Tuesday 18 September 2012

Painting Great War German Infantry - Part 2

You wait for three months, and then two blog posts come around at once! Fired with renewed enthusiasm following yesterday's post, I finished the highlighting on the German troops I've been painting for what seems like months (actually, less than three weeks). As I mentioned yesterday, there wasn't much to do on the highlighting front.


The main job was painting the German feldgrau uniform.

Feldgrau is a tricky colour to get just right. Experts posting on the internet (of whom there are many, but of which I am certainly not one) mention that there were different shades of feldgrau depending on the time of the war, the age of the cloth, the wear and tear of the uniform, the state of the German chemicals industry and so on. Most of the examples I have seen in museums and in re-enactment displays (like the one below from “Wrest Park at War” last month) are a green-grey in sunlight, but seem to be a darker grey when out of direct sunlight.


For a miniature painter, this sort of information which I am passing on is technically termed “unhelpful”! It doesn’t really get you anywhere in painting miniature feldgrau clad soldiers! Hopefully, though, it does get you to the point that you cannot really go wrong painting feldgrau on Great War German figures.

As mentioned yesterday, I use a 50/50 mix of Vallejo German Uniform and Vallejo German Grey as the base shade colour. let’s call that mixed colour “feldgrau” for convenience. I then highlighted that mixture with Vallejo White, about one part white to thee parts of the mixed feldgrau colour. I added some Windsor and Newton acrylic flow improver to keep the feldgrau paint workable and fluid, and then painted it on the highlighted areas. I then mixed some more feldgrau and added Vallejo White, this time a 50/50 mix of feldgrau and Vallejo White and used the resulting mix for the very fine highlights and creases in the soldiers’ uniforms. I was aiming for a look which emphasised the both the sharp folds in the cloth and also the raised, wider areas of cloth on the arms and legs of the uniform.



I also highlighted the helmets on the figures in a mix (again 50/50) of Vallejo German Grey and Vallejo Neutral Gray. When I started the Great War figures a few years ago I tended to dry brush the helmets, looking for a more weathered and scruffy look. This works reasonably well, but over the years I’ve preferred to paint on the helmet highlights. I often feel that when I’m dry-brushing, I’m losing a little control over the painting process. Painting the highlights on in a succession of shades and random patterns I feel like I’ve a little more control over my brush. I’ve also found that, looking from a distance, say about three or four feet from these particular figures in action on a wargames table, that the painted highlights look a lot nicer (to my, very subjective, gaze) than dry-brushed highlights. So the helmet highlights were painted on, losing a little on the randomness and gaining a little on the impressionistic side of the finished figure. Well, at least that’s what I thought – I would never blame anyone for dry brushing helmets, however!


The final items in this stage were to finish off a few things I’d not bothered with before. I washed the metal gasmask cases in a diluted wash of Vallejo Black. I painted the green sword knots on the bayonet with a mix of Vallejo Russian Green and Vallejo Yellow …


… and edged around the bases in Louvre black before photographing.

That was about it for highlighting. There’s one stage left, which is what I like to think of as super-detailing of the figures and the bases. It’s one of those (for me) strictly optional stage, but tends to be something I like to do with figures I’ve enjoyed painting – which, after a long delay of getting these figures finished, I have done here.

Hope you can join me next time for that, hopefully later this week.

29 comments:

  1. Yet again very nice tutorial!

    As to dry brushing about the only thing I dry brush these days is chainmail, fur and bases so I agree painting on the highlight always looks better.

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks Christopher. Dry-brushing is a very personal thing - there's sometimes I've done it and it looks great, and other times....not as great! Chainmail is one of the times when it's hard to do anything but dry-brushing, though.

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  2. cracking looking squad Sidney :)

    I do use dry-brushing or wet-brushing for some steps (armour, musket barrels, "apostles" and hats) on my figures, but painting 15mm figures to a good tabletop standard doesn't call for much highlighting anyway.

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    1. Thanks Tamsin, much appreciated. You're absolutely right - it's all about the right technique for each part of the figure. No one rule for all of the figure - painting, washing, weathering , dry-brushing all have their place. Thanks again!

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  3. Great follow-up post,Sidney and fantastic figures yet again ;) I must admit, I win an active dry brusher :D I prefer the organic finish; but as you say, it is all subjective. Looking forward to your next post.
    Regards,
    Monty

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    1. "I win an"? Bloody auto correct on my phone :) "I am still" (but you probably guessed that anyway :)

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    2. Hey Monty, thanks for the comment. And absolutely yes, carry on dry-brushing, Sir!! You're quite right, it is all very subjective and the most important thing is doing whatever you feel looks right for the figure and the place you're going to use them!

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  4. Stop it!!! I have ENOUGH to buy and paint! :D :D :D

    Inspirational as always.

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    1. Thanks Mike. You're far to busy doing Dux Britanniarum figures to be even allowed to look at the Great War yet, mate!

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  5. Replies
    1. Thanks Rodger! One more post to come, part 3, so stay tuned.

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  6. Excellent second part, I decided yesterday to l print this series in pdf and to store in my files

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  7. Taking notes as I read! Beautiful.....

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    1. Fran, you definitely don't need to take notes, but thanks anyway!!

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    1. Thanks Ray! Part 3 hopefully later this week. I added the super-detailing to the figures last night, so just the bases and varnishing to do now.

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  9. Ideal reference material and I will be coming back again and again for anything WW1.

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    1. Thanks Pat, you're always very welcome here, Sir, anytime!

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  10. Thanks for the info, Sid. What ratio do you use the Windsor and Newton acrylic flow improver? Chuck.

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    1. Thanks Shogun - quite right, I should have mentioned that. I use very little of the W&N acrylic flow improver. If you pour a very small amount into a dish (or small bowl, or palette recess), then just dip your brush (say size 2) in so its very wet, and that's about all you need to keep the paint mixture fluid until you've done the mid-lighting and highlighting. It took me a bit of practice, but the flow improver has really helped me getting the paint smoother and more fluid. Hope that helps, but let me know if you need more and I can take some pictures.

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  11. It was last December/January, Sid, that I purchased hundreds of dollars of GW WWI figures because of your sterling painting and posts. Yes, there was a predisposition for WWI skirmish, but it was your blog that finally pushed the start button. Painting the figures, however, has been another matter (like for many of us, I know). Your painting guides are just what I need to get off my arse and get to it. That and colder weather coming perhaps. So thanks again for your help. And please, don't start another period. (I have been able to eschew Dux Brittaniarum thus far...) Chuck

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    1. Chuck

      Thanks so much for your comment. I only wish I was on commission for figure purchases, but sadly I am not :) Seriously, I am really chuffed that you have found the painting guides useful. I have been a little nervous about posting both the British and German one as I don't see anything new, magical, silver-bullet-y about what I've done. It's all just using other people's ideas. But if it helps anyone at all, then mission accomplish.

      I hope you enjoy the wargames content here as well. I am going to try in the run up to Christmas adding some more wargaming-focused content as regards scenarios, ideas, supplementary add-ons and mini-campaigns which we have been trying out at the club and on some of my gaming friends generally. Most of that will be Great War focused (or, just perhaps, immediately post-War focused), although there will also be some stuff on Dux (although Rich and Nick have the latter very well covered at present).

      And don't worry, no new periods are on the horizon!!!

      Thanks again, Sidney

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  12. Thanks again for the excellent tutorials Sydney! Will certainly revisit those. Just enjoyed going through your latest posts. Hope you keep up with any period, truly inspirational. Cheers, Michael

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    1. Thanks Mike, great to see you posting again on your blog! Are you going to Crisis again this year? Hope to catch up there!

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    2. Yes, will be going to crisis. Look forward seeing you there...

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  13. Thanks for the great tutorial Sid. This one is saved for for future reference - when i get around to that M&B project. I agree re the drybrushing, I only ever use it for chainmail, or for 'fluffy' surfaces, like a sheepskin saddle cover or a animal pelt cloak. Also, I hope you don't mind but i've stolen your basing style. After seeing your Dux Brit troops at Triples, I ordered a load of goodies from Ian at Warbases and have set about converting all of the figures i use for TFL games. The hex bases really help the big men stand out on the table, and look very cool as well.
    Thanks again for the tutorial.
    Cheers,
    Ben

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