I am getting ready to paint the Academy French Foreign Legion figure set. The illustrations mention a lot of dark yellows for the Indochina and Algerian uniforms but when I check the few color photos from that time period I can find on google, the uniform colors appear to be light greens. Would you go with google or the colors the box says to use?

Chuck,
Thanks for posting your question. I am agonizing over the same issue with nine figures of different ranks that I am currently working on. I have seen color charts and photos on the web but I still don't know whom to trust -- confusing.

Here's wishing us luck,
--mike

I would not trust any boxart. Do some more research and go by what you find there. The lighter greens sound more like what was worn to me.

The only box art I would follow is what Ron Volstat does or did for Dragon models, he is a histoyian and artist and has many representations in Ospreys books too. You would be better off finding a book for the subjects you want to paint. The major problem with reproducing color pictures of real uniforms or paintings is that the color modulation from printer to printer can vary as to the original color and depending on what stock (paper) they use. Books that discribe the uniforms with pic's are your best bet. Looking at uniforms in a museum can be hard as they tend to fade with age. A good book will give you not only the colors but the material used and placement of insignias etc. I have one for German uniforms from W.W.2 and thats what I use for the few figures of them that I use. Squadrons in action books are pretty good also.

Dmitryo Zgonnik, too, IMO, also has equivalent performance as Volstad does.

Cheers


Garry

I agree with Garry! Dimitri is brilliant!

Cheers

Romain

Here's an earlier thread about French uniforms in Indochina :

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/217110&page=1

H.P.

There are so many different factors that effect the true color of a uniform: manufacture, use, cleaning and of course the weather. Color photos of the period may not be of that great of help either as the process may differ from photo to photo. I try and get a general idea as to what color the uniform was and go from there and please don't lose any sleep that some rivers counter may say "OMG that color is all wrong"

Ron Volstad's illustrations are everywhere, and are always of the highest quality. His research is top notch, and his skill compares to his research. Dimitry is also very good. You cannot go wrong using their work as templates.

Dave

I would add the artist that does the box art for MB. I take out some of those boxes once in a while just to admire the painting!
J

True Dat bro :-)

Chuck, if you're concerned with accuracy, do your own research when you can. If you have color photographic examples of the uniforms to go by, they are certainly better than the back of the box assembly and painting instructions.

Those are sometimes good to tell you things like, for example, which color leather boots were made in - black or russet or natural, etc, or even if the boots were leather at all. It's up to you at add the "artistry" to the work, though.

Once you undertake to add shading - shadows and highlights - to a figure, then precise color matching goes out the window. There's literally an infinite variety of shades and tones between the darkest shadows and the brightest highlights of any particular color. This is where really well done box art is useful, IMO.

The best box art painters can provide an excellent example of how this blending might look and emulating their 2-dimensional work on your 3-dimensional model figure can be helpful.

If you have photos that suggest the actual uniform colors were light greens vice yellows, then I would go with the photos. In the absence of other reference for other items, though, then maybe the box painting guide is better than nothing. Your best bet is always your own research.

This link might help: http://www.gia-vuc.com/french%20uniform.htm At least for the Indo-China French troops.

Quick image searches help a lot.
In the case of MB figures, the painting in the instructions and the box art tend to differ quite a bit.I usually refer to their box art for a more accurate picture of how to paint.

Tom

Another thing with box art, of course, is that it may have faded. And you can't just mentally add some colour intensity back in because the yellow always fades quicker than the cyan and the magenta.