Tuesday 2 September 2008

Prussian Guards: Second Platoon


I finished the second platoon of my first Prussian Guards company during my holiday last month. However I have changed the colour of the uniform compared with the first platoon I did. The first platoon has a more greenish grey uniform which is more a WW2 field grey. On my visit to the Military Museum in Brussels, where they have a lot of WW1 stuff, I saw that the uniform was not a green-grey at all (although it went that way during the later war period).
The Guards uniform in Brussels.

This example doesn't have the piping on the cuffs (guards had red piping at the top and at the bottom of the cuff) but as the war progressed uniforms became more utilitarian. Only guards had litzen (the two white bars piped in red) on their collars; painting these was a challenge!


The big question now is whether to repaint the first unit. If I paint carefully I shouldn't have to do anything except the piping again. I suspect I will change the first platoon to match the second.

The third and final platoon of the first company is under way. They are now all based, undercoated and the basic flesh tone has been added. I have now painted the base uniform colour on four figures and hope to have the other eight done this week. After I have finished the first company I will paint some British and try out the Great War rules using three companies for each side. I have already painted 16 British, although the bases will need upgrading. I have decided not to repaint them and will stick to the greener uniforms as the ones in Brussels were a green khaki not a brown one as I thought they were.