"Differences in Red Facings in 15mm" Topic

We all know red is not red. Facings might be "red", poppy red, madder red, scarlet, crimson, carmine, or crab red--just to name a few. These are all distinct colors to me. Particularly at 28mm scale. But is that true at 15mm?

I ask because I am having my painter paint a large Seven Years War collection using the Eureka 18mm range. Given the contrast between red facings and dark blue, dark green, or off-white coats, do the differences between different reds become indistinct?

What are your thoughts?

At 15mm it's always better to go with a lighter color. From my experience scarlet doesn't look good at that scale it just looks like muddy red. Conversely a nice bright 'Christmas' red really pops off figures. This will work well for all blue or green coats. White and red have an interesting relationship. The 'dirtier' or darker the white the better red looks. Red on very white tends to look fake. Hope that helps.

Even in 28mm red is just red for me…

It could be worth pinking your red up a bit to make Austrian crab red, but I have to say that at normal scales and distances, for me, red is red is red. Or indeed green if you are colourblind.

At a distance, shaded tend to merge together. I once took my son to a reenactor encampment/battle at Mt Vernon, and it was interesting to see the Brits up close- the scarlet in the officers' coats was very apparent, and made it clear why they chose a different shade: it distinguished them immediately from the other ranks. At a distance, however, the color difference was much less discernible.

All my red facings – regardless of period or nationality – are Vallejo Scarlet!

I have used the table here for Austrian facing colours for my 15mm.

link

I don't know how much difference it makes but it gives me a sense of having made the effort!

It's all Vallejo and only a couple of the many different facing colours for the Austrians need a mix of colours. There has been extensive discussion too of Prussian "red" facing colours on TMP that you could search for.

Nine pound round – very keen observation of you. As one of those Brit officers you were looking at there, I think you are spot on.

The most commonly used red dye during the period for enlisted coats was madder red, made from the madder root. All Brit enlisted coats of the period were made with that dye.