Project 1940 - A French distraction...
As regular followers of the WS&S blog will know, I've been painting British infantry for our local club's 1940s campaign and I am painting up the British Expeditionary Force. However, recently I've become distracted by painting French infantry.
I'm not sure how or why it happened, it just did. I was inspired by Chris K's numerous blog posts on the French and decided to give his method a go. So I dug out some old Bolt Action French (pre Warlord!) I had sitting in a draw for over a decade. These were originally undercoated black, so I gave them all a dry brushing of white and then tried a mix of standard paints and contrast. The result was I had 33 painted French infantry, all painted to the sound of audiobooks on the Foundation series by Issac Asimov!
The models are a mix of the Warlord French metals (by the late Richard Ansell) and the Atlantic WW1/WW2 infantry. I'm very pleased to say they mix very well.
You definitely need a lot of French, particularly if you are going to field three inexperienced units (for that bonus 4th!). I also liked the idea of VB launchers, so I made enough so every squad could take that option. I do plan on expanding these further with some Crusader French, which are a little more chunky but will still mix in fine. I also have some Battle Honours French which aren't bad.
I took Chris K's formula contrast paint formula for Khaki and added a little more Militarum Green. Mine was about an even mix of Militarum to Darkoath Flesh, or perhaps 5 to 3 in favour of the green, as I toyed with my batches.
The flesh is Speedpaint Crusader Flesh or Instantcolor Phoenix Feather. The leather is Speedpaint Hardened Leather (which comes out very red!). The backpack was German Camo Beige Brown (VMC 821) with a brown wash. The wood was English Uniform (VMC 921). Helmets were Olive Grey (VMC 888) with a careful green ink wash and a slight highlight.
Now, we have French reinforcements to join the massive force Chris has built. Our other French player Rossco W has painted two squads (ok these are beautiful, but not enough to game with!), so he is likely to fill out his squads with these. Well, we can't have the Germans having all the fun, can we?
I'm not sure how or why it happened, it just did. I was inspired by Chris K's numerous blog posts on the French and decided to give his method a go. So I dug out some old Bolt Action French (pre Warlord!) I had sitting in a draw for over a decade. These were originally undercoated black, so I gave them all a dry brushing of white and then tried a mix of standard paints and contrast. The result was I had 33 painted French infantry, all painted to the sound of audiobooks on the Foundation series by Issac Asimov!
The models are a mix of the Warlord French metals (by the late Richard Ansell) and the Atlantic WW1/WW2 infantry. I'm very pleased to say they mix very well.
You definitely need a lot of French, particularly if you are going to field three inexperienced units (for that bonus 4th!). I also liked the idea of VB launchers, so I made enough so every squad could take that option. I do plan on expanding these further with some Crusader French, which are a little more chunky but will still mix in fine. I also have some Battle Honours French which aren't bad.
I took Chris K's formula contrast paint formula for Khaki and added a little more Militarum Green. Mine was about an even mix of Militarum to Darkoath Flesh, or perhaps 5 to 3 in favour of the green, as I toyed with my batches.
The flesh is Speedpaint Crusader Flesh or Instantcolor Phoenix Feather. The leather is Speedpaint Hardened Leather (which comes out very red!). The backpack was German Camo Beige Brown (VMC 821) with a brown wash. The wood was English Uniform (VMC 921). Helmets were Olive Grey (VMC 888) with a careful green ink wash and a slight highlight.
Now, we have French reinforcements to join the massive force Chris has built. Our other French player Rossco W has painted two squads (ok these are beautiful, but not enough to game with!), so he is likely to fill out his squads with these. Well, we can't have the Germans having all the fun, can we?
