It has been a while since I have painted tartan and so it is with some trepidation that I have started on a small unit of Fraser’s Highlanders (78th Foot) circa 1759.
We know the Frasers had white facings but there is some controversy over their plaid. Some modern interpretations have them wearing a red Fraser tartan but this is unlikely. A 1760 painting of 70 year old gentleman volunteer Malcom MacPherson has him in a plaid which looks like the Government Set. I decided therefore to paint my Frasers in the same way.
The excellent illustration by R.J. Marrion (Canadian War Museum) gives me a clearer reference for the rank and file.
I decide to give the piper a red Fraser tartan based on a fragment of plaid that belonged to Thomas Fraser of Struy and is said to have been worn by him at Culloden. Thomas Fraser then served as an officer in the 78th Foot in North America from 1757.
Given the intricacy of painting tartan I decide to paint my unit of 10 men, five at a time. The first step is to paint the base colour — red for the piper and blue for the others.
Second step is to paint the main cross stripes — blue for the piper, green for the others.
A dab of brighter green where the stripes intersect (blue for the piper) and I can see the tartan bringing to evolve.
The Fraser tartan has a red line in the middle of the blue. So I do that next on the piper’s plaid. I am thankful that I only have to do this on one figure.
The next step is the trickiest. This involves painting thin black lines of either side of the main cross stripes. To do this I use a 00 brush with a fine point (no frayed bristles) and a relatively thin black paint. The two figures on right of photo have been done, the centre one is in progress and the two on the left still to do. Sharp eyes will notice that some of my vertical lines have spilled over onto the bare knees. I will touch this up later.
Plaid done, I paint the remaining bits. But there is one more step to bring the figures to life.
This is the application of a Raw Umber wash which picks out the details, covers up mistakes and gives the figures a much more realistic look.
And here is the finished unit ready to take on the French at Quebec. The figures are RAFM 25 mm.