Chinese and Bolshevik uniform colours

[Sir Rodney Ffing]

Hi chaps

My BoB project is moving forward fairly slowly but I have at least got the figures (quite a lot of them!) and they will start going under the brush soon.

I have already bought the relevant Osprey titles for uniform guides and painting references and am now facing the tricky (for me) task of deciding which specific colours to use.

I am assuming that predominantly khaki would be best for the Bolsheviks, at least for the early part of the war, and have more or less settled on grey for the warlord Chinese.  However, I understand that the Reds moved to grey uniforms later on in order to have a distinctive look from the Whites and that khaki (or tan) was used by the Chinese in some provinces.  Personally, I prefer the look of a less uniform force with a mixture of clothing colours where this changed during the conflict or there is some other justification (e.g. it is plausible that some could be decked out in uniforms relating to a different area for logistics reasons).  This raises the possibility of both the Reds and the Chinese being clothed in a mix of grey and khaki!

I appreciate that even within (say) a grey clad Chinese unit, there would be shades of grey from light to dark depending on age and the variability of manufacturing. That said, I would like to avoid a situation where the two forces look pretty much the same if I can.  With that in mind, can some of the older BoB hands out there give me a steer on which colours they have used, from the perspective of not being historically inaccurate (shudder) but also what works well please?  My preference is for Foundry or Vallejo paints, but I will invest in something else if I have to!

Many thanks
Sir Rodney

[cuprum]

What time period are you interested?
Gray Uniforms in the USSR was only 2 years - from 1922 to 1924. In addition, in this period, the army continued to continue wearing the uniform of the previous sample. So you can safely use only different shades of khaki.
For added variety, you can make a few pieces of Chekists:
http://siberia-miniatures.ru/forum/showthread.php?fid=12&tid=61

[Sir Rodney Ffing]

Hi Cuprum

Thanks very much for your expert comments.  For now, I will be using the scenarios in "Red Dawn Rises", which cover the period 1918- 20.  Unfortunately, none of the scenarios includes any warlord Chinese and I have quite a lot of them! (If you are reading this Ignatieff, the world needs volume 2 please)

I had hoped the Bolshevik change from khaki to grey took place earlier, so I could mix some of each colour in the transitional period.  However, that won't work if it didn't happen until 1922 

I suppose I will have to decide whether just to have different shades of khaki for the Reds, or be a bit less of a purist on timing. A shame, but now I know and thank you.

And if anyone has suggestions on specific colours which work well, both for the Reds and the Chinese, I am still keen to hear from you!   

[cuprum]

In fact, during the Civil War, it was possible to meet a very unusual uniforms as that of "red", as well as from "white". For example 224th Krasny Kut Infantry Regiment of the 25th Division of the Red Army stood out the red uniforms of commanders and red detailing on the uniforms of khaki for ordinary.

http://siberia-miniatures.ru/article_info.php?articles_id=2

And regimented uniform sample in 1919 had a very bright elements, although it is rarely met.

[joekano]

Here are the color triads I used on my Chinese (All Vallejo):

Medium Blue Grey:
Vallejo Field Blue 964, Dark Blue Grey 904, and Blue Grey Pale 905

Light Blue Grey:
Dark Blue Grey 904, Blue Grey Pale 905, and Pale Greyblue 907

Medium Green Grey:
German Fieldgrey WWII 830, Green Grey 886, and Green Grey 886/Green Grey 971 50:50 mix



Khaki shades were also worn by some of the southern armies as well, so that might be a good a good way to distinguish two Chinese armies.  There is a black and white photo in the Osprey Chinese Warlord book that shows a bunch of Nationalist officers and none of them seem to be wearing the same shade of fabric, so I they you  are pretty much safe with any light shade of grey or khaki/tan.

If you need any flags for your army, I have a bunch here:
http://majorthomasfoolery.blogspot.com/2015/01/flags-for-chinese-warlordback-of-beyond.html

Chris

[warrenpeace]

Awesome flags!

[Sir Rodney Ffing]

joekano - thanks very much for your tips.  Just what I was looking for.

[Blodwin]

Another big thank you to Joekano for the information - now I have no excuse to start painting my Chinese armies
Blodwin

[joekano]

Glad to be of help!