There are lots of painting guides for World War II out there – both on-line and books – so why another one? Well, it started because most of my WW2 kit was painted by my mate Roland Davis and on the off chance he stopped painting I wanted to be able to reproduce what he’d done – in colours if not in quality. Then as I started painting more I wanted inspiration.
I have WW2 painting guides for
- Russian Infantry
- Russian Naval Infantry
- Spanish Blue Division / Early-Mid War Germans
- German Tanks
- Fallschirmjaeger
- Kiwi / British Mediterranean
- Kiwi Vehicle Camouflage in WW2
- Uniform Guide for the French Expeditionary Corps
Other places to look
Andy O’Neill has a useful guide on WW2 European theatre uniforms and a gallery to illustrate it.
Battle Front have a variety of painting guides, all of which are useful in one way or another:
- Mid-war painting guide which basically lists basic colours to use in a variety of paint brands. The brands listed are Humbrel Enamel, Model-Master Enamel, Tamiya Acrylic, Vallejo Acrylic, and Games Workshop. I trust these guys, but I don’t use any of those brands and nor does Roland – who paints my WW2. And the list is pretty brief.
- Late-war painting guide. Same deal.
- Guide to painting U.S. infantry. Much more useful. Quite detailed instructions for painting Americans in various uniform types.
- Guide to Painting German Camouflage: part 1.
- Guide to Basing your Miniatures. Describes a method using a pre-mixed plaster filler, Woodland Scenic earth undercoat, and grass flock. Simple but good effect – I’ve used this on occasion.
- A Guide to Painting British Troops
Gladiator Games has a guide to World War II uniforms using Coat D’Arms paints. Personally I don’t trust this, as they seem to have believed the label on the jar rather than looking at the colour inside the bottle.
Paul Scrivens-Smith –
A fast WWII painting guide SHQ Miniatures: Painting Guides