buff breeches/overalls as well, but whether they just went with white (or grey from 1811) to save time I'm not sure.

Thanks Reg and "super-max:"

The two links to the 27th and 40th grenadier companies at Waterloo show buff for the drummer of the 27th; and white for the 40th. I thought all drummers went to red through an 1812 regulation. ??? Also, sapper apron for the 27th is buff, for the 40th white! Now I have to do all those Stadden figure with buff beltins, and the drummer in white?

It looks like I'll have to learn a lot more about shading the figures to do the Vitrix Peninsular British with all that buff!

I will make it a point to vary the overalls of these troops, with just a sampling in buff! One of the Tradition magazines back in the day had a soldier of the 43rd in Spain with "concrete" colored overalls, buttons down the side (?). Floquil made the perfect paint in railroad colors – but the xylene solvent would really mess up the Victrix plastics! I like the varied greys, odd whites and even the browns sometimes seen in illustrations of the time.

GdeP

It was my understanding that the term buff leather came from method of cleaning the leather. That is to buff it with a wire brush.

You can always try using ink- it works great to add shading to buff. I'll have to get together with you when you move back here and go over the use of ink. It isn't like dipping, which is a final step. I ink at about the halfway point in painting a figure.

All these posting about your Naps has gotten me to paint my RHA for Spain. My even do more Portuguese.

AICUSV – I'm pretty sure it was derived from the "buff(alo) coats" of the ECW period.

Garde de Paris – bear in mind that regulations were often not followed to the letter (the Duke himself was not one to quibble over petty regs), so there were possibly still some musicians in "reverse colours" in 1813-15. I can vouch for the fact that in the AWI, some buff-faced British regiments in America wore white belts and small clothes (including the drummers who should have had red waistcoats and breeches).

It's about time for one of our member to interject "pink! Paint them pink!"

I noticed that the water flask of the Victrix plastic British drummer is notably smaller than that of the men, so I am painting them a natural wood color, inventing (imaginations style) a myth that the Colonel decided to have small flasks made for the young drummers to lighten their load!

Lot of room to invent!

GdeP

SuperMax you maybe correct –

Not sure about the Brits, but I know the US use to have different size canteens for different liquids. A small one was usually for spirited beverages. Just paint it pink and been done with it.

From: The War Times Journal:
"All – Regiments with buff facings also colored their cross belt buff by including red ochre in their pipe clay (pipe clay was used to color cross-belts white)."

Druzhina
Illustrations of Soldiers

"All – Regiments with buff facings also colored their cross belt buff by including red ochre in their pipe clay (pipe clay was used to color cross-belts white)."

So what about the straps for the backpack? Would they be buff or left white?

Were the straps for the backpacks pipe clayed? The natural colour is probably not white, it may be a pale grey ('buff' is also used as the term for the natural leather).
Turnbacks and breeches (when worn) were also buff.

centjours.mont-saint-jean shows buff straps for the backpacks for buff faced regiments.

See also the British Uniform Question thread.

Druzhina
Illustrations of Soldiers

Floquil made the perfect paint in railroad colors – but the xylene solvent would really mess up the Victrix plastics!

I'm not sure this is true. I've used Floquil spray figure primer on Perry plastics without ill effects. Maybe the spray primer doesn't have Xylene, or Victrix uses different plastic, but if I were you I'd test some out on a sprue to see what happens.

Or maybe you already have…

Hello, Mark!

No, I didn't have the courage to try to paint the plastics with xylene-based Floquil, cut I did use is on some of the Victrix metal Portuguese Cadadore figures.

I now have figures to do he 48th with buff facings, but they are not yet assembled.

GdeP