British Infantry

[Mr.J]

Hi all, I've just begun painting a few WWII Brits and I was just wondering what colour you would paint their basic khaki?
From a lot of pictures etc it apears to be a greeny colour however I've noticed many people paint their miniatures more of a dark brown.

Here is my test figure, I was quite happy with it until I saw the way others had painted theirs and just wondered how accurate the green I've chosen is? Any comments/pointers etc would be greatly appreciated.







I know the pictures aren't great but I was hoping you'd get the idea.

Thanks

[Orctrader]

This was discussed recently.  Here is my take.

Black undercoat from dark to light:

VGC Charred brown
VMC Flat Earth
VMC USA Tan Earth





I think the khaki "greens" just look wrong on WWII but do have their place...

[archangel1]

When khaki was first adopted by British troops in the late 1860's, it had a brownish tinge which was definitely appropriate since the word originally carried the connotation 'dust-coloured', from the original Persian/Urdu/Hindustani.  In 1902, the uniform colour started to contain a definite green tint so I think you'd be safe with your mix.  Nowadays, the word seems to cover a colour ranging from almost an off-white to an olive.  So, lots of options...

[Plynkes]

So, lots of options...

Not really that many as he is painting NW Europe figures in Battledress. The only options are how much brown and how much green to use in the brown/green mix. It varies, but British army BD tended to lean more toward the brown side. Yes, you have Khaki Drill for the desert, Jungle Green for the Far East, and lightweight green denim BD as work dress and Home Guard uniforms, but he appears to painting Commandos in Europe, which limits the options somewhat.









Pick one you like. 

[archangel1]

I was just a little vague there with my last sentence.  I should have said there were lots of options as to what is considered khaki these days.  Battledress is in a more specific field.  You're pretty well limited to only a couple of choices when it comes to British troops.  Most do lean towards the brown side of things in WWII, from what I can see.  Not too sure about Commonwealth troops, though.

[Steve F]

If I remember Mike Chappell's Osprey about Battledress correctly, Canadian troops had better made, greener, but otherwise identical uniforms.

[Calimero]

If I remember Mike Chappell's Osprey about Battledress correctly, Canadian troops had better made, greener, but otherwise identical uniforms.

Yep, If you uniform color look a little too green for British troops, they could be use as Canadians.

[Thargor]

How about using a pre-mixed paint like Vallejo Model Colour English Uniform?

[Arlequín]

Yep, If you uniform color look a little too green for British troops, they could be use as Canadians.

Or even British troops wearing BD from Canada... With so many places producing BD and variation in die mixing, there must be a degree of variation. I'd expect figures within a single unit to be wearing stuff from the same batch though.

The army weren't called 'Brown jobs' for nothing though. 

[Silent Invader]

Orctrader's recipe looks the business to me

[Nuts in Normandy]

Orctrader's recipe looks the business to me

Agreed.

But I am doing good to get any painting done looking at eveyone's work here.

[Orctrader]

How about using a pre-mixed paint like Vallejo Model Colour English Uniform?

Too green.  I used it as the mid tone on that WW1 Officer's jacket IIRC.
Though I have read it in other painters "recipes" I personally don't like it for WWII.  Might just be me though.

[Mr.J]

Thanks guys. I have painted another tester which I will try and get up on here later today. Gone much browner with this one.
The problem is I don't have a painting station at my house (I'm a uni student) and so I only really get to do anything when I'm at my parents and I have to make do with the paints that I have there which are almost entirely games workshop. So I try and get as much painted whilst staying there and don't have time to order the vallejo ones as it means sitting around waiting and not painting. It is a dilema!

[Calimero]

Mr.J, I Can’t really tell from the pictures but did you paint the upper part of the rifle as gun metal? I ask because a lot of people do that mistake but the rifle’s top is also made of wood.

[Mr.J]

Yes I did, I'm never sure what colour to do it and I've never gotten round to checking it out. Thanks for that!