Old Glory | 02 Aug 2019 4:59 p.m. PST |
Just Googled "actual Confererate coats from the cival war." Was amazed at the amount of various shades of grey, light grey, tan, light tan, buff, butternut, browns, etc -- almost endless. Quite contrary to what I have heard some wargamers claim? Very interesting and colourful. Regards. Russ Dunaway |
Flashman14 | 02 Aug 2019 5:02 p.m. PST |
I do about half in the expected color, 25% in the second most common, then divide up the last quarter in the oddities. |
MSU John | 02 Aug 2019 5:14 p.m. PST |
I follow almost exactly the same mix as Flashman. If you see any collection of uniforms, there's a lot of variety. |
Old Glory | 02 Aug 2019 5:20 p.m. PST |
Even amongst the same colors? I noticed about 10 shades of various light buffs and tans alone ? |
pzivh43 | 02 Aug 2019 5:27 p.m. PST |
Absolutely, Old Glory. Even as late as WW2, the variations of uniform shades was amazing! Esp in the Red Army! |
Old Glory | 02 Aug 2019 5:35 p.m. PST |
While I was in the USMC our utilities (fatigues in the army I think) would be anywhere from very dark green (brand new) to -- so light they almost looked white from a distance (old and salty) The lighter the green, the more desirable. |
Extrabio1947 | 02 Aug 2019 6:14 p.m. PST |
link If you haven't bookmarked this site, you should go ahead and do so. |
Grimr460 | 02 Aug 2019 6:37 p.m. PST |
Old Glory, you have me cracking up. Things don't change. The new uniform order has pictures because of faded cammies. But to the original post, yes the colours are so drastic. What I did when painting on mass, I'd collect all of my greys/ browns, and assign figures to each colour, then paint them by which shade of grey I assigned them. |
ColCampbell | 02 Aug 2019 7:06 p.m. PST |
Here another link: link I've been painting on some 15mm Army of Tennessee Confederates and have been doing some units in uniforms fresh from the depot and others in "mix and match" uniforms. Jim |
DJCoaltrain | 02 Aug 2019 7:10 p.m. PST |
E-1947: Thanks for the link. |
rmaker | 02 Aug 2019 8:08 p.m. PST |
Russ, three factors are operating. 1. No real method for enforcing standards, either in design or production. 2. Mostly vegetable/mineral (as opposed to chemical) dyes with great variations in the formulation. 3. Varying wear leading to uneven fading. A fourth factor with museum samples – varying levels of conservation/degradation. |
79thPA | 02 Aug 2019 8:08 p.m. PST |
Ditto. Some great information there. |
Old Glory | 02 Aug 2019 8:49 p.m. PST |
Extrabio 1947, The Adolphus site was where I was at. Great site !! |
Ferd45231 | 03 Aug 2019 5:37 a.m. PST |
You might also take a look at the Civil War Forum. They have a section devoted jut to uniforms that might possibly fill in some cracks from the other two excellent sites. Plus you can make specific inquiries and probably get some responses. H |
ColCampbell | 03 Aug 2019 7:05 a.m. PST |
If you read Adolphus' descriptions of the way the cloth was woven, you'll see that many times the warp and weft weaves were of different materials (cotton and wool), of different numbers of threads, and of different colors. This resulted in different shades even if the cotton and wool were dyed the same. The color also depended on the source of the material. Jim |
donlowry | 03 Aug 2019 9:20 a.m. PST |
Another variable: Source. Confederates in Virginia got their uniforms from Richmond, and they were dark bluish gray. Confederates in the West got theirs mostly from Atlanta, and they were light gray. Trousers and hats would have been even more variable than the jackets. |
epturner | 03 Aug 2019 6:27 p.m. PST |
If anyone has a burning desire, I would also recommend contacting ACWBill here on TMP. I've known Bill for something close akin to 25 years and he is quite an expert on things Confederate, especially the material culture. I play Union, so we have (far too infrequent) "discussions"… usually tied to how execrable I roll…. Eric |