"British 1914 Puttee Colours?" Topic

I am painting up some 1/72 1914 British and I am unsure whether the puttees should be the same colour as the uniform. I see that many people paint them in a slightly different shade of khaki and I wonder if that's just for a bit of contrast or whether the puttees were meant to be a different colour.

They are made of completely different material to the uniform, so even if they may have been intended to be an identical colour, it would be very hard to match in practice.

I don't have any WW1 puttees, but my WW2 and 1970s puttees are both made of identical dark greenish khaki wool.

Tagging on to what Martin said, you also have to consider that millions of the things were manufactured, with all the variance that entails. You can still find unissued examples of WWI puttees and the color differences are noticeable. I'm sure there was more uniformity with the pre-1914 examples, but they range from a very green khaki to grey-green and even sandy brown.

The bigger issue, however, is that puttees were washed fairly regularly. This would account for the most notable differences. If you look at domestic studio photos and RPPCs of British servicemen, the puttees are generally a close match. Studio photos from France, as well as pictures taken during field exercises in the UK, show a much greater contrast.

i agree that puttees would be a different colour than the uniform and as they were washed often they would fade. all the examples ive seen are of a lighter shade. i've seen the uniforms in various shades as again with wear they fade to lighter shades and with the dispersal of manufacture shading could be very dramatic in the same unit and with replacements coming in.

" many people paint them in a slightly different shade of khaki and I wonder if that's just for a bit of contrast "

That's what I do… ;-)

Pretty sure they would usually be 'Dust' / 'Mud' colour!