Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Blue and Red: How to Paint the 114th Pennsylvania "Collis Zouaves"


For my first foray into the American Civil War, I have decided to take on a tough subject: how to paint the 114th Pennsylvania "Collis Zouaves" as they might have appeared at Gettysburg.

The problem is not so much in the detail but rather the basic colour of blue of the Zouave vest and red of the Chasseur pants of the uniform.

As you can see, the colours range from muted Venetian Red (per Yanni), Madder Red from certain sources, through a very bright red in some images. Likewise the blue of the vest ranges from a grey blue to a very dark Union blue-black.

If you have a view, or better still information, please let me know on this blog.


Artist Don Troiani's interpretation

Plate from Gettysburg Source Book

Osprey image

Actual 114th uniform. But how did it look in 1863?

Re-enactors of the 114th follow the preserved uniform. But is it oxidized?