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What Blue for Napoleonic Prussian Landwehr

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brunei35:
The pictures I have for Napoleonic Prussian Landwehr from books and the net are a lighter shade than 'Prussian Blue' to my eyes (which is what the only painting guides that I can find on the internet say to use). Can I ask anyone who has done a lighter shade what they used please ? - using Vallejo paints preferably.

Thanks in advance

Cheers
Tony

SteveBurt:
Prussian Blue artist paint is quite a light blue.

Ruire:
There's a long-running tradition of illustrators and hobbyists confusing 'Prussian blue' the pigment with 'Prussian blue' the dye used by the line infantry of the Kingdom of Prussia. My understanding is that it the dye was probably indigo, like the French, and probably changed quite a bit depending on the period (and maybe even between regiments). I.e. the 'Prussian blue' of Frederick II's infantry vs that of Wilhelm I is not necessarily the same.

Getting back to the OP, there's even the likelihood that the infamous 'Prussian black' of Waterloo fame may well have been a lighter blue than the blue of the French. Personally, I'd be inclined to go with something like VMC/VPA Periscopes (maybe starting over VMC Dark Sea Blue) or AK Interactive Russian Blue Base & Light (for the sake of comparison). These all give a nice medium-dark blue IMO. For the Landwehr in particular, I'd say you could even go a bit lighter.

You could also just go with VMC Dark Prussian Blue and Prussian Blue. These are obviously referring to the pigment rather than the uniforms, but they work perfectly fine - it's what I normally use for my Continental infantry. If you do, I find you need to use the lighter Prussian Blue very sparingly as it can give unnatural-looking highlights.

brunei35:
Thank you to both for replies, much appreciate you taking the time. Will go experiment

Cheers

Ruire:
If you do go with VMC Dark Prussian Blue, what I find helpful is to first paint a mix of black and Dark Prussian Blue - usually slightly less black - for your shadows. But I prefer my blues to be more subdued!

Further, I find Vallejo Game Colour Imperial Blue (or the old GW Regal Blue if you have that) provides a nice mid-tone between VMC Dark Prussian Blue and the lighter Prussian Blue, which you can then use more sparingly. (I personally find blue is better when under-highlighted)

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