"Brit Lt infantry belt - dodgy Osprey print - white or buff?" Topic

Hi guys,

I'm in the process of painting the British 71st Light Infantry for the Peninsular.

I'm looking at a plate C in Osprey's Wellington's Infantry 2. The printing quality of the plates in my copy is not great and I can't decide if the belts are shown as 'campaign grubby' white or actually light buff. I know they were made of buffalo leather, which was buff, so my question:

Did 71st Infantry have un-whitened belts and if so was this usual for light infantry? I can't find anything in my guides that says they were.

Thanks in advance.

James

If it was white and went into the field, it would soon look buff.
The only way it could stray pristine white is if it was made of patent leather.

go with the buff.

Units with buff facings often had buff leatherwork.

Buff faced Regts. usually had buff belts as well.

Indeed, the 71st had buff facings, and therefore had buff belting. My Osprey is clear and shows buff belting as does the Cent Jours site. link

Soldiers were supposed to keep up on the white coloring with pipeclay. It was even listed with the essentials they carried in their packs.
Somehow, pipeclay may have ended up being one of the first things "lost" while on campaign.

white

Buff and do not forget rifle slings too……even though white looks far better, it is wrong for 1815 anyway.

I use a camel color as a first coat then brush off white to give it a dirty look. Works pretty good. No white looks white after a few hours , never mind a few days, weeks, month in the field. I never use a pure white any longer for anything.

I know how folk feel about re-enactors….but I suspect these folk are not far off the truth. Buff faced units, Light or not, did not whiten their leather equipment straps. Indeed turnbacks were buff, but lace was white.

A recent trip to Williamsburg USA showed me that the result is not far off what we see here. Right off the production line is lighter, but a few weeks of exposure and this is right

An earlier posting;

TMP link