After a bit of trial and error trying to find something that approximated my understanding of early war German field grey I came up with something that seems to work. These are my first 1914 German infantry. I tried a few feldmutze head swaps as well.
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/928/43072469244_705e8aa8ab_z.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1791/43072468314_902f5604dc_z.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1814/43072467384_f640a83bff_z.jpg)
For the tunic I used an approx 4:1 mix of Americana Slate Grey and Vallejo Green Sky. For the trousers I used the slate grey on its own. I then applied a generous coat of Citadel Nuln Oil shade (wash) which tones down the green considerably and also darkens and shades the trousers. I applied the rest of the paints over this, giving the flesh a wash of Citadel Reikland Flesh Shade. Once dry I painted a coat of Vallejo Satin Varnish, then a coat of brown magic wash and finally a coat of Windsor and Newton acrylic matt varnish. the basing was done firstly with a layer of Windsor and Newton Modelling Paste, applied with a Games Workshop plastic spatula (really useful as it has a large end and a thinner end for getting into narrower gaps between the figures) which came as part of a three tool sculpting kit. Some sand and small grit was added to a few areas at this stage to represent stones. The whole base was then painted Crafter's Choice Yellow Ochre, then given a wash of Citadel Seraphim Sepia Shade. The base was then dry brushed Vallejo Tan Yellow and the stones carefully dry brushed Vallejo Light Grey. Where some of the sepia wash had pooled I painted Vallejo gloss varnish to represent puddles. The bases were then edged using Miniature Paints Earth Brown. Finally static grass and tufts were added using PVA glue.
Leman,
I would say that that was a resounding success!
Many thanks for sharing the details of how you achieved this - your Germans look very nice indeed.
Beautiful paint job and basing on those figures!
Thanks gents; I'm now working on some dragoons and, like the British lancers, I'm going for mounted, dismounted, machine gun, horses and horse holder and a 2 horse limber as a stand-in for something to carry the machine gun when the unit is mounted up.
Using a similar technique to the infantry, here are the mounted German dragoons.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1906/44094381125_a1b5307bd8_z.jpg%5Bimg%5D%3Cbr%20/%3E%3Cbr%20/%3E%5Bimg%5Dhttps://farm2.staticflickr.com/1927/44956978082_a5eb4fca1f_z.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1918/44956977092_0c8fc9658b_z.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1966/45005317251_86e6b7a48e_z.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1910/43193661070_11eab73e25_z.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1927/44956978082_a5eb4fca1f_z.jpg)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1906/44094381125_a1b5307bd8_z.jpg)
Unfortunately these two photos were timed out so I had to repost.
Those are very nice, Andy - thanks for posting.
Same uniform colours as the infantry, presumably?
Same colours as the infantry, apart from doing the helmet covers in light grey and the trim in pink, eg the 5th Dragoons (I think). So as not to turn them totally pink, but rather to give the impression of trim, I left off the collar trim and rear vent trim. According to my sources the cavalry had no trim to their trousers. I am now working on the dismounted and casualty figures for this unit.