Just for you Bob and a Few Others

Here's another demonstration of a painting technique which will get your figures on the table relatively quickly even if you think your eyes are not up to it.

This example is a Zulu War British Infantryman. Everyone knows what they look like. I blame the film.

The general colour scheme is a red jacket, dark trousers, a great big pith helmet and a big gun. There are more subtle colour features to be entertained, we will deal with a few and ignore a few others.

Using a Revell number 3 brush I basecoated the entire figure in a terracotta shade. This will be mostly overpainted but some will be left below the helmet and maybe the hands.

The jacket is painted a deep red, think crimson or maroon. It doesn't matter if it covers other bits as long as the terracotta under the helmet is left alone.

Paint the trousers and boots black. Make sure you don't overpaint the deep red on the jacket.

Lightly paint the trousers dark blue leaving the boots black. It is OK if some of the black shadows remain on the trousers.

Paint the rifle dark brown. It is OK if you overpaint the hands.

Using a smaller brush, maybe a 3/0 or a 2/0 dab a little flesh colour on the face and hands.

Paint the pith helmet a linen colour. Keep it tidy around the bottom edge. Paint the ammo pouches on the belly linen. Paint the little bag on the hip linen.

Paint a white cross on the back of the figure.

Paint the cartridge box black.

Paint a proper red line along the upper and lower arm, front and back leaving a little of the deep red as a shadow. Dab a little red in the triangles between the cross belts.

Paint the base to match your terrain colour.

Touch up any little errors and gloss varnish the figure.

Base to your own requirements.

If you are capable of a little more detail you could add a red stripe down the outside of the trousers, it is not essential.

You could add coloured collars and cuffs, say Green for the 24th Foot. This is not essential either. If you were an attacking Zulu Warrior up against someone from the 24th and another from a different regiment you would still see them a couple of guys in red coats.

You could run a line of a gunmetal colour along the top of the rifle, again, not essential.

Give it a go everybody. Remember, just think of significant features, red coat, blue trousers, silly big hat and a big gun.