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Build Guide

Painting WW2 British infantry for North-West Europe, 1944 to 1945

A paint-by-area summary of two published tutorials for late-war British infantry in battledress. We have not painted these figures ourselves.

Scales
28mm (First Commission Painting); 15mm with 28mm notes (Crac des Chevaliers)

Researched method: we have not built this piece ourselves

  1. Step 1 of 7

    About this guide

    We have not built this piece ourselves. Each step below summarises what one or both cited tutorials did, with the paints they named.

  2. Step 2 of 7

    Undercoat

    First Commission Painting undercoated in Vallejo grey and airbrushed a dark shade of English Uniform with a little German Dark Brown, then airbrushed plain English Uniform to mark the highlights. Crac des Chevaliers undercoated in black.

  3. Step 3 of 7

    Wash

    First Commission Painting washed the whole figure with a thinned brown wash (it names Agrax Earthshade or Army Painter Strong Tone) to add contrast to the single-colour uniform.

  4. Step 4 of 7

    Battledress

    First Commission Painting brushed thinned English Uniform back over jackets and trousers, leaving the darkest creases, and added Desert Yellow to the mix for highlights. Crac des Chevaliers used USA Olive Drab as shadow, English Uniform as base and Khaki Grey as highlight, and notes that at 28mm a brown such as Burnt Umber may suit the shadow better.

  5. Step 5 of 7

    Webbing and anklets

    First Commission Painting used Khaki Grey with white added for highlights. Crac des Chevaliers used Brown Violet shadow, Khaki base and Panzer Aces US Tankcrew Highlight on the edges.

  6. Step 6 of 7

    Helmets and scrim

    Crac des Chevaliers painted helmets SCC15, citing Mike Starmer's 50/50 mix of Vallejo Model Colour Olive Grey and Russian Uniform, with Panzer Aces Canvas for the scrim highlighted with Khaki. It states SCC15 was the standard British colour from April 1944 for vehicles and most painted equipment. First Commission Painting used a green and black mix, dry-brushed with khaki for the netting.

  7. Step 7 of 7

    Skin, weapons and metal

    First Commission Painting used flat flesh with a thinned wash, then flesh highlights with a little white; weapons dark brown highlighted flat brown; metal black, then gunmetal, then gunmetal with silver. Crac des Chevaliers used Flat Earth and New Wood for rifle wood and German Grey highlighted London Grey for metal.

Sources

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