Saturday, 16 May 2020

French Pre-dreadnought Painting Plan

Ochre Upper Works

Pale Grey Upper Works

I always work out a plan when I paint things and write it down in my little blue book, so that I can follow the same scheme assuming it works, the next time I paint something similar. I've worked out a scheme to follow for the 1/2400th scale French pre-dreadnoughts, based on some of the colour combinations that I've used before on my ironclads and on colourised photographs, which may not be entirely accurate but look right compared to contemporary pictures. I've also had a look at the excellent War Times Journal painting guide and, although I don't have exactly the same paint shades, it's a very good starting point:


I'm going to try a test model to start with, featuring the most common combination of black hull and ochre upper works, with decks in light wood and ship's boats in white. I'm also going to experiment with the less common light grey scheme that the upper works of some ships were painted in, which has an unusual slightly pale blue tone. As the models are so small I am going to try to accentuate this a bit but not overcook it, which might be a bit of a challenge. First things first, however, so it's an overall black wash to start with, followed by a white blocking in of any areas that are coloured. 

Here we go!

14 comments:

  1. Just adore these photos of French pre-dreadnoughts - they have more character than the entire Royal Navy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking forward to seeing the results Jim.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. A bit more interesting than plain black and white

      Delete
  4. Nice to see the colourised images. They look elegant.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Only the French could send the Riviera hotel complex off to war...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Can you tell me the ship in your masthead?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice pics. Got to love those old French ships. I think it's the tumblehome :)

    ReplyDelete

Labels

Bag The Hun (857) Books (503) AK47 (499) Ironclads (492) Wings at War (417) Pre-Dreadnoughts (244) Back of Beyond (242) Coastal Warfare (225) Napoleonic Naval (201) Britain's Small Wars (199) Bolt Action (175) Victory at Sea (172) What a Tanker (171) Knights of the Sky (166) Target Locked On (163) MiG Alley (160) Chain of Command (149) Old West (147) Find Fix and Strike (138) Bag The MiG (126) Naval Thunder (120) Sandbox Skirmish (119) Naval Command (118) Air War Over Khalkhin Gol (117) Pirates (117) Indo China / Vietnam (114) Fistful of Lead (109) 15mm Sci-Fi / Near Future (95) Darkest Africa (91) VBCW (89) Strength and Honour (87) Continuation War (84) Ancients (81) Shows (79) ACW (77) The Football War (76) Corsairs and Cavaliers (71) Boardgames (67) France's Small Wars (67) Shipwreck! (66) BKC (65) Rapid Fire (63) Saurian Safari (62) Air War C21 (60) Cruel Seas (60) Journals (60) Saga (60) The Men Who Would Be Kings (58) Nimitz (55) Flashpoint Alto Cenepa (53) IABSM (53) International Naval Wargaming Day (53) Gladiators (51) Flashpoint Taiwan (50) Finest Hour (49) Fortifications (47) Red Actions! (47) One Hour Wargames (46) Scramble for Britain (45) Flashpoint Baltic (42) Duel of Aces (41) Flames above the Falklands (40) War of the Pacific (40) Cold War (39) 2mm English Civil War (38) Thud Ridge (37) SCW (36) Desert Spitfires (35) Death in the Dark Continent (34) RCW (34) Algernon Pulls It Off (32) Atlantic Wall (31) English Civil War / Anglo Dutch War Naval (31) Lion Rampant (31) Post Apocalypse (31) Iron Cow (30) Bag the Springbok (29) Mexican Revolution (28) Normandy Firefight (28) Dreadnoughts (27) Full Thrust (27) It Rolls For Ivan (26) Bulldogs Away! (24) Samurai (24) Jet Knights of the Sky (23) 28mm English Civil War (22) Arctic Eagles (22) Imaginations (22) Achtung Kommando! (21) Flashpoint PVO (21) Ancient Naval (20) PITS (20) Galactic Heroes (19) Steamer Wars (19) Strontium Dog (19) Iron Cross (18) Winter War (18) Aeronef (15) Aircraft (15) Imperial Commander (15) Rate of Fire (15) Zulus! (15) Aliens (14) Dragon Rampant (14) Black Ops (13) CY6 Jet Age (13) Congo (13) Mad for War (13) Impetus (12) Wars of Insurgency (12) Flashpoint Fleet Air Arm (11) Gaslands (11) Sharp Practice (11) 633 Squadron (10) Franco Thai Air War (10) Get the Goeben! (10) Jungle Green (10) 28mm Future Wars (9) Bohica (9) Dux Britanniarum (9) Fire in the Sky (9) HYW (9) Merry Xmas Mr Sankara (9) Portable Pike and Shot (9) Adventures in Jimland (8) Bombers over Germany (8) Cry Havoc (8) French Indian Wars (8) Renaissance Naval (8) Star Wars Legion (8) Sword and Spear (8) Through The Mud and Blood (8) Air War Angola (7) Frostgrave (7) Lacquered Coffins (7) Target for Tonight (7) A Mighty Fortress (6) AirWar:1918 (6) Five Parsecs From Home (6) French Resistance (6) Check Your Six! (5) Five Men at Kursk (5) Fivecore Skirmish (5) Maurice (5) Seven Days to the River Rhine (5) Three Musketeers (5) What a Cowboy (5) Wings Over Suez (5) Arab Revolt (4) Corvette Command (4) In Her Majesty's Name (4) Infamy Infamy (4) Medieval Naval (4) Never Mind The Billhooks (4) Battletech (3) Blood Red Skies (3) Gangsters (3) HOTT (3) Hind Commander (3) Lord of the Sea (3) Luft 46 (3) Mourir Pour l'Indochine (3) Sturmovik Commander (3) Whispering Death (3) Chincha Islands War (2) Crom (2) Disposable Heroes (2) Fire and Steel (2) Fivecore Company Command (2) Iron Stars (2) Judge Dredd (2) Lethal Skies (2) NUTS! (2) No Go Zone (2) Pulp! (2) Starfighters! (2) War in El Dorado (2) A Billion Suns (1) Air War 1940 (1) Battlegroup (1) Black Powder (1) Convoy (1) Dropzone Commander (1) Falklands War (1) Harpoon (1) If The Lord Spares Us (1) Indo-Pakistan War (1) Load and Return (1) MiG Hunters (1) Missile Threat (1) Missiles at Sea (1) Naval Wargames Society (1) Norway 1940 (1) Oi Navarcoi! (1) Sea Wars Fleet Actions (1) Si Vis Pacem (1) Spanish American War (1) Sunray is Down (1) Ultracombat Normandy (1) Wars of the Roses (1) Xenos Rampant (1)