Facing the Music

For a while, I was worried about having to repaint details on the Afghan tribesmen near their shoulders.

National Army Museum: https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1997-11-107-17 A sketch in the Bolan Pass, 1879

There are bigger problems at hand now.

Do you see those white bits on the redcoat's cuffs and collars? Those are facings. And I have forgotten to paint them.

My initial sources for painting were threefold, two from the site British Battles and one from an Osprey book, The British Army on Campaign 1856-81.

The collars I can take full responsibility for, but in each of these images the soldiers in question have no cuff facing colours whatsoever. What does this mean? The one on the left was made many years after the events in question by a man who was not an eyewitness. The image on the right is a potential recolour, as I have not been able to find a non-greyscale version anywhere else, except on the Instagram page of a company selling reproduction 19th century campaign furniture! Now there's something unexpected, yet delightful. The middle image, from Osprey, is based on the initial sketch at the start of this post by Lieutenant John Frederick Irwin.

It was largely by flailing about with random keywords that I came across a solution on the British Empire site.

To quote: "The tunic is an undress frock that replaced the shell jacket in 1870. It was worn at home as well as for foreign service, made of serge, having five buttons down the front. There were no pockets, and the blue facings were confined to the collar."

So, there we have it. I need not paint on cuffs for each of my figures, but I should get around to collars. White was the most frequent facing of the Second Anglo Afghan war, and also the primary English facing after the 1881 reforms. I figured I would try that for a start with a figure I was just finishing, and give the cuffs a shot too, to see how it looked:

I normally basecoat and wash in assemblies, with the arms separate from the body. This is a good example of why, the neck being devilishly hard to reach otherwise. I think the cuffs came out decently well, but the collar will need to be done neater in the future. I find myself torn as to if I should repaint cuffs on the previous figures or not. Collars are a must, but the cuffs are optional. This is not a decision to be taken lightly, although it does seem feasible if nothing else. A good first step will be to incorporate collar painting into future Redcoats, to see how a white, or black, collar looks without any corresponding cuffs.

It has been often said that you should "measure twice, cut once". When it comes to painting historical figures, "research twice, paint once" corresponds rather well. Still, I do enjoy research, even if it means I have to repaint some areas in the end.