Dragoon Green

Dragoon Green.

»Dragoon Green«, the green colour typically associated with French Dragoons, but far from unique to them. Humbrol Authentic Colour MC7 »Dragoon Green« was one of the dedicated greens sold in their Napoleonic French/Prussian paint sets, and ESCI recommended this colour in its 1986 painting instructions for Prussian Jägers whose uniform had been changed from the original »Siskin Green« to a darker green. Hinchliffe colour guides printed in 1976, on the other hand, would have you use Humbrol Authentic Colour MC3 »Rifle Green« for just about any green uniform or facing colour of the Napoleonic era, including French dragoons, chasseurs, line lancers and hussars, Austrian dragoons, Austrian and Prussian Jägers, Russian dragoons, infantry and gunners, Dutch-Belgian Jägers, British Rifles and so forth. Humbrol Authentic Colour MC3 »Rifle Green« is a green tone, much lighter than the deep »Black Green« introduced in 1816.

Colour printed uniform illustrations in books and painting guides can be unreliable, because the CMYK colour model used in printing may not always faithfully reproduce the colours used by the painter. Consider Otto von Pivka’s »Napoleons German Allies (5): Hessen-Darmstadt & Hessen-Kassel« as an example: in colour plate A »Hessen-Darmstadt: Officer, Chevaulegers, 1790–1803«, the uniform base colour is a cool bottle green tending towards the blue end of the visible spectrum, whereas the same illustration on the cover of the booklet displays a noticeably warmer green with a hint of yellow. Which of the two greens is the one actually painted by illustrator Brian Fosten, and on which evidence did he base his decision? Fabric produced by different manufacturers may differ, even if identical dies were used and a common recipe was strictly adhered to. Replacements may be clothed in uniforms tailored from a different batch of green fabric, than the veterans of their unit. The relative age of a uniform and the different wear and tear it is subjected to practically guarantee that dragoons from the same unit are seen wearing noticeably different shades of green.

Dragoon Green

  • French Dragoon Green, Foundry COL070
  • Dragoon Green, Howard Hues 1555
  • Dragoon Green, Humbrol Authentic Colour MC7
  • Mid Green, Dragoon Green, Humbrol 101
  • Olive Green, Lascaux 955
  • Lascaux: 3 × 961 Yellow Ochre + 1 × PRIMAcryl 13.431 Indigo
  • Lascaux: 3 × 961 Yellow Ochre + 1 × PRIMAcryl 13.433 Ultramarine Blue
  • Flat Green, Model Master 1571
  • PRIMAcryl: 1 × 13.431 Indigo + 1 × 13.210 Vanadium Yellow deep
  • PRIMAcryl: 4 × 13.561 Turmaline Green + 1 × 13.789 »Neutral Grey«
  • Flat Green, Tamiya XF-5
  • Deep Green, Tamiya XF-26
  • Olive Green, Tamiya XF-58
  • Russian Armor Green, Testors Model Master 4807
Dragoon Green from Philip Haythornthwaite to Victor Huen.

Your choice of »Dragoon Green« may be based on personal preference, artistic license, availability of green paint, or slavish adherence to a supposed industry standard. A study of popular uniform illustrations of Napoleonic French dragoons reveals a plethora of likely »Dragoon Green« shades ranging from a dark olive green (Lascaux 961 »Yellow Ochre« and PRIMAcryl 13.431 »Indigo« mixed 3:1) of the Imperial Guard Dragoon on Plate 46 of Philip Haythornthwaite’s book Uniforms of Waterloo in Colour to a shaded tourmaline green on Plate 41 »Dragons et infanterie légère escortant les prisonniers prussiens de la bataille de Prenzlau. Entrée à Leipzig« of La Grande Armée par Victor Huen.

Green