What is 'White' is not always 'White'

Hello There! This completed unit is part of a feature for WSS and will be followed by a unit of British infantry and Spanish Dragoons.

I have always been interested in the 1809 campaign and the Austrians in particular but never had the chance to paint any. After a lucky chance to buy a large quantity of Frontrank figures I decided to start painting some.

This is the 17th Ruess-Plauen Regiment. They have an ochre facing and this is the 2nd Battalion. I like the Austrian infantry Raupenhelm and although some regiments had the newer shako all my units will have the older headgear.

This figure was part of the Wargames Foundry command set and as I was making unit in a march attack pose he was superfluous but I still wanted to use him. I decided to use him as a casualty marker and he has come out very well. The base came from Warbases here.

Next up is the Colonel. He is a Perrys, I think, and was not present in the original purchase I made. After looking up the horse furniture and shabraque I added the checquered edge but there is also supposed to be two gold or yellow stripes either side of the Black. I declined from doing this but have ordered some fine pens so this may get added in the future. I followed the stripes as moulded on the figure however their thickness seems to have varied and most of the contemporary examples I have seen show thinner stripes but I am not going to lose any sleep over that as I appreciated the extra help from the figures moulded line on the day.

There was a simpler version used of plain gold edging and a black sheepskin saddle cover but this was not moulded on the figure.

I tried a few alternatives to paint the officers black and gold/yellow sash. Gold seemed to look very 'unreal' as the metallic paint seemed too overpowering on the figure. I used a vallejo 915 deep yellow and a wash of thinned black paint. Then I went over some of the yellow again. This has come out very well.

Here is a close up of three of the infantry bases. I intend to use a slightly modified version of Shako II rules so the Austrian battalion has four bases of six figures.

The uniform research came from the Osprey books on the subject but more usefully the offering from here. W J Rawkins owned a bookshop in Norwich in the 1980'sand always had a great selection of books 0n offer. I purchased one of the original publications on the Austrian Army but the latest edition is a massive volume and is a one stop for the Austrian army and its uniforms. 

POST SCRIPT: The original idea for the method of painting this white came from Issue 298 August 2012 of Wargames Illustrated. A feature written by Matt Parkes used Vallejo paints,  837 London Grey, 989 sky grey, (thinned), 951 white, (thinned), and 951 white neat, (small area). This is more suitable for  white trousers on French troops etc.

For these Austrians I have used 837 Pale sand, Army Painter soft tone, 837 pale sand, (thinned),

a thin wash of either 918 ivory or 820 off white.