I Begin the French

With the Berbers finished, it's time to do the French.

I decided to "warm up" with the Foreign Legion in their white uniforms. These are exactly the same uniforms as the classic blue overcoats--except that the legionnaires are not wearing them. This is, most of the period postcards I've seen, the more common uniform worn in the heat of the North African desert. The bourgeron, pants, and kepi cover are all white. Like the Berbers, I start with dark gray and lighten with light gray and dry brush with some white.

The "on guard" figure above is one of my all-time favorite figures. Notice how the buttons on the gaiters stand out by not applying too much light gray over the dark base. The kepi is pure white. This is probably a-historical but I like the effect. (The "cult of the kepi" really began with General Rollet in the inter-war period.) One way to really make the white stand out is to paint a base coat of light blue under it. For this tip I am indebted to Bob Bowling of RLBPS.

The standard FR-8 unit pack comes with half of the figures in gaiters and no packs and the other half in long pants without gaiters and with packs. If you like, you can ask for all one or the other but almost no one does. I've done those without the packs first, including the bugler. Except for the bugle (which I didn't finish--but easily could have) his uniform is identical to theirs.