Hey folks!
Thanks for all the feedback, much appreciated!
So in this post I tried as best I could to answer all of the questions asked above. My apologies if I missed any!
Here's the completed unit along with a pseudo-tutorial of how I think to make the best use of the Contrast and Speedpaint colors depending on their strength vs. weakness (some being more opaque than others).
If you're still getting used to the Contrasts or have been using them for some amount of time, the most important principle to keep in mind is that they're transparencies.
Which means you're following a set of light and shadow rules depending on the strength or weakness of a particular color. Some Contrasts I use straight out of the bottle, others I will dilute with medium. And still others I will do two coats to darken a particular color.
The undercoat for both the metals and plastics here was an airbrushed gray coat followed by a heavily drybrushed white coat using artist's acrylic.
To start I used the Stormfiend and Nighthaunt Gloom Contrasts at full strength for the coats and trousers. These both give an amazing shading effect in just one pass/coat.
For the flesh, I used Army Painter Speedpaint Crusader Skin. This I diluted with some medium as I found it can make faces and hands look a bit dark at full strength.
Following this was one of the most important steps, doing all the areas of black on the models. For this I turned to Army Painter Speedpaint Gravelord Gray. This color is AMAZINGLY useful! For Civil War in particular, this color is a miracle for doing Union infantry.
Basically, just take this color and paint over every part of the Union solder that needs to be black: Cartridge box, waistbelt, haversack, bayonet scabbard, shoes or boots, forage cap brims, and any slouch or Hardee hats that are present.
After this initial coat of Gravelord Gray is dry, you'll notice that it doesn't actually produce a black color but rather a dusty sort of blackish gray. However the other thing it does is instantly outline every strap and piece of equipment with a dark line which beautifully separates the black from the blue of the coat.
The next thing you want to do is to go back and do a SECOND coat of Gravelord Gray over JUST the leather areas, (the cartridge box and waistbelt, the shoes, and the bayonet scabbard, as well as the cap brims.) This will make these areas closer to black and will distinguish them from the haversack which I leave the lighter grayish color. It's subtle but it does make a difference.
For the canteens, I used Army Painter Speedpaint Pallid Bone. This provides a nice, butterscotch/dirty tan color which is perfect since a huge number of federal issue canteens were covered in brown or tan jeancloth, it may have been one of the most common Union army canteen colors of the war if not the most common.
Following the equipment I do the muskets in two heavy coats of Citadel Agrax Earthshade. This produces a nice, rich, dark wooden color for the muskets and also instantly shades and outlines all of the barrel bands, lock plate, etc.
For the musket furnishings is one of the few times I actually use a traditional silver model paint. I then run a coat of Citadel Nuln Oil over the metal parts of the musket to dull them down slightly.
I also use a traditional paint to paint the brass cartridge box plates and waistbelt plates.
For the blanket rolls, I used Army Painter Speedpaint Ashen Gray. I use this at full strength and I did two coats. It provides a fabulous shading effect on the blankets. You could also use one of the brown Contrast paints for blankets as well since gray and brown pretty much covers 95% of federal issue blankets.
For the hair and facial hair of the soldiers I used various Contrasts and Speedpaints, nothing really specific, just picked what look like convincing hair colors.
And that was pretty much it. A full 20-man regiment painted in just a couple afternoons! Admittedly, the Contrast technique is meant for efficiency and speed, and the paintjobs do break down once you get up really close. But that's true of any paint job, even slower, more careful paint jobs with traditional paints. As long as you're reasonably neat when filling in the details, it works great for tabletop height and even for displaying whole units on the shelf. Not the most refined paint jobs perhaps, but for the massed effect on a tabletop the technique works wonderfully!
I've got Confederates on the painting desk next, will post a separate tutorial for those!
completes his initial Union force in 1:72nd scale.
