SCW: Spanish Civil War Painting Guide
Aim
All I’m really interested in is a set of instructions so somebody can paint some wargaming figures. That means I don’t have to describe the cloths, just the colours. I have included descriptions of unusual articles of clothing – like the Moroccan chilaba – just so you can recognise them, hence paint them the correct colour.
Basic colours
There were four basic uniform colours, three in the Nationalist forces and one for the Republican forces. The basic colour was generally, but not always, used for the hat, tunic and trousers. As I use Coat D'arms paints, I thought I would indicate a rough approximation from this range.
|
Side |
Service |
Basic Uniform Colour |
Main Colour (Coat D'arms) |
Variations (Coat D'arms) |
|
Republican |
Popular Army |
Brownish-tinged khaki |
A lighter shade of 218 Wood Brown although 501 British Khaki is close enough. |
524 Tan Earth, 528 Russian Brown, 537 Faded Khaki 225 Khaki, 502 Field Drab |
|
Nationalist |
Regular Army |
Greenish-tinged khaki * |
528 Russian Brown. | |
|
Foreign Legion |
Grey-green * |
Winter uniform was 226 Olive, and summer 513 Faded Olive. | ||
|
Moroccans |
Lentil coloured |
228 Buff |
* Apparently the Grey-green of the Foreign Legion was quiet distinctive, hence must have been quite different to the Greenish-tinged khaki of the other Nationalists, however this isn’t apparent from the illustrations in Turnball (1978). It is more apparent if you compare figure B1 in Turnball (1978) and figure D1 in Scurr (1985).
Phases of the War
Where necessary I have divided the war into two phases: early (1936 to early 1937) and late (mid 1937 to 1939). I’m not particularly concerned if the precise dates of particular uniform changes were different for different troops types; in most cases the generic early/late distinction is sufficient.
What I can offer
Painting suggestions for:
Uniform sources
The definitive source:
Bueno, J. M. (1971). Uniformes Militares en color de la Guerra Civil Española. Madrid: Libreria Editorial San Martin.
Other Sources
Mark Hannan’s web site includes a description of combat dress from the Spanish Civil War http://members.aol.com/gaun1let/SCW/Combatdr.html
Cordery, B. (1993). La Ultima Cruzada: A Wargamers guide to the Spanish Civil War (2nd ed.). Partizan Press.