| Marcel1809 | 16 Aug 2014 2:56 a.m. PST |
Dear friends of TMP, looking at the great Perry models of the French pontoon train made me realize that I have no idea of how the actual pontoons were painted, a quick look through my reference books did not give any results. Anyone out here who has more info on the subject? |
| Onomarchos | 16 Aug 2014 4:03 a.m. PST |
The Histoire and Collections book "Wagram, The Apogee of the Empire" shows the outside of the boats painted arty green. The insides are nature wood. Mark |
| langobard | 16 Aug 2014 4:06 a.m. PST |
For what its worth (and this is how I've painted mine) the old Osprey 'Artillery equiment of the Napoleonic wars' (MAA 96) shows French pontoons in the same green as the French artillery carriages. Hope this helps, but will certainly be interested to see if anyone else has anything more definitive! |
 deadhead  | 16 Aug 2014 4:08 a.m. PST |
They would certainly have had to have the exterior surface painted……..if only as designed for immersion in water! Logically then they'd use artillery green….depending of course on what that really looked like! |
| EagleSixFive | 16 Aug 2014 4:12 a.m. PST |
Olive, same as French artillery and wagon equipment. |
| von Winterfeldt | 16 Aug 2014 4:48 a.m. PST |
It would depend on the pontoon itself, there existed several different models, one in case I remember correctly was sheeted in copper or other metal |
| Marcel1809 | 16 Aug 2014 6:31 a.m. PST |
Thank you guys,
Langbard, I actually have the same MAA but did not think of checking it as I thought it would only have the artillery in it, so you see never assume anything before checking.
Von Winterfeldt the model looks metal sheeted, so a greenish/weathered copper maybe. |
| Brechtel198 | 16 Aug 2014 7:29 a.m. PST |
The French pontonnier arm was part of the artillery, so it should be included in a volume on artillery of the period. They wore the basic artillery uniform with different distinctions and were commanded by artillerymen, such as Eble in Russia in 1812. B |
| vtsaogames | 16 Aug 2014 8:59 a.m. PST |
The French made artillery green by mixing black and yellow. I find doing the same gets the color seen in books. |
| von Winterfeldt | 16 Aug 2014 10:42 a.m. PST |
I don't know how those so called petite pontoons acrually looked like in the fied and be under the wear and tear of weather, I don't know of any contemporary picure source which would be quite interesting. |
| 4th Cuirassier | 16 Aug 2014 3:42 p.m. PST |
Black in these era was actually lampblack, a very dark brown, so mixing it with yellow would indeed produce green. IIRC the French artillery colour of this era would have been serviceable as a camouflage colour 100 years later. |
