Whistling Dixie: Painting an ACW Confederate soldier

[@SeaDog337]

One way you can make union armies (or napoleonics even) more interesting and varied is to paint them as though they're already partway through a campaign. Some of their uniforms would be faded, mismatched when pieces were replaced, and even patched when worn out. It's also a great way to distinguish veteran units from fresh recruits.

[@timrichter4966]

Yet another great tutorial. You are spot on again in your suggestions that you can mix a lot of shades into the Confederate ranks; and it really does make units look better that way on the game table. I've painted hundreds (maybe thousands) of Union and Confederates in 28, 15, and 6mm and the rebs are definitely more enjoyable than the Union's because you can get away with almost anything. Spot on again... and loved the use of the color to add the visual interest.

[@aanler]

If this was an army project, I'd done all the layers with dry brushing and then just done a final clean up highlight with a normal brush. Old dusty and worn out uniforms work great with the old dry brush. Great paint job btw :)

[@matheus79332]

I'm brazilian and I really liked your video. I'm painting some figures of american civil war and your tutorial helped me about the collors. Thanks !!!

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

I JUST GOT A SAY THANK YOU....ITS A LOT TO LEARN BUT YOU MAKE IT FUN...

[@lunarmodule53]

Just about to have a go at ACW figs for the first time. Great video and brilliant paint job.

[@palamj2]

In all my years i have never seen someone paint figures so superbly. My compliments and i could only wish to paint so well.

[@wssmagazine]

+John P Thank you kindly sir. I am sure you're no slouch at painting. :-)

[@remymassart2641]

Hi from belgium i like your work. Good job i hope paint my soldier like you. thanks for the video

[@tigertanktoo]

I've watched many video tutorials on figure painting and I have to say that yours are the easiest to understand and follow. I love how the figures turn out. I do WW2 german armor and figures and would like to see you do a german tank crew member with the Afrika Korps colors and the basic panzer black uniform. Thank you for sharing.

[@wssmagazine]

Since the tutorial on painting a Cromwell was so popular, there will probably be more in the future, though what hasn't been decided. As for German crew, I also think the panzer uniform is super cool, and I would enjoy painting one at some point.

[@tigertanktoo]

Thank you for making it look so easy and understanding. I look forward to seeing it then.

[@AbrahamLincoln4]

Well are you pull those pistols or whistle dixie?

[@fabiodegliesposti550]

Lovely! Stunning as usual, smooth and crisp. A for the videos suggestion, well I'm going heavily into modern right now so a few more videos on that period would be just perfect. The last one (and only one so far) was great!. I'm going to paint some italian units for modern games and I obviously don't expect you to do a video specifically on italian modern soldiers, but some vids on modern camos would be extremely useful. Thanks anyway, you're awesome! Ciao!

[@billvaras1534]

Another fantastic paint job!!! Here are some suggestions; as I know you are in the Netherlands, Foundry paints are easy to obtain, but here in the U.S. they are not. We have access to P3, Reaper Master Paints, Citadel, Army Painter, and Vallejo. Thus, it is a little difficult to follow your color selection if you are new or a sophomore painter. If you can use Vallejo paints it could attract more viewers as it would be easier to follow your palette. Good examples of KZbin tutorial painters are the Painting Clinic, Awesome Paintjob, Heresy Brush and BuyPainted. For further tutorials, try AWI Colonials, British Grenadiers, Hessens, Cavalry; British in the Sudan, Afghanistan, and other parts of Africa. Modern conflicts like Vietnam, Yom Kipur, Six-Day War, Africa Mercenaries, Rhodesian Army, Insurgents; U.S. Marines in WWI and WWII; Waffen-SS Camouflages; Fallschirmjaegers, specially in North Africa; and Pirates. Nevertheless, I look forward to your next awesome tutorial.

[@RobertChisholm]

I would love to get some of those foundry triads. It's too bad they dont sell in the US. At my local game stores the only fully stocked paints are citadel/GW range. Sometimes I see those other brands for sale in boxed set like P3 Cygnar set or Vallejo Napoleonic collection. But never single paint pots.

[@wssmagazine]

Hi Bill. Thanks for the suggestions. I have actually seen some of the other KZbinrs you mentioned. I have also actually done several of the suggested tutorials you mentioned, such as the SS and Fallschrimjaegers. Some of the others are definitely on the agenda. As for paint, I realize the Foundry triads are not what everyone has, but it is hard because I have more of it than just about anything else myself and I really dislike Vallejo paints, and I am afraid using them would make my tutorials less clear instead of more, as I would have to do much more mixing the get the results I want - and trying to show someone how to replicate a paint mix is much more difficult than when you can give them colors straight from the bottle. I might consider Citadel (since I generally like their paints), but my collection is currently so small, that I'd first have to buy a great deal more of it, which is a bit expensive! Still, I appreciate the feedback and will do my best to keep it in mind.

[@leonleese4919]

It would be good to see the whole box painted and your take on the random colour variants. Just to see how a beginner should be able to paint. Not necessarily a video of the whole process, but the finished battalion/ group. Perhaps a page of colour notes. Just my 2P worth, living in hope. 🙂

[@RobertChisholm]

The shading on the pants, shirt, and shoes is amazing. Not a fan of that bright red blanket but i can see how artistically it makes the figure more interesting. For a video suggestion, have you considered doing a video on the techniques of painting 15mm or even tiny 6mm figures.

[@wssmagazine]

Yes I have, though it would be the first time I tried to process! I guess I haven't before since there are already so many good video tutorials out there on Flames of War figures, which are in that scale. I never felt that I could really add a lot more that others weren't already covering. Still, you aren't the first with that request, so I will add it to my pool of potential subjects for upcoming videos.

[@carl55953]

Really good paint job well done

[@BocageTiger]

Great work, Christy! If I may offer some suggestions, the Buttplate and Nosecap of the Musket could be painted a Brass Color to represent a P53 Enfield Musket or Richmond Rifle Musket. Or paint just the Butt plate it in the Gun metal color to represent Model 55 Rifled Musket. (I am speaking specifically of Confederate Soldiers) Also, the brim of the kepi could be painted black to represent Painted or tarred canvas. Thank you for sharing this video; I hope my suggestions are taken with no offense. I wish to aspire to paint as well as you.Cheers.Mike

[@wssmagazine]

+BocageTiger Hi Mike. Thanks for the ideas. That could help people looking to add more variation to their unit - such little changes are always great for that, especially when it comes to the Confederates who were particularly irregular in their dress and equipment a lot of the time!

[@stevedurocher4251]

Really an amazing job. Wow

[@jackarmstrongiii3669]

Awesome figure! Many times you share your reference books with us. A set that I would highly recommend to you for ACW projects is called 'Echos of Glory'. 3 book boxed set: One being based on the Confederate uniforms and gear; one based obviously on Federal uniforms and gear. The is color pics of surviving uniforms in museums and private collections including Regimental, battle, and national flags. The third being a type of atlas showing where the battles took place throughout the country. Your research is impeccable! Appreciated how you touched base on the variations of dyes which created browns, greens, and even blues. Checkout Richmond depot jackets...your Charcoal triad would be excellent on some of these variations where actually charcoal to light blue gray. Also look into the North Carolina uniforms which olive in tone. Please consider tutorials on the Zoave (sp) units particularly the 1ST Louisiana Rifles (Tiger Z's) and the various NY, PA, and MD units. I believe you would enjoy the challenge and we could all learn from your efforts, thanks!

[@wssmagazine]

Hi Jack, thanks for the tip. Hopefully that will help out some people working on Confederate armies. I'll keep some of those other units in mind for future tutorials. I am sure the Zouaves would be particularly popular.

[@jackarmstrongiii3669]

Yes, definitely! Looking forward to learning your techniques on Zouaves, etc. I would like to request a tutorial on the 1st Louisiana Rifles (La. Tigers).

[@Sgt-lott10]

Great work! Using these tips to upgrade my painted soldiers ( that I will sell soon )

[@klavakkhazga3996]

I'd like to learn how people paint very tight or translucent clothes such as stockings for example. I can't think of a soldier uniform with those though xD

[@wssmagazine]

What a really interesting idea! I would love to take on that challenge, but you are right, it is hard to think of a good example figure to work on. Maybe something Steampunk? I'm not sure.

[@klavakkhazga3996]

Western saloon dancers, cabaret or something like that maybe as well.

[@WPUpioneer]

Can you please do a video of a 79th New York Highlander soldier? I am interested in learning how to paint their specific tartan, as Tartan may be a challenge for most

[@davidsiu635]

Hi, Great job! Could you teach us how to blend colors? Like highlight, normal, shadow areas of clothes changed smoothly & natrually.

[@wssmagazine]

+David Siu I have a series of technique videos (check out the following playlist). There's a blending tutorial there. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKK0laaGoaZphbc

[@rbale2]

I love the videos, I look forward to them each week. Do you have any byzantine miniatures on hand? I think they would make for a fun exhibition.

[@flaviusbelisarius1951]

Do you think you could paint some Republican Romans? It will be interesting to see you paint their shield design (especially the boar one) I know Victrix has released their republican roman range. :)

[@wssmagazine]

As it happens, we just ordered some of those, so you might very well seem a few in an upcoming video. :-)

[@flaviusbelisarius1951]

Great! 'll be looking forward for that!

[@00zero11b]

Could you please show us how you did the face? I'm currently painting these and having a real difficult time getting thr faces to look right.

[@ruairiocleirigh5631]

I really like your videos, I am new to historical miniature painting and I have followed your tutorials on the American civil War. I got a couple of boxes of Perry ACW plastic infantry and I was wondering, after undercoating with a primer, how long approx did it take you to paint one confederate figure?

[@wssmagazine]

Hmm. It's been awhile. I'd guess between 3-4 hours, that's about average, though it depends on the complexity of the figure. More detailed ones take longer. Some simpler ones can go faster.

[@inhumanbookworm]

***** The thing with these kind of miniatures is that you don't have to paint them to a super high standard like in small skirmish games where you have only dozen or so miniatures on the table. The good look of historical regiment comes from the number of figures in it and in your army in general. Painting all your miniatures to the quality represented in this video will end up with you never playing the game as the painting will take forever to finish. Anyway, good luck with your miniatures!

[@wssmagazine]

Luckily, I'm never trying to paint that many myself! I'm very aware of that issue. I want to show people what to do if they want to get the most out of their figures. I don't think if you're just speed painting to get a unit done, you need all that much help. I don't honestly expect most people to paint all their figures to these standards, but I hope maybe they take away a few helpful tips that they CAN use on plainer paint jobs.

[@inhumanbookworm]

Or, take all of your tips and create an amazing mini diorama. Excellent videos, I hope that they will keep coming

[@MiniWarzone]

Nice video and channel so subscription added ;)

[@2007bing]

Awesome

[@SlotraceDK]

Looks great, but I can't imaging painting 40 figures like that. Is there a faster way to paint armies, instead of just one figure?

[@battlefield4andworldofwars36]

What manufacturer are you using? And what size are you painting?

[@wcwindom56]

you occasionally mention an oil wash... could you tell me what that is?

[@essayons7]

+wcwindom56 I think she's using Citadel ink Nuln Oil as a wash - not oil paint (which can be done, but is a different animal from the acrylic water-based paints she is using). Any black ink will do, although the Citadel products settle-down really well into the folds and such.

[@wssmagazine]

+Greg S Yup, exactly right. Nuln oil (despite the name) is a Citadel acrylic wash.

[@wcwindom56]

I found it (along with the agrax earthshade) love them both. Before this I had been using thinned acrylics as washes. These are so much better.

[@markcollins1058]

Have you done icm or masterbox

[@paulhowlett4507]

Great video. How about a confederate officer, please.

[@fuskens]

woow

[@stuthorne7808]

To long to paint just one...this is a good method for generals officers etc but it will take you forever to do 400 like this....but well done

[@eeeddd1424]

perfect guide for a newbee,like me :)10/10 insant like,subs :)

[@dannyboy5967]

what if I dont have a Confederate soldier

[@richardsonrs]

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[@josephmilla2391]

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