"Black Brunswickers" Topic

Hullo,

Foolishly I have have chosen Brunswick as my first foray into Napoleonics lol! Would anyone be willing to share their secrets for painting black uniforms?

Overall I use black and highlight with black/gray then a reapply black in recess when needed.

Great choice of nationality to start with, much easier than Austrians!

So, painting black: Undercoat black, kind of a given I guess, but then grab some Vallejo German Grey (995) and pretty much put that all over the model except in the darkest recesses. Once that is dry, add a small amount (1 drop to 3 German Grey) of Vallejo Grey Blue (943) and either dry brush that over the uniform, or carefully apply it as a line highlight to the top surface areas. If you find this gets the uniform too bright, just slap on some GW Nuln Oil and it should blend it all in and drag that colour back down.

Hopefully this is a nice fast way to get a good number of dudes done quickly. Take care and I hope you share some pictures when you're done :)

Does anyone else use a satin varnish on the leatherwork eg sling, crossbelts and ammo pouch to provide some contrast?

Also, take look at Vallejo 862. "Black Grey"……speaks for itself. Hold bottle next to Negro 950 and see how close they are, yet different enough

I tried it on a couple of figures. Not sure how authentic for leather, but gloss would have been overdoing it I do know.

What scale are you working in and what figures? I have never tried the Perry Brunswickers but am slightly concerned that they were amongst their earliest releases and may have been left behind by scale creep.

It may be a bit of overkill, but you may want to look at some of the paint sets specifically made for black uniforms, such as the one offered by AK Interactive.

link

FWIW I painted my Brunswickers in Ceramcoat "charcoal" uniforms and used black on the crossbelts, shoes, shakos….Looks OK I think.

A bluer black vs a browner black is how I approach the leatherwork.

Like Deadhead I use satin varnish to distinguish a black crossbelt on a black jacket. Also do that for black harness on a black horse.

I use a hobby paint, Apple Barrel brand, called "pavement", which is a nice black gray for the base coat. I then hand paint the shadows with a thinned, but wet true black. Once dry I then hit the highlights with a medium to medium dark gray. And for last I hit the prominent highlights with a slightly lighter gray.

I tried doing a black wash over the black gray base coat, but it just turned the figure an awful looking dead black color with no features or depth which is why for black uniforms I hand paint the shadows.

Terry

I go with what Terry37 said. The Black then using a dark/ charcoal grey to highlight.

If you look at your black trouser cuffs where they meet your black shoes, you will find your black shoes aren't black at all by comparison, they're a medium grey.

I don't know if this is an artefact of the sheen and light wavelengths or what, but it's very noticeable.

Interesting point. I'd say my black trousers and shoes are both equally black, the difference is that the shoes are shiny.

You have a very attentive wife, or batman, then………..

I have polish in every colour from Black through Dark Brown, Oxblood, Tan, Colourless etc but have not the slightest idea how to apply such, or buff up.

'er indoors has such a talent, which never ceases to impress

Sadly I polish them myself. 'Er indoors does the ironing. But perhaps this is straying too far away from the subject of the thread…

Thank you very much for the tips, I do have some vallejo heavy charcoal that may work for highlights for the uniform. For leather would it just be a case of applying satin varnish to distinguish it from the cloth, or maybe black/blue highlight, rather than grey?

Deadhead, yes i am using Perry minis. I didn't know there was a risk of scale creep with Perry, I was under the impression that all their minis were the same scale.

I used similar paints to Bob Spruster above. Charcoal for anything wool. Black for anything not wool and not shiny. Sequin Black for anything black AND shiny.