"Toughest and easiest WW II Infantry forces to paint" Topic

Regardless of size, whether it is 10mm, 15mm, 20mm,28mm or bigger (I assume painting Waffen SS infantry in 6mm is just not done) there are certain WW II forces/units that are difficult to capture panting and others that are just a breeze. Of course unlike say Napoleonics we WW II war gamers do not have to be concerned with button hole lace but their are some specifics you need to pay attention to get correct.

For me so far the most difficult has been painting splinter camouflage on Wehrmacht Germans. I've not attempted some of the more complex Waffen SS patterns yet. Americans are not difficult per se but have so many different colors for the kit that doing US Infantry is far from simple. British desert kit for North Africa have probably been the easiest that I have tackled so far.

I have it on good authority that basic Soviet Infantry and Japanese Infantry are some of the easiest uniforms to paint for WW II.

So what is your take most difficult/complex to easiest infantry uniforms to paint for WW II. There are no wrong answers here.

I did not extend this to armor because come on the most difficult are the late war German camouflage tank schemes. US tanks are perhaps the easiest to paint.

American infantry = a can of olive drab spray paint.

Russians US easiest, German SS hardest, everyone else is about the same. All WW2 is pretty easy.

US are easier than Russians because usually you have to paint a lot more the latter.

Pea dot camo is the hardest to paint for ss

I like playing WW2 but painting it. Yuck. Frankly everything after 1900 is just a freakin' chore to paint. No plumes, no lace, no color.

British Infantry seem to be the easiest to paint in my personal experience. That could be due to having handled quite a bit of British kit though.

I've been painting British infantry for many decades so I can do it without even thinking about it.

Anyone who wears high boots (like Russians) are a bit of a pain as you have lots and lots of boots to paint.

I actually find US pretty hard as there is so much colour variation. Not quite as bad as irregular troops, but almost.

Camo is camo, I don't sweat the details, just blob it on and as long as the impression is ok from 2 feet, it is fine.

Yes I have done camo in 6mm, but just blobbed on.

As a German player, any nation that doesn't have camouflage is easy. :)

German vehicle camouflage are fun to paint but definitely take more time and effort to do.

I don't know about that 'no button hole lace' idea – the Germans did have arm-of-service braid on all sorts of places on the 'plain' feldgrau uniform – you know, the pink/yellow/white/blue etc. piping in hats, collars, shoulder straps. Not something you see in Hollywood props department uniforms.

I've actually made painting my 28 mm American Infantry harder as I am applying tiny 1st Infantry Division decals to the shoulders along with rank chevrons. It will be worth it in the long run but man have I added some work to the project.

bsrlee you make a good point about the German arm-of-service braid and all the piping for hats and collars. Fortunately most of my Germans are either late war in smocks so much of that is covered up or it is Afrika Korps, which, yes I've been going back to those older figures and sprucing them up to pick out those details. The Afrika Korps were the first 28 mm WW II figures I painted.

British infantry are the easiest is my opinion.

It's a tie for me for easiest between the Soviets and the British. Then the Japanese, and then the US. GI uniforms have different colors for the pants and jacket for a good part of the war so that makes them a bit more work. Germans both with and without camo are the most difficult.

Italians are usually easiest for me; because I'm motivated ; which is usually the greatest obstacle!

The French are easiest. You only paint the back half because they are always retreating.

Troops with little gear. This would include the forces fighting in the desert in 1940-42. This is the easiest.

The hardest is troops in camo.

I used to find German pea dot simple to do or any other type of camo which was similar. I just got a stiff toothbrush, spread some paint out on a pallete and then stipple it onto the base coat of sand or green. After that I would apply the next colour and so on.

In reality, it was only slightly longer doing German SS than Russians or Americans.

"The French are easiest. You only paint the back half because they are always retreating."

And the award for most insulting and ignorant statement of the week goes to…

Early war Russians are easy, late war Russians have the shoulderboards so the difficulty goes up. Cossacks are another level.

Easiest? Soviet Naval infantry, to misquote the Rolling Stones "Paint it all Black", dab faces and hands in flesh, if you are feeling a bit bored, a dry brush in dark grey or dark blue, and maybe mix in a few regular Russian army items/coloured items as well to create a rag tag look, pick out the weapons in dark wood and gunmetal and you are done.

I find that the most difficult to paint are the early war Czechoslovakian uniforms. The uniforms before the Nazi takeover. I can find pictures of them but have no idea what actual paint to use.

I think the easiest are the Russians in winter cloaks, with rifles wrapped in white.