Perrys French Hussars: 5th Hussars officer

after hitting the books and writing War and Peace several times over I decided to take a short break.  I couldn't resist painting up one of the Perry's French hussars - the officer figure of course!  I intend to do the command stand in between uni work this month.  The officer is about 95% complete, save for basing etc.

I experimented with the blue, using a GW 'Ultramarines Blue' base coat, then a deep sky blue over that. I highlighted with Citadel's 'Electric Blue' then toned that back with washes of Rotring Blue ink, wiping a bit off the raised parts. The Rotring inks are pure pigment that I originally bought for my airbrush but I've discovered they also make excellent washes, and you can easily make the colour as strong as you like or dilute it with water.  I used an undiluted ink wash to give the blue a strong tone.

The pelisse was white over a light grey with just the thinnest of black washes.  The gold braid was GW's delightfully named 'Vomit Brown' as a base, then a a dark gold followed by GW 'Flesh Wash' then a Coat d'Arms 'Bright Gold'.  All the golden braid on the uniform is done the same, with the bright gold to highlight the buttons.  Again the thinnest of black and flesh washes over it to get into and darken the folds etc and make the highlights pop a bit more.

The officer's red leather cartridge belt was done with Coat d'Arms 'Brick Red' with a GW 'Crimson Gore' over the top followed by diluted flesh wash.

As expected, the figure was a delight to paint, and I am happy with the results so far.  I shall do the trumpeter next when I get more time but I'm conscious of doing the neglected dragoons too - perhaps a command stand for them if I can manage it.

The photos turned out OK but I had a bugger of a time with very bright sunlight and a fogged lens. Trick is to make the bright light indirect and a dull background, preferably in shade to avoid the auto-focus problems.  Remember to click on the images to see the enlargement and please leave a comment if you like (or if you don't like!)

Cheers,
            Doc