Your worst painting mistakes?

[Peter]

Hum, Peter, you made me doubt a lot, because I've painted some of mine with grey trousers

So, i had a check at http://centjours.mont-saint-jean.com/, and...


Unless there's a mistake on this well documented site, I would say that your worst mistake is to believe you made a mistake !!!
I hope it didn't destroy your life during the 3 past decades

It is so long ago but I think I had my information of the book the armies at Waterloo:


But I'm pleased that I don't have to walk masked on the streets anymore, because I didn't make a mistake!

[PhilC]

Oh yes, I know this book, with another cover illustration. The difficulty with most books related to uniforms is that, for obvious economic reasons, there are usually only one illustration for one unit. In case you only see the officer, you may be wrong for the rank and line.

So one of my own mistakes was to convert Scot Greys into Belgian fifth Dragoons for the Waterloo campaign (yes yes, there was a time when you only had a few references per country, and only British and French troops, plus Prussian Landwehr - that was in the 80s, for those who are thinking of their future 30th birthday ), and replace the covered bearskins hat by a homemade stovepipe - which proved wrong, because only the officer wore such sort of shako, while the troop should have an ordinary one.

And, if I remember well, the mistake comes from my misinterpretation of the Pericoli book, because the illustration was that of an officer.

But Peter, I am still happy I saved your life

[dykio]

hmmm...... well.... i dont think i have ever made a mistake. All my figures are just brilliantly painted and pieces of art.... well at least thats how they look from a distance and when i dont have my glasses on

I think my worst mistake was converting a figure and putting on 2 left arms. And i only noticed it after a couple of weeks. And a big mistake i made was basing (with spray paint) a whole box and then noticed that i had forgotten to remove the mould lines.

But after al these years i have learned one thing. For me they dont have to be perfect but just good enough for me,,,and the most importent thing is just to have fun and enjoy yourself

Take care

Dykio

[Flambeau]

# Mr Andrea,

uh, spraying varnish in humid weather, that one yes. Happened to me too with 28mm figures. What a mess. They should put a warning on the bottles.

# dutchboyinohio
Enamel colours? I still use them from time to time. Gloss black for blackened cuirasses (Napoleonic Russians, Austrians etc.). Enamel gold, bronze, brass and copper are still unsurpasssed by anything Citadel or Valejo have, at least imho, though recent productions seem to be duller than they were 30 years ago. Acrylic silver and steel however are better than Enamel.

#PhilC
thanks for reminding me of the excellent Pericolo book. It has both versions of the shako for the 5th Belgian dragoons though, the stovepipe for the officer and a french shako for the trumpeter. But I think both Pericoli and Haythornthwaite may have their interpretation of the 5th Belgian Light Dragoons from the Vinkhuijzen collection (https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/col ... navigation). Great place for information on uniforms through the ages, but not without some mistakes itself, so ... The stovepipe shako for the whole regiment is certainly not as bad as the wrong uniform and the wrong colour for the 23rd Light Dragoons

[PhilC]

thanks for reminding me of the excellent Pericolo book. It has both versions of the shako for the 5th Belgian dragoons though, the stovepipe for the officer and a french shako for the trumpeter.

Unfortunately, I don't have this book with me (it still must be at my mother's home ), but now that you write it, I think I remember the trumpeter as well. But I also remember that I had to imagine the trooper silhouette with this information only, and I found this shako unusual... hence the result
Thank you very much for the link! On a vignette representing the 5th Chevau-légers, we see an officer, a trumpeter, and a trooper in the background.

The truth is that I only painted one trooper ! So a single mistake

So now, I am in the mood to paint the trumpeter of this regiment - I love yellow uniforms.

[Graeme]

My worst painting mistakes?

1. Thinking I can paint.

2. I had a mind to paint a mounted figure for a Benno's figure comp; so I painted a horse with medium brown base coat, ochre drybrush, which always looks a bit overdone, and then a further drybrush with a darker brown to tone back the ochre:



There are far better horse painters here but I thought this was good by my standard and I was happy with it; so I turned my attention to the Scots Grey figure that was going to be mounted on it:



ER!

[Bluefalchion]

I don't get it. What was the mistake Graeme?

[Graeme]

Aaron. It seems you forgot the same thing I did.

The reason they're called "Scots Greys"... Is they don't ride brown horses.

[MABO]

I don't get it. What was the mistake Graeme?

Both illustrations not historical correct, but iconographic.

Funny story Graeme. But the horse is nice if. You should use it for another unit, maybe.

[Flambeau]

#Graeme

You might use the horse for the Blues or Life Guards

Joke aside, just invent a story for the guy if you've already glued him to the horse. His grey mare got killed and he remounted on stray Innisklling horse. At least that makes him usable for a "Scots Greys in retreat" diorama.

Stay safe and have fun

Flambeau

[Graeme]

It was quite muddy, perhaps the horse is grey underneath.

I painted another horse and this one will be used for a Royal or Inniskillin so no problem. but I wish I'd realised my mistake before I painted it in three different shades of the wrong colour.

[Bill Slavin]

Aaron. It seems you forgot the same thing I did.

The reason they're called "Scots Greys"... Is they don't ride brown horses.

Very funny! And fresh to the campaign, you couldn't even argue that they had had to replace them opver the years due to attrition.
Worst mistake? Priming some Caesar WWII Germans with my usual plastic primer only to find out there was some sort of reaction to the Caesar plastic and they wouldn't dry. I painted them regardless but ten years later they are still sticky to the touch.
Smaller mistakes abound, like thinking that all the British 1st Guards had shoulder wings. I'm currently resolving that issue by painting up a new battalion and reassigning the old ones. Live and learn.

[Bluefalchion]

Bill Slavin--

I had the same experience with Caesar WWII Germans. So I came on the forum and learned that gesso and water 50:50 mix can be used as a primer. Also thinning down the enamel paint, or, preferably, ditching it altogether and switching to acrylics. My large collection of enamel paint pots have now been repurposed as figure stands for during the painting process.

[Graeme]

Bill.

If a certain plastic reacts with a certain paint I might question whether that was your mistake.

I had a similar experience with a HaT Celtic chariot, an Australian Light Horseman, and enamel paint. It seems the paintable plastic used was formulated for acrylic paints. I switch to acrylics now whenever I paint that kind of plastic.

It's handy to know that I might have to do the same with Caeser plastic, I have some recently acquired Caeser figs I want to do something with.

Aaron. It seems you forgot the same thing I did.

It occurs to me that was an unfair assumption, sorry. There's no reason why everyone should know that.

But for anyone who collects mostly Napoleonics, like me; focuses mostly on waterloo, like me; and has Scots heritage, like me. That brown horse?

[Bluefalchion]

Graeme:

No offense taken. Some of the Napoleonic aces of our forum have vast encyclopaedias of knowledge inside their sizable brains. I have a lot of respect for those members!

For a dueler like myself, I have to start from scratch with every figure used for competition. And, for some subjects, a point can be reached where further information on the correct color can never be determined with certainty. It seems that Scots Greys cavalry are not in that category.

[Peter]

Aaron. It seems you forgot the same thing I did.

The reason they're called "Scots Greys"... Is they don't ride brown horses.

So the Scots Greys was about the horses? And not the riders? OMG are you sure?

[Bluefalchion]

My biggest painting mistake was challenging PhilC to a duel. He got double the votes!

Only kidding, of course. I loved my duel and you have not seen the last of it.

[zirrian]

Trusting spray varnishes - there are still some minis in my collection with a permanent "frosting" from shiny varnish. Learned my lesson, only using brush on or airbrush sprays since.

[Bluefalchion]

I am always leery of using any finishes or varnishes for fear of ruining the figure. Your cautionary tale is keeping my trepidation level high.

[Xantippos]

A good many, I guess .Not very important, for example;

Using a hardware store black spray; it seemed to prime wonderfully. A few years later, it flakes away! now I have a good amount of primed figures, that are flaking off. And I am unsure if a reprime them, or I clean them off, or what .

Other; varnishing with Modge Podge and getting heavy frosting on my beautiful Nubians!

Varnishing some figures with artists lacquer; after drying more or less ok, after some time they became sticky and still are, up to some degree. Depending on the weather conditions, they are sticky or not!