Brassheads

 My collection for the Central Indian campaign during the Indian Mutiny continues to fill out. One of the two British infantry regiments I'm including is the 3rd Bombay European Regiment. As the name suggests, not a Queen’s regiment but part of the HEIC Bombay Presidency’s army. 

Reputed to be the first British unit to wear khaki, in their new lightweight uniforms they gained the nickname Brassheads for their ability to withstand the heat.

I’ve taken the description of their stone-coloured khaki to mean grey. Rightly or wrongly. That’s just how I wanted them. And I’ve depicted their officer in a shell jacket with the regiment’s light yellow facings. Officers tended to wear whatever they liked and it provides a reference to their dress uniforms.

The grey was a b to get right. The Contrast didn’t look right. So I highlighted it. It still didn’t look right. So I washed a Shade over it. Finally! It looked good. Sometimes you have to mess around to eventually arrive at what you want. 

The sergeant (left rear) is a smashing figure. Complete with sword bayonet. Hats off to ace sculptor Paul Hicks.

The figures are Empress Miniatures (Iron Duke) designed to represent the 1st Madras Fusiliers, famed for their blue caps. They were an HEIC regiment too, so these were the best figures on the market to represent the Brassheads. I’m pleased with them.

They performed very well during the campaign and hopefully will do likewise on the tabletop!

I used all the painting techniques at my disposal, but a few notes on these new Contrast paints. Since discovering them I’ve used them on everything I’ve painted. I still use block painting, washes, highlighting. The Contrast paints are just another tool. 

If you’ve ever used inks or washes, the Contrast paints brush on the same way. It flows very well. Real easy. You need to start at one point and not go back over where you’ve painted so ensure a good covering as you go. If you do brush over the Contrast paint before it dries it’ll break the surface and spoil the effect. 

Get it right and you’ll have a base colour and shading as the pigment gathers in recesses. With some of the Contrast paints you’ll even have the highlighting that GW claim. Not all colours behave the same. Some of the Contrast paints are stronger than others. The stronger ones aren’t my favourites, but GW do make a special Contrast medium to thin these paints. Water works too but the medium maintains the Contrast properties. 

The undercoat needs to be light. Here the Guilliman Flesh is used over white. You should get a different finish with a different undercoat, but keep it light. 

Wait until one Contrast dries before you paint another next to it or the colours will run into each other. This Basilicanum Grey needs a highlight. And use a brush with a good point. Like kids colouring in, it’s best to stay within the lines. I didn’t quite achieve that oops!

Returning to the palaeontologist. The flesh, shirt, trousers and gaiters are all single coat Contrast paints. Which is great. I feel that with little effort I got a nice result. The gaiters are a different colour from the shirt and pants. Disappointingly I can’t tell the difference! They looked so different on the GW website...

My only other gripe is, as I’ve mentioned, that some of the colours are so strong, they can’t be used straight from the bottle. The range could be more consistent.

I’m no expert! Check out Duncan Rhodes on YouTube. He is an ace painter and explains things really well. I can also recommend James Morris’s article in Wargames Illustrated 392. 

Cheers

Chris