Quick Guide - Painting White Uniforms (28mm Napoleonics)

In this Quick Guide I demonstrate a technique that I've been asked about numerous times - how I paint white uniforms. Note that this is specifically covering trousers & jackets, not straps, cross-belts, gloves etc. A similar technique is used and the video will mention where the process diverges into using different colours.
Figure - Perry Miniatures (plastic casualty from the French Dragoons set).
Paints - Vallejo Model Colours
0:00 - Titles
0:10 - Intro
1:05 - Paints
1:35 - Base Layer
1:53 - Mid Layers/Highlights
4:25 - Top Layer/Highlight
6:10 - Differences for Painting Straps Etc
6:30 - Other Paints You Could Use

[@joeokabayashi8669]

Most instructive; thank you!

[@thelastbattalion3509]

Glad to be of help.

[@maryhinge6334]

Great tutorial. That’s really effective. 👍

[@thelastbattalion3509]

Thank you I hope it’s useful.

[@theenigmaticgamer]

Just found your channel. Very interesting tutorial, I have a bottle of deck tan I have not yet opened! Now I have a use for it 🤣.
May I also say that it's so much easier listening to a video when the commentary is spoken clearly and in good English as yours is. A refreshing change from the " fink, fought and vis and vat" so often heard.
Have subbed.

[@thelastbattalion3509]

Thank you for those kind comments. I'm often painfully aware of my voice and audio for these videos so it's a relief to know that they come across well. Welcome aboard and see what you make of the Deck Tan, it's pretty versatile!

[@tabletopgeneralsde310]

Nice tutorial, look really good.

[@thelastbattalion3509]

Thank you very much.

[@rangerminiaturesandgaming3647]

This is very helpful

[@thelastbattalion3509]

I'm glad it was of some use!

[@ernieme101]

i love Deck Tan as a base for light colors , especially white .
great method , and i use similar on generals and other characters , but i realized doing a Napoleonic army with 8 24 man battalions of infantry this method would take me forever (i admit to being a painfully slow painter!)
so i tried a few different things and settled on
1) prime white (works well as i'm using Contrast paints for most colors)
2) wash with Vallejo Game Color Pale Grey 73.202 .
3) highlight belts and straps with pure white , with paint if i have to , or Sakura Gelly Roll paint pens .
super simple , super fast . but as i say , on models you really want to stand out , your method is great .

[@thelastbattalion3509]

I could make the process quicker but once I started on one battalion I was committed. Plus I had the advantage of knowing that I only intended to paint a brigade of Italians. It's far less painful when it's just the trousers on other miniatures.

[@ernieme101]

@@thelastbattalion3509 for future projects then :)

[@davrosdavros7198]

This is great. What is the base the soldier is on? Easy to cut?

[@thelastbattalion3509]

Thank you. It’s a laser cut mdf base that I bought, you can get them from a variety of sources.

[@basicminiaturepainting]

Verg cool guess I'll be buying some deck tan

[@thelastbattalion3509]

It's a good colour for mixing with other things. I recommend Nascar and Pallid Wych Flesh also (as mentioned in the video). In fact using slightly different base colour mixes for different batches within a large unit might give some nice subtle variations.

[@bonysminiatures3123]

interesting i shall get some deck tan for sure

[@thelastbattalion3509]

It's a very useful colour for all sorts.

[@tracygrove3484]

@@thelastbattalion3509 Could you make your own deck tan by adding a little buff, beige or ivory to white? Not sure of the actual color having not seen it and the vallejo chart shows more of a blue-grey.

[@thelastbattalion3509]

@@tracygrove3484 You absolutely could make a similar shade by using other means using some of the 'off-white' colours you describe. There's definitely a hint of blue-grey in it if you were going to try and mix something similar. Colour charts and images can get pretty close to a paint tone but even the best aren't a substitute for seeing it with your own eyes, not least because people view colours differently. The problem is if I describe the colour I might have my own interpretation of what words best describe it!

[@tracygrove3484]

@@thelastbattalion3509 Thank you!

[@theflyingspaniard6881]

Love the video! But I probably should have watched this video before I started to paint my 28mm Austrians. . .

[@thelastbattalion3509]

Thanks, don’t worry making up your own way if doing it works out pretty well too, a lot of people end up gravitating to similar ideas. Painting largely white uniforms is exhausting though!

[@theflyingspaniard6881]

@@thelastbattalion3509 Agreed! I have put my Austrians on hold for far too long! But thanks to your video I feel reinvigorated to get them out the box of shame and back on the table! Cheers!

[@thelastbattalion3509]

@@theflyingspaniard6881 I'm glad you got some inspiration from it!

[@bobbym.1367]

What colors have you used on the frenchmans jacket? Finding it hard to get that specific color.

[@thelastbattalion3509]

I’m lazy I use foundry French blue triad for all dark blue uniforms.

[@bobbym.1367]

@@thelastbattalion3509 thx for sharing your knowledge

[@markbraniff4275]

If i basecoat whitw will i ge tthe same result?

[@thelastbattalion3509]

I think if you start with white it might be harder to get shadow and shading. You haven’t got the same depth to work with. I’d suggest at most a sort of dun or off white colour.

[@thomasskala8982]

Schön gemacht aber er sieht aus als käme er aus der Kleiderkammer. Er liegt im Dreck. Kleiner Tipp.... bißchen verschmutzen wirkt wunder. Aber nur ein wenig. 😉👍

[@thelastbattalion3509]

It's only intended to show how I paint the white, it's not a tutorial for weathering or any other effects. It's only a figure on the ground because that's what I had spare.