Regiment Languedoc, 1672 - WIP #1

Through the Fightingtalk forums at the League of Augsburg, I recieved one of Northstar's 1672 line: specifically, a French Musketeer firing.

Through the help of Arthur, a member there, I've decided to paint my sample figure as a member of the Regiment Languedoc, raised in 1672 for the Dutch War. Gray coats, blue cuffs, red and yellow shoulder ribbons Nine Years War/War of the League of Augsburg, red stockings in the Nine Years War/War of the League of Augsburg.

Flags are the traditional and easy to paint white cross over quarterings of filamot and violet, though Not by Appointment has lovely paper flags for Languedoc here. Officers theoretically wore the same uniform as them men in the French Army, but made of better material and more sumptuous. Languedoc's musicians were in the Royal livery.

The North Star 1672 (formerly Copplestone's Glory of the Sun range) line are quite exquisite figures. Upon receipt, there was only a little bit of flash:

 You can see the flash between his arm and his musket, but that's nothing the Dremel tool couldn't take care of.

Here he is, mounted on a bottle cap for painting:

First up was the gray coat. I began with black over the gray primer, to keep the grays from streaking. I also painted his hat and shoes. The coat is Delta Ceramcoat Charcoal for the shadow and Hippo Gray for the main shade; my highlight color is not yet determined, but I am thinking a 1:1 mix of Hippo Gray and Ceramcoat Quaker or Country Gray:

Next up were the cuffs. I'm quite a fan of the shade of blue that Project SYW uses for the French blue, and I think I figured out how to mix it. The shadow was Vallejo 70965 Prussian Blue (yes, heresy!), and the main shade is a 2:1 mix of Prussian Blue and Vallejo 70943 Grey Blue. The highlight will be a 1:1 mix, or a 1:2 mix of the same colors. I think the cuffs look pretty nice:

The musket and sword scabbard I am particularly proud of. Instead of building up from a shadow to a highlight the way I do for most of my 25mm colors, I painted them with Vallejo Game Color 72042 Parasite Brown, and then washed with Games Workshop Flesh Wash. I think it gives a nice varnished wood effect:

Next up are flesh tones. For Europeans, I start with Games Workshop Tanned Flesh for the shadow, and then use Games Workshop Bronzed Flesh as the main shade. I then will highlight with Vallejo 70815 Basic Skintone. Because I haven't used it for a while (not since Custer), I decided on blond hair. For blonds, I use Reaper's Master Series Blond Triad: 09256 Blond Shadow, 09257 Blond Hair, and 09258 Blond Highlight.

I painted the leatherwork in another Reaper Master Series Triad: 09109 Ruddy Leather for the shadow, 09110 Oiled Leather is the main shade, and I will highlight with 09111 Burnt Orange.

So, that's where things stand. Before I go any further, I'm waiting on additional uniform information from the ever helpful Arthur about breeches, buttons and some ribbons.

I'm not sure if I want to expand into the Dutch Wars. I'm tempted, but I have a lot in the metal mountain to paint. I may purchase some more from Northstar, since I need to purchase pikes and a few other figures for my English Civil War collections. Then again, I'm also tempted by Barry Hilton's Warfare range, and do have two WSS regiments in 28mm that need some TLC.