"Painting 6mm Question" Topic

So a quick question on painting 6mm figures. I am trying this for the first time. I have a package of Baccus War of Spanish Succession troops that I'm painting as French troops.
The uniform color for them is grey with red pants. I'm having issues with the grey showing up really well. I did not prime them black, I went with grey so that the color would not be diminished but the grey I used, Valejo's Sky Grey, doesn't seem to stand out. How would you correct this? Would you go with a little bit more white so the uniform color would stand out or something different?

In 6mm I always go for strong contrasts. So I would paint the jacket medium gray then highlight with sky gray.

I'd agree with extra crispy but suggest a base coat of Neutral Grey, Medium Grey is rather warm to get a good contrast with Sky Grey as a highlight.

I have mostly used Light Grey as the top coat when I do French WSS in grey coats, that way it looks different to the darker greys used on some German units and the White on other French.

In 6mm I always go for strong contrasts. So I would paint the jacket medium gray then highlight with sky gray.

Or even sky gray highlighted with ivory (or white) if the overall effect you want is sky grey

The smaller the scale, the brighter the colours need to be

John

Try giving them a black wash then (after the wash is completely dry), drybrushing a highlight. In 6mm, a simple straight "color"line down the sleeves and across the upper shoulders/back works fine and is quick.

Baccus has a "How to paint 6mm figures" section using the WSS figures as an example

link

There is also a pinting guide for WSS Figures

link

WhatCrispy and the others said.

I prime white, base coat, and use a Future wash, quick highlight. IMO, the smaller the scale, the better such washes work. And they hide any number of sins.

Should have used black undercoat. Sounds counterintuitive but it really does work with the wee chaps…

Thanks for the suggestions. I will pick a strip of figures and give them a ink wash and pick another one and try the highlight and see how that goes. These are my practice troops before I jump fully into the scale. Next ones I will prime black and try that.

Yep. I agree. Prime in black!

Then use a lighter, brighter shade of your colour than you would use on a larger figure.

Simples….

*Cough* seeing this subject has been brought up, any chance of WW1 Russians and Austros from Baccus?

Almost any ideas of those above will work with 6mm BUT what you need is to find the one that works best (which in my book means easiest) for you. Experiment and see.

Personally I don't like either black or white undercoats – details are often difficult to see and that slows me down, a darkish grey suits me best. Having said that I've seen really great results from people who use both – horses for courses.

Can't stress the contrast aspect of colour choices too much. Yes, use lighter and brighter colours but only when you can get good contrasts as well. Using a dark red against a grey coat often works better than using a bright one and stops the trousers (or waistcoat) standing out more than they should.

I too use a lot of washes on all scales and rarely paint a 6mm figure without using at least one. A wash followed by a quick (and quite sketchy) highlight on the upper surfaces of the coat (and the belts if you want to be fussy) does make WSS figures 'pop'.

I did a lot of my 6mm ACW with black undercoat, drybrushed with white and then used diluted acrylic paints to " stain" the white. Worked pretty well.

Sometimes I have issues with seeing the detail with a black undercoat which is one reason I went with grey. The other is so the color I put on the figure stayed neutral.

@VicCina- yes, that is an issue with black undercoat, which is why I like to white drybrush over it. The details are picked out and using diluted paints (sort of a milky consistency) gives a nice transparency to the colours.