How to Paint Everything: Napoleonics

In this week’s Goonhammer Historicals we take a look at how to paint some of the most iconic uniforms of the Napoleonic Wars.

Ultimately, it would be an enormous work to outline how to paint every uniform of every nation, but we hope to add more and more entries to this page as time goes on. As such, we’ve focused here on giving you a good spread of techniques. Pvt_Snafu shows us a fast and tabletop ready method using Contrast; Lupe spills his hard-won secrets about painting tartan; and SRM gives us a fantastic and more traditional method for crisp detail and bright colour.

British Line Infantry (Pvt_Snafu’s Method)

Painting historical miniatures is one of the ways I take a break from really pushing myself with painting techniques. I realised at the start of the year that having projects I could just kind of coast through would help keep my motivation up, and so I dove in to historical miniatures. I decided I’d make heavy use of Contrast when painting anything for historical systems, and had great success bashing out two entire platoons at 15mm in an evening using this method.

To prepare the models, I fully assembled them and then primed them with Vallejo Mecha Surface Primer Sand. If you spray primer I’d recommend something like the Games Workshop Wraithbone primer, as we’re going to be using a fair bit of Contrast in this guide.

Here’s what I used to get my models done:

• Contrast Blood Angels Red
• Contrast Basilicanum Grey
• Contrast Black Templar
• Contrast Iyladen Yellow
• Contrast Darkoath Flesh
• Contrast Apothecary White
• Contrast Aethermic Blue
• Contrast Wyldwood
• Contrast Snakebite Leather
• Contrast Skeleton Horde
• Vallejo Model Color Neutral Grey
• Vallejo Model Color Ivory
• Vallejo Model Air White
• Vallejo Air Metal Steel
• Vallejo Model Air AMT-7 Greyish Blue

Okay, so I didn’t use Contrast for everything but I’ll get to that. I started by blocking in the largest areas, with a plan to tidy up afterwards. This meant covering the jackets in trousers in their respective Contrast colours (Blood Angels Red and Basilicanum Grey). Once this was done, if the lines were clean enough, I went back and hit the leather areas and hats with Black Templar and any exposed flesh with Darkoath Flesh.

With the initial colours blocked in, I went back and started a clean up pass using Vallejo Model Color Ivory. I brought the straps, cuff details and hat embellishments back up with a couple of coats, along with the wooden water canteen. Cuff details were picked out very carefully with Iyladen Yellow, along with the crest on the hat. The bottom half of the plume was again done with Blood Angels Red. I ended up giving the canteen a layer of Aethermic Blue, and then picking further details out with Greyish Blue but I think a second coat of Aethermic Blue would be fine here. The main part of the backpacks, which I realise now are hard to see, were done with Black Templar and the bed rolls were painted with Skeleton Horde.

The trousers. The bloody trousers. What should’ve been one of the easiest areas drew a total mental blank for me and after one coat of Basilicanum Grey I wasn’t satisfied. So instead of doing what I usually do and just throwing a second coat one (why didn’t I just do this?) I repainted them entirely with Neutral Grey, and then picked out shadows and recesses with Basilicanum Grey. Finally the rifles were done with Wyldwood on the stocks and Steel on the barrels. For the drummer boy, I painted his jacket entirely with a few coats of Ivory to give me a base layer, then a fairly thick layer of Apothecary White. Once this was dry I went back and picked out the raised areas with the Model Air White. I repeated this process for the straps, gloves and braiding.

British Highland Infantry (Lupe’s Method)

I decided to paint the British Napoleonic Highlander Centre Companies box from Victrix for this HTPE, tartan and all. Some might call that foolish, and they would be right.

However, painting complex patterned cloth is a particular skill, and the Highlanders are a truly iconic part of the period, so I wanted to find out the best way of doing them justice. I focused on a good high-tabletop standard paint job, but with the knowledge that a lot of my time would be spent carefully freehanding patterns on cloth. After researching some different regiments, I settled on the iconic Black Watch for a number of reasons – mostly it turns out only a handful of regiments actually wore the traditional kilt and highland getup, and they’re probably the most famous.

I left the heads off the models and then primed them separately both white. People may argue what colour is best for priming, but with these, where vibrancy is key, I urge you to go with white even if you don’t normally.

Let’s tackle the head to start. I began with some basecoats:

• Vallejo Grey Black for the feathers and the cap itself
• Vallejo Silver Grey for the cap band
• Citadel Cadian Fleshtone for the skin
• Scale75 Blood Red for the feather. This will vary depending on the regiment in question. For the 79th (Cameron Highlanders) I would paint all but the uppermost third of the feather the same Grey Black as the other feathers, and then do that part in Silver Grey. For the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) I’d go for Blood Red on the bottom 2/3 and Silver Grey on that top third

I also basecoated the hair, which varied from man to man. I mostly used Scale75 Mars Orange, Scale75 Brown Leather, Vallejo Brown Leather and Citadel Steel Legion Drab.

That done, it’s time for some washes:

• Nuln oil for any areas of Grey Black, Silver Grey and Blood Red
• Reikland Fleshshade for the skin
• Agrax Earthshade for the hair

When that’s completely dry, I applied a very careful targeted drybrush of Vallejo Neutral Grey to the Black Grey feathers, and of Vallejo Flat Red to the Blood Red areas. I retouched the Silver Grey on the cap band (and would drybrush it on any feathers that colour), and also retouched the Grey Black on the cap itself. I retouched the basecoat of the skin outside of the recessed areas, then quickly highlighted up adding a little Vallejo Pale Sand as I went to get the brightness where the light would hit. Use a careful amount of your favourite black to paint in the eyes and mouth, before dotting Silver Grey either side of the either with your best brush to create the final effect. I also highlighted up the hair using the base colour and then adding a little Silver Grey into the mix.

Now the pattern on the band. These patterns are all the same across the regiments, so don’t worry about which one you’re painting. Unfortunately, while I can guide you a little in this process, there is no substitute for a practised steady hand and don’t be afraid to retouch your mistakes (I do, all the damn time). First carefully paint in Scale75 Blood Red lines at the bottom and the top of the band, extending about a third of the way up for each. They should both be the same height, and also leave an equal sized white gap between them. When you’re happy with them, draw in a line at 90 degrees to each, extending the same distance across as the first line was tall. Close off the square and then fill it. Leave an equal sized gap then do another, and another, until you have two rows of red squares running the length of the band. You should do this on the rear at the tie too, but honestly it can look a little messier there because the cloth is folded over itself.

Once this is done grab a green (I used Scale75 Boreal Green) and carefully paint in squares in the gaps between the rows, so the corners of these squares touch the corners of four different red squares. Draw the lines in as before then fill. This done, go back and do a second layer over each of the squares to make the colour nice and strong, then tidy up any wobbles or slips with the Silver Grey. You can leave this and it will look great – these are small and the effect will shine through. However, if you’re a lunatic like me, then buckle up and highlight those tiny tiny squares. I used Scale75 Black Forest Green, Vallejo Rotten White and Vallejo Flat Red to do so. To highlight, I simply drew border lines on the top of each square and down the sides, but not on the bottom.

Now it’s time to move onto the body. Basecoats as before:

• Scale75 Blood Red for the red coat and sock tops
• Vallejo Silver Grey for the straps and trim, and the socks
• Vallejo Brown Leather for the leather straps and parts, and the wood on the gun
• Vallejo Grey Black for the backpack, satchels and the boots
• Vallejo Flat Grey for the Bedroll
• Scale75 Canterbaric Blue for the waterbottle
• Cadian Fleshtone for the exposed skin
• Scale75 Caspian Blue for the kilt
• Scale75 Black Metal for the gun barrel and mechanism, bayonet and any other little metal pieces

The basetone for the kilt will vary depending on the regiment you choose – we’ll come back to that later. Now it’s time for washes

• Nuln Oil over all of the jack, straps, boots, satchels, waterbottle, socks, metallic areas, backpack and bedroll
• Reikland Fleshshade for the skin
• Agrax Earthshade for the wood of the gun

Don’t bother washing the kilt – you won’t see it anyway after the freehand.

With that dry, retouch all your basecoat over areas that aren’t recessed. That should brighten the model up immediately. I would then highlight the skin up as we did on the face, and highlight the straps and socks with Rotten White. Highlight the metallics with Scale75 Heavy Metal, and we’re very nearly there. Just the tartan to go.

Here are our steps, from left to right:

1. Get out basecoat touched up and cleaned up if needed. We’ve gone for the Caspian Blue for a very specific reason. Kilts are made by weaving different coloured cloth together, and when the two colours combine, the effect they produce is like a third combined colour. In this case, our base colours are a rich dark blue and a green, so our midtone colour is a blue-green, and that’s what we start with
2. Now draw out a chequerboard of squares of green and blue, making sure that they’re even and clean. You can have some mistakes at this point, because you’ll be outlining them in black in a moment. These are Cantabriac Blue and Boreal Green
3. With a fine tipped brush and a steady hand, draw fine black lines at the borders of the squares. This step is tricky, and all I can say is you need to practice (you’ll get the opportunity if you’re doing an army of these chaps). You can clean up with the base colours once the lines are in if needs be. Really thin your black to get it to flow smooth and it’ll be a bit easier
4. Now using the same black as before, draw two parallel lines through the columns and rows that contain blue squares. Space them as evenly as possible. You can see the tartan effect begin to take shape at this point
5. Finally, using Citadel Averland Sunset, paint in a fine central line down the columns and rows that have green squares in. This done, you’ll find the effect suddenly jumps into focus

Head on, and that’s it! Our highlander is ready to join the ranks to fight the perfidious French.

French Elite Companies (SRM’s Method)

I recently reviewed the French Elite Companies box from Perry Miniatures for this here website, and painted up a few in the colors of the 3eme Ligne Voltiguers circa the battle of Teugen-Hausen in 1809. I looked at tons of reference material and matched colors based on what was closest in my paintbox. Yes, this means I may not have the “correct” shade of bleu for April 1809, but no court will convict me for my crimes. I kept things pretty simple, as there’s a lot of these guys in a box and I have no shortage of models to paint blue this year. Most of this is just some basic layers and recess washing, but the odd line highlight for definition. All colors are Citadel unless stated otherwise.

The Uniform

I started with white as, while blue is the color we associate with the French uniform, there’s more white on the model all told. This was used on the pants, straps, cuffs, shoulder belts, cockades, and jacket interior. You could crank this up with an extra highlight of White Scar at the end, but this will do for your rank and file.

Primer:

• Army Painter Uniform Grey

White:

• Celestra Grey
• Ulthuan Grey, leaving Celestra Grey in the recesses

The blue is only slightly more complex, but still very straightforward. It appears on their jackets as well as the cockades on their hats. I’ve also supplied a light blue option, as in my research I often saw cornet musicians in a lighter blue uniform. The technique is the same regardless of which blue you choose.

Blue:

• Macragge Blue
• Drakenhof Nightshade in the recesses 
• Altdorf Guard Blue highlights on the raised edges

Light Blue:

• Teclis Blue
• Drakenhof Nightshade recess wash
• Lothern Blue highlights on the raised edges

There’s a bit of red on these garçons as well, on their cuffs, collars, cockades, and the piping on their jackets. I use Nuln Oil in this step, on the piping this will serve to further define the color border, while on the more solid fields of red it will provide shading.

Red:

• Mephiston Red
• Nuln Oil recess wash 
• Evil Sunz Scarlet highlights

Equipment

These tend to be leathers, woods, and metals, and introduce some more neutral tones into the paintjob. I’ll put in two black recipes, one to cover the more standard black leather of their boot, scabbards, pouches, and shakos, and a slightly brown one that will provide a textural difference on bearskin hats. Bearskin hats tend to be modeled in such a way as to facilitate drybrushing, but you can line highlight instead.

Black Leather:

• P3 Thamar Black
• Eshin Grey highlights

Black Fur:

• P3 Thamar Black
• Skavenblight Dinge highlights

I used a more ruddy brown instead for their backpacks, washing it all over to give the details some depth, and I then highlighted the edges. As leathers can have plenty of natural variation, try some different browns or washes to give your units some variety. I based the bedroll at the same time as the backpack and washed them both together to save a little time, then highlighted them both up separately.

Brown Leather:

• Mournfang Brown
• Agrax Earthshade all over wash
• Skrag Brown highlights

Bedroll:

• Rakarth Flesh
• Agrax Earthshade all over wash
• Pallid Wych Flesh highlights

Similarly, you can probably get in some variation on the woods for the muskets, which are the next step. They tend to be fairly flat on most models, so I generally painted the wood a solid color and left them be. The metallics I kept pretty plain, as I didn’t want to make them look too parade-ground polished. There are some brass details here as well, which you’ll find on the basket hilts of the swords as well as in some details on the musket.

Musket Stock:

• Dryad Bark
• Agrax Earthshade if you want I guess, could add a little definition around the rings further along the gun

Musket Barrel, Flintlock, etc:

• Ironbreaker
• Nuln Oil all over, this will add depth to complex parts like the flintlock, but can also further define the barrel as it runs along the wood of the gun

Brass:

• Liberator Gold 
• Seraphim Sepia in recesses

The Details

Here’s where things go from colorful to technicolor, with the sashes, epaulettes, pompoms, shako cords, buttons, and more. For the buttons, just use the brass technique from the equipment section. On the particular models I painted, I found edge highlights to be better looking than drybrushing for the pompom and epaulettes, but your mileage may vary. For the sash on the sword, the pompom, epaulettes, and shako cord, I used the same green technique.

Green:

• Warboss Green
• Thraka Green all over wash
• Skarsnik Green highlights 

Lastly, there isn’t much yellow, but you’ll find a bit on the collar as well as the pompoms. I kept this nice and saturated, as it’s such a small detail that it should be called out. I went all over the yellow on the pompom with the wash, but didn’t really use it on the collar. You could use it to define the color barrier between red and yellow but it’ll be kind of hard to see. You could also use it for sergent or corporal stripes on the uniforms.

Yellow:

• Yriel Yellow
• Fuegan Orange wash
• Dorn Yellow highlights

That should get you through these ligne Voltiguers just fine, and those techniques will apply to anybody else in the regiment. And yes, I know I just painted Ultramarines again.

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