"Yellow?" Topic

I'm about to start on an ECW P&S regiment – Skippon's New Model army unit.

The base coat colour will be a subdued red – carmine?
The cuffs are yellow.

What shade of yellow would you recommend? I imagine it would *not* be a bright yellow. A Vallejo or Army Painter reference would be useful.

You could try Vallejo Light Yellow (70.949) or Vallejo Yellow Ochre (70.913 it may be a bit too brown), depending on the look you want. Flat Yellow (70.953) is a strong yellow, without the "chrome" look- perhaps for officers and musicians? It works well on my SYW figures- obviously yellow but not a golden or bright yellow (flash used so it looks brighter than it is):

Yellow appears to be quite problematic to create with C17th dyes. They tend to be browny yellows see link for natural dye colours and a rough guide to paint colours.

Of course that didn't stop me from using P3 Sulfuric yellow for Waller's dragoons, see link

Of course that may not be as helpful as it seems as I have a sneaky feeling that P3 paints have been changed/discontinued.

And whilst I realise that you asked for specific paint brand recommendations, you can always use the conversion table at Dakka Dakka

I'm assuming that you have picked yellow linings because Skippon's pre NMA RoF wore red lined yellow? Once newly modelled their recruiting ground supplied troops with "red lined blue as is the tradition". Nothing definitive, so either could be right (as could be white, red, or orange)

I use Vallejo Goldbrown, mixed with about 50% flat yellow if I want it brighter. Covers fairly well too.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll definitely try to mix something up that's yellowy-brown or yellowy-ochre.

Good to now that I've painted mine with Flat yellow. Back to the painting table.

Thanks for the link KYPD. Very interesting color selection of shades. I need to repaint every regiment!

S'nasty: are you happy with the look of your regiments? No? Repaint them. Yes? Great, leave them as they are.

We are beginning to have a greater idea of what the armies looked like, but we will never truly know. The best we can ever achieve is a pastiche. Do your figures look right and feel right to you? If they do, you've nailed it.

Yours etc
Someone who happily admits to being a bit of a 'button counter' when it comes to soldiers' clothing of the civil wars.

Are there period paintings to view of the uniforms in question? Or for yellows in particular? See what look was being produced from the dyes of the time.

Looks yellow enough to me

Would there be much difference between the "browny yellows" mentioned above and the tones of buff coats? I ask because many late 17th/early 18th references use "yellow" to describe clothing that is clearly replacing/mimicking buff coats of an earlier epoch (eg the "yellow" waistcoats of many heavy cavalry units in the WSS and similar).

Are there period paintings to view of the uniforms in question?

There are, Piper, but even they can't be totally relied on. The varnishes that were available at the time go yellow or brown, and they'll shift lighter colours- eg Prussia's SYW Itzenplitz Regiment (Nr 13). Portraits seem to show light straw facings, etc, but other plates and (I believe) one document show/say white. Even plates in period books can discolour. In the Delacre Handschrift (1756), which I was fortunate enough to be allowed to view, take notes and some photos, some paints used in the plates have discoloured or look to have broken down.

Three examples below show Baden-Baden, where the blue had shifted to a patchy purplish colour. The other shows EzH Karl (top), where the yellows have faded or gone brown (and the light blue is looking quite sick, too). The other plates with similar colours (it seemed to be a popular combo' for the Hungarian regiments in the early 1750's- details from the plate for Haller is shown) show a different yellow and the detail is clear.

BvW, my guess is that "yellow" was a common term for everything from off white, to buff, to egg yolks. Only those who could afford to be choosy worried about shades and tones. So a light, brownish/yellowish colour was just yellow.