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The Black Watch

Posted: February 5th, 2018, 6:48 pm
by Ratch
This kit was originally tooled in 1972 and was released from 1973 to 1978 and again from 1991 to 1994. My first purchase was from MR & ME Models in Kempston, probably around 2006. It is blister packed and in good condition. Construction is illustrated in six stages. The mouldings are in white plastic on two runners. A choice of arms is provided; the parts have fine detail and parts should be interchangeable with other kits in this series. Thin plastic sheet is included for the various belts and straps. Shoulder straps with wings for grenadiers are provided along with the worsted tufts worn by centre companies.

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History:
In 1809 the Highland corps consisted of the 42nd, 78th, 79th, 92nd and 93rd regiments. In addition to the kilt these Scottish troops also wore feathered bonnets with red, white and black, diced headband. Black ostrich feather top with plume and cockade on the left. Tartans of the era were all derived from the official Black Watch (the Military Sett) with various white, yellow or red lines added to provide a regimental distinction; the 42nd being a red line in the sett to indicate grenadier status. Hose was red and white diced.
Their officers had crimson silk sashes from the left shoulder to the right hip. They were mounted and wore trews. On campaign a normal shako with a three-line deep red, white and black dicing around often replaced their expensive feather bonnets. When the Battle of Waterloo started, the Union Brigade was posted to the rear of Picton's infantry division; the Greys at the left rear of the Inniskillings, who were in line with the Royals on their right. Pack's Brigade of Picton's division, consisting of the 55th, 92nd (Gordon’s), 42nd (Black Watch) and 1st Foot (Royal Scots), were in front of the Inniskilling Dragoons and Greys. The Royal Dragoons were further to the right, behind Kempt's Brigade (28th Foot, 79th (Cameron’s) and 32nd Foot).

Reference:
BRITISH INFANTRY UNIFORMS Since 1660 ISBN 0 7137 1127 2 pages 59-60
AN ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF UNIFORMS OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS page 93
WELLINGTON’S ARMY plate 32
Brassey’s History of Uniforms Napoleonic Wars Wellington’s Army ISBN 1-85753-221-X page page 126/7
BRITISH MILITARY UNIFORMS From Contemporary Pictures plate 71

My picture has the head of the French Grenadier in error
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Luckily I have swapped them before assembly starts
Flesh sprayed
Andrea Color 1st Shadow = primary flesh
Andrea Color 2nd Shadow = secondary flesh
Andrea Color 1st Base = third skin spray and ninth skin tone
Andrea Color 2nd Base = fourth skin spray
Andrea Color 1st Light = fifth skin tone
Andrea Color 2nd Light = sixth skin tone
Vallejo Model Color 19 70927 Dark Flesh FS32555 = seventh skin tone
Vallejo Model Color 20 70845 Sunny Skintone = eighth skin tone

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 6th, 2018, 6:00 am
by Clashcityrocker
I'm interested in all of these figures Ratch, but I'm interested to see how you paint the tartan.

Nigel

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 6th, 2018, 10:21 am
by Ratch
I'll do a step by step for you Nigel - it will basically be the same process I recently used on the 1/76 figures ;-)

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 6th, 2018, 6:07 pm
by Ratch
Vallejo Model Color 48 70898 Dark Sea Blue = kilt
Vallejo Model Color 31 70957 Flat Red / 32 70946 Dark Red / 33 70926 Red = coat
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Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 7th, 2018, 1:54 am
by JohnRatzenberger
I see my problem - I don't spray one skin color much less eight or nine ....
Interesting.

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 7th, 2018, 9:35 am
by Ratch
I reckon skin isn't just one, uniform colour. Some were literally just a pass with the airbrush, others were a bit more. Maybe this batch are a little bit pale - I haven't decided yet :roll:

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 7th, 2018, 10:05 am
by iggie
Ratch wrote:I reckon skin isn't just one, uniform colour. Some were literally just a pass with the airbrush, others were a bit more. Maybe this batch are a little bit pale - I haven't decided yet :roll:
The Black Watch being a Scottish Regiment, pale would be about right :grin:

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 7th, 2018, 7:51 pm
by Ratch
Painting the tartan:
Vallejo Model Color 88 70895 Gunship Green = tartan check
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Vallejo Model Color 73 70969 Park Green Flat = tartan dice
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Vallejo Model Color 70950 169 Black = Military sett
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Vallejo Model Color 31 70957 Flat Red = grenadier tartan stripe
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Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 8th, 2018, 2:00 am
by JohnRatzenberger
Thank you for that sequence, I'll hang it over my workbench so my hands & eyes know what they are supposed to do. :)

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 8th, 2018, 4:25 am
by Clashcityrocker
Noice :) Thanks for the notes.

Nigel

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 8th, 2018, 4:14 pm
by rob_van_riel
Admirable work on the tartan. I have to confess I wimped out with some overly modern cheating when I dealt with this particular subject: http://uamf.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=320&t=11693&start=34; . Of course, this had it's own issues, as there's no free lunch, ever :roll:
I'd be happy to share the drawings, should anyone else feel like swapping one problem for another :???:

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 8th, 2018, 6:47 pm
by Ratch
How did it come out? I suppose you could copy the correct Military Sett for any regiment to reproduce :)
Of course, I can't print my own decals, so this isn't an option for me :cry:

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 8th, 2018, 7:38 pm
by rob_van_riel
Ratch wrote:How did it come out? I suppose you could copy the correct Military Sett for any regiment to reproduce :)
Of course, I can't print my own decals, so this isn't an option for me :cry:
The decal did it's job (check near the end of the follow-up thread), although I suspect fitting it to the kit kilt might be a challenge. As for printing, the colour variations seemed more than a bit too subtle to take a shot at it with the ALPS, so I used a print-on-demand service: http://www.druckeronkel.de/index.php?id=decals; This chap is in Germany, so it really helps if you speak German. Price is about 12-14 Euro for an A5 sheet, same as for most AM decals.
Other, similar companies are all but certain to exist all over the planet, but my experience so far with him is excellent, so I didn't bother to look further afield.

Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 9th, 2018, 6:47 pm
by Ratch
Vallejo Model Color 70950 169 Black = bonnet, boots, cockade, bonnet peak, Military sett, cartridge pouch
Vallejo Model Color 49 70807 Oxford Blue = facings, lapels, cuffs, collar, wings
Vallejo Model Color 1 70951 White = socks, bonnet band, lace, piping
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Re: The Black Watch

Posted: February 11th, 2018, 12:48 am
by Clashcityrocker
Very nice.

Nigel