Painting the early 19th Century, three models at a time

Last week I completed my "must do" painting tasks for the big Battle of Salamanca game my friends and I are putting on at Adepticon in two months time (I think it might be eight weeks today!)

That means, obviously, I have free time to help some of the other guys out wrapping up their forces. That's the fun part of working as a team to achieve it all. We're all committed, we're all working hard, and we'll all put some great looking models on the table top.

So, onto the French that I'm painting up. I figured I'd start with a battalion of French Ligne (regular, old, line infantry for those not in the know). Now, I typically paint from a black undercoat. By "typically" I mean that 99.5% of the models I paint are primed black rather than any other color. It's just the way I paint. Anyway, I noticed that the French models are wearing a solid 50% white clothing/equipment, and I've been itching to really try out my pot of Vallejo Pale Wash (73202). After deciding to try it out as an experiment on some wonderful Warlord Games Russian Grenadiers I have (waiting for me to launch into that project this summer), I realized this would definitely be the way for me to go. You can see the test in the photo above, and yes, they are the pink collars and cuffs of the Kiev Grenadier regiment. Quite nice aren't they.

So, simply put, the method is as follows:

• Prime models with white spray (to give you an indication of how infrequently I use white spray, I think my can might be from 2007)
• Wash the areas that will be white with the Vallejo Pale Wash
• Highlight white areas with white paint (I'm using Vallejo Dead White)
• Paint remaining areas as appropriate (usually going back to my normal dark-light process)
• Touch up any white areas with white paint

Above are the first three Perry Miniatures French models (themselves genadiers). The coats look a bit bright in this photo, they're actually quite a bit darker in reality. Also, in the spirit of using washes as intended, I painted the shakoes and shoes with Vallejo German Grey and then washed them with Badab Black. Another good result (particularly on the Russian kiwers.

Here are the next three, fusiliers this time, with their white bits washed and highlighted, and the rest of the painting begun.

Well, I'm back to painting these little Frenchmen for a while. Enjoy your weekend!

Cheers
Dave