"Prussian Remorse" Topic

Made a mistake and looking for some advice, I cant be the first one.

I'm painting a small brigade of prussians, to come in at the end of waterloo and 'save the day'. 2 infantry and one Landwehr battalion, so just a small 'army', to match the small dinning table.

My French are Dark Prussian blue with dark tone shade, so pretty dark, and in photos of uniforms the french uniform is almost black. So I didnt want to go even darker for prussians, after a few test figures I've painted the first battalion Caldor blue(sort of space marine) and based them, they look ok. I didnt enjoy painting them, their heads don't fit the bodies properly and the chin straps look rubbish, but they'll do for the table, not my greatest job.

However I was looking at the black powder book and saw some great examples of prussians, much better than mine. In a dark blackie blue. With Landwehr in a similar blue to the one I used. Even though they are practically black they look cool and very prussian.

So my question is, do I paint the other 2 battalions the same blue and not fuss over it.
Do I paint the other 2 battalion blackie blue and have 1 odd looking one?(Any historical justification for brighter blue uniform?)
Is there any way to fix the already based figures, Ie repaint the bodies without it being a total disaster? I can Imagine I'll make a total mess of it and end up smashing the bases and using detol on the lot, which frankly I cant be bothered to do.

Any advice for wrong colour remorse ?

just paint them dark blue

otherwise look at

TMP link

I think I read that post before I started to paint them. You mentioned that Prussians are slightly lighter than French, which is one of the things that steered me towards the light blue. Its just the really really dark blue from black powder looked very cool and Prussian.

Will Dark Prussian Blue french v's Mid Blue Prussians look right ? I suppose at the end of the day its playing toy soldiers so who cares, but I want it to be mostly right.

Use the Caldor blue on all your Prussians then give the blue areas a once over with a thin smear layer of Winsor & Newton indigo artist's oil straight from the tube. Then seal with a coat of Finish Floor polish. Leave to set for 2 to 3 days. Black wash. Leave overnight and overcoat with a matt spray.

Good luck.

Even today, uniforms…aren't. Back then with plant-based dyes they weren't even close.

Just paint the following units however you choose. If the difference bothers you that much, paint a new unit and sell the old ones off "to encourage the others!"

I do have some Army painter Blue Wash, maybe that would darken things – though it might make all the white belts blue as well if I'm not very careful!

I'd try a dark blue/black wash, and just assume a little touch-up on the belting was part of the process. Question isn't what blue you can justify historically--that range is very broad--but what you're satisfied with as apposed to what's going to continue to bother you.

There are enough frustrations in life. If the toy soldiers add to yours, they're a problem which can be fixed.

"Is it Grouchy blue, or Prussian black?"
"Never mind, never mind, It's the Prussians….But as far as you and I and the army are concerned, they are on the moon!"

Some of my Prussians.

Liquitex Prussian Blue and a 50/50 high light of Prussian Blue and medium blue.

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It isn't just a matter of darkness. I painted my French Royal Blue and Prussians a blue that was about the same shade but had more grey in it. The only color I totally botched was my Ottoman Nizam-el-Jedid, which should have been dark blue but 'they faded a lot on campaign'. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

"Is it Grouchy blue, or Prussian black?"
Is this a real quote, or have people just woven it into the story? If it's true, then it kinda says it all doesn't it? Whatever the real colour the impression was blue vs black.
@wrgmr1 yes I think that's the sort of colour I should have gone for, instead of smurf.

I stuck with the simple Prussian Blue, seems evey color plate I ever saw did same thing,so good enough for me.

"Prussian Black etc"……It is an adapted quote……… from Rod Steiger in the 1970 film.

I have a few Landwehr in black

The Waterloo movie is just a movie, not a guide to painting uniforms.

In reality, there was no difference between Prussian blue and French blue or British light cavalry blue. Just take some Humbrol "French blue" (104 IIRC) and add a little black to it. Works for all early 1800's armies.

No need to get fancy. They were ALL using indigo dye and producing the same colour uniforms.

Ok thanks for the replies. Trying to repaint the already based figures isn't going to work out very well, so I'm sticking with the blue I have. If I do landwehr, I might do them slightly darker. There are plenty of photos on tinternet with even bluer prussians than mine so I am perhaps over thinking it.

Weren't the uniforms worn by the Prussians Prussian blue in colour, hence the name? Is that not the colour Prussian uniforms should be?

You would think wouldn't you! But this is Napoleonics so no.
The prussian blue from Vallejo is actually a fairly light blue. Dark Prussian Blue is about right for french, thats what I've used anyway. I'm sure it would do for Prussians too but I wanted mine to be differnet from the french so I went lighter, should have gone darker.

Different paint manufacturers have a different definition of prussian blue. A bit like painting you wall Soft mist, or Morning Bliss who knows what colour that would be?

There is a picture on here somewhere of a french uniform and a prussian uniform, and in that specific example the Prussian one is lighter, which is what made me go lighter, but I think for artistic purposes ( it would have looked cooler) to have gone really dark almost black.