This has been the project that has caused me the most consternation ever. I have liked the models for the Republique of France since I first saw them; in fact I think they are some of the best models in the entire game. So it should be a no brainer to pick some up and get painting. The problem is that being ex Royal Navy I haven’t been able to bring myself to paint a French fleet. I know it’s silly but there you go. Anyway I kept going back and looking at the models but I didn’t have a paint scheme in mind until now. I wanted something that would be reasonably easy to paint, not like my never ending Ottoman project but it also needed a French feel to it. So I’ve gone with Blue and red. I would have added in some white but couldn’t think how to do it with it looking forced. Although the waves on the bases could tick that box.
First things first then was to prime the first model and as usual for me this was done using Vallejo Black Surface Primer (74.602). I wanted a dark base because my plan was to use a dark metallic as a base colour. Next up was a very heavy dry brush with Scale 75 Black Metal (SC-63). Before a final lighter dry brush of Scale 75 Heavy Metal (SC-65). The idea here was to give a base metallic colour over which would apply thin coats of accent colour so they maintain the metallic feel throughout.
Hull: I wanted a nice rich blue for the hull but I also wanted some of the metallic effect from the base colours to show through. To achieve this is used Vallejo Blue Angels (71.090) which I thinned down to about a 50/50 mix.
Decking: For the decking I used Vallejo Grey Surface primer (74.601) to lighten everything up. Then over this I used Vallejo Japanese Uniform (70.923) as I didn’t want the decking to be too dark. The final step for the decking was to make a wash using Vallejo Wood Grain (70.828) that was heavily thinned down. This is a fantastic colour but if you have to be aggressive when thinning it down, otherwise it just covers everything underneath it completely.
Superstructure: I started off with the same blue as used for the hull which was Vallejo Blue Angels (71.090) which I again thinned down to about a 50/50 mix. This went on all the vertical surfaces to tie in with the hull. For the boiler stacks / funnels I just gave them an edge highlight with Vallejo Chrome (71.064) to give them a bit of pop.
Pipes: For the pipes on the hull and superstructure I used Vallejo Copper (71.068) as a base coat and then highlighted this with Vallejo Bright Brass (71.067). For the bands that hold the pipes in place I used Scale 75 Heavy Metal (SC-65) which was then highlighted with Vallejo Chrome (71.064).
Fittings: First off for the fixings there were the scuttles, (or windows) which because of their size I used Vallejo Chrome (71.064) to cover the whole thing and then went back with Badger Ghost Tint Plasma Fluid (D6-180) which was used in the centre to represent the glass area. All the other fittings such as gun barrels, torpedo ports and the brackets that hold the pipes in place were painted using Scale 75 Heavy Metal (SC-65) which was then highlighted with a touch of Vallejo Chrome (71.064).
Basing:
For the bases I started with Scale 75 Mediterranean Blue (SC-51) and then added Vallejo Mediterranean Blue Water Effect (26.202) over this. Using a tooth pick to give it a bit of shape. Once this is was dry I gave the wave tops a dry brush with Vallejo Off White (70.820). A full guide to how I make the base can be found here.
