| 4th Cuirassier | 20 Nov 2020 6:00 a.m. PST |
Does anyone know what colour the French ambulances were painted? I can't find a good source on the web although I note most people paint them natural wood. |
Frederick  | 20 Nov 2020 6:45 a.m. PST |
I think natural wood as well – have seen this is some paintings but not sure if they were contemporary |
 Artilleryman | 20 Nov 2020 7:13 a.m. PST |
Most illustrations seem to show them in a cream or light buff colour. I think it unlikely that they would be left just as natural wood and would probably have been painted or prepared in some way for protection. Stained wood wood be most likely which is what I attempt. As an alternative, some of the fancy Guard ambulances were painted artillery green. |
 deadhead | 20 Nov 2020 9:39 a.m. PST |
Those fancy green Guard Ambulances (and they do make great models) are Second Empire alas. Ochre is right I think. Certainly seems universally accepted now |
| 4th Cuirassier | 20 Nov 2020 10:55 a.m. PST |
Thanks all. Ochre it is then. Maybe paint the insides red so the blood doesn't show… |
| SHaT1984 | 20 Nov 2020 1:19 p.m. PST |
I vote wood wood wood. ;-)
Messy… I doubt anyone 'actually' dismembered wasn't the kind of patient they carried… |
| deadhead | 21 Nov 2020 3:04 a.m. PST |
Wood quickly turns grey and then rots in the rain (in NW Europe anyway). It has to be stained, varnished or painted to survive any length of time. Paint is cheap and easily reapplied |
| grecian1959 | 21 Nov 2020 3:23 a.m. PST |
Deadhead would the ochre be along the lines of Austrian Artillery colours ? |
| 4th Cuirassier | 21 Nov 2020 5:09 a.m. PST |
Fascinating fact: Austrian ochre is still seen all over Austria today, and the colour is called "Theresiengelb" – "Therese yellow" – after the empress whose favourite colour it was. Eg: link It's the darker of the two shades evident. No idea how it differed from French Ambulance Ochre, but personally, I always fiddle with colours a bit anyway so my tabletop doesn't look all VGA. I use Citadel Bubonic Brown
link
for Austrian ordnance so I will start from that. |
| deadhead | 21 Nov 2020 8:36 a.m. PST |
I think Bubonic Brown is ideal and there are equivalents in Vallejo as any comparison chart will show. It may have changed its name now But I still have an old BB bottle. link A wash with Agrax Earthshade to bring out the detail and then drybrush over with the original BB. That is actually a very interesting fact about Austrian Ochre! Always wondered why their guns were painted in such a distinctive colour |
| von Winterfeldt | 21 Nov 2020 10:28 a.m. PST |
Does anybody know a contemporary image of a service de santé ambulance? |
| grenadier corporal | 22 Nov 2020 8:57 a.m. PST |
We here in Austria call this special kind of dark yellow "kaisergelb" /emperor yellow or "Schönbrunner yellow" (after the palace).
"Theresiengelb" is completely new to me. |
| Cardinal Ximenez | 22 Nov 2020 9:25 p.m. PST |
|
takes the plunge.
