[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"faction-/factions/bolt-action-united-states":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"date":385,"description":386,"extension":387,"faction":388,"heroImage":389,"hex":390,"intro":391,"lastUpdated":385,"meta":392,"navigation":393,"path":394,"seo":395,"stem":396,"system":397,"__hash__":398},"factions/factions/bolt-action-united-states.md","How to Paint American Infantry (Bolt Action)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":376},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,25,28,71,86,115,132,136,225,229,261,294,315,319,368],[10,11,12],"p",{},"The thing that catches people out about Americans is that olive drab is two colours, not one. The wool shirt, the trousers and the M1941 jacket are shade No. 3, a light tan-khaki with a mustard cast. The M1943 field jacket that replaces it from late 1943 is shade No. 7, a much darker green drab. A 1944 GI is usually wearing both at once, and painting them as a single tone is what makes an American squad look flat and toy-like. Get the two layers apart and the rest of the figure - khaki webbing, brown boots, an olive helmet - is a very short shopping list.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"the-signature-look","The signature look",[10,19,20],{},"A dark green outer layer over lighter khaki wool, cotton webbing sitting between the two in value, russet-brown leather boots and a helmet a shade darker than the jacket. There is no blackened leather anywhere on an American, which is the fastest way to tell one from a German at table distance. And, unusually for a WW2 army, almost no camouflage: outside the Marines, all the visual interest comes from stacking drabs rather than from pattern.",[14,22,24],{"id":23},"the-olive-drab-uniform","The olive drab uniform",[10,26,27],{},"Undercoat black or dark grey. Shade No. 7 is dark enough that a white primer fights you.",[29,30,31,40,51,57],"ol",{},[32,33,34,35,39],"li",{},"Basecoat Vallejo Model Color ",[36,37,38],"strong",{},"US Olive Drab",", two thin coats. This is shade No. 7 - the M1943 jacket, the trousers that go with it and the helmet - and it is the one bottle to own if you own only one.",[32,41,42,43,46,47,50],{},"Shade with ",[36,44,45],{},"Agrax Earthshade"," in the folds, or Army Painter ",[36,48,49],{},"Military Shade"," across the whole garment if you want the green to survive the wash.",[32,52,53,54,56],{},"Layer ",[36,55,38],{}," back over the raised cloth: the chest, the tops of the shoulders, the front of the thighs.",[32,58,59,60,62,63,66,67,70],{},"Highlight with ",[36,61,38],{}," mixed roughly two parts to one with ",[36,64,65],{},"Green Ochre",", then a sparing final catch of ",[36,68,69],{},"Iraqi Sand"," on shoulders, elbows and the top of the pack.",[10,72,73,74,77,78,81,82,85],{},"For the wool shirt, trousers and M1941 jacket - shade No. 3, and most of what an early or mid-war figure is wearing - run the same four steps with ",[36,75,76],{},"Khaki"," as the base, ",[36,79,80],{},"Dark Sand"," in the highlight mix and ",[36,83,84],{},"Buff"," as the last catch. Jacket dark, trousers light, on the same model, is the whole trick.",[10,87,88,89,92,93,96,97,99,100,103,104,107,108,110,111,114],{},"Citadel equivalent: ",[36,90,91],{},"Death Korps Drab"," with a drop of ",[36,94,95],{},"Castellan Green"," in the base, ",[36,98,45],{},", then ",[36,101,102],{},"Ogryn Camo"," to highlight. Army Painter Fanatic: ",[36,105,106],{},"Army Green"," shaded ",[36,109,49],{}," and highlighted ",[36,112,113],{},"Command Khaki",".",[10,116,117,118,121,122,125,126,128,129,131],{},"Speed route: undercoat grey, lay one coat of Army Painter Speedpaint ",[36,119,120],{},"Camo Cloak"," or Citadel ",[36,123,124],{},"Militarum Green"," contrast, then a single edge catch of ",[36,127,65],{},". Ten men in an evening, and picking the wool layer back in ",[36,130,76],{}," afterwards costs about a minute a model.",[14,133,135],{"id":134},"webbing-boots-and-metal","Webbing, boots and metal",[137,138,139,160,173,185,208],"ul",{},[32,140,141,142,144,145,147,148,150,151,155,156,107,158,114],{},"M1928 haversack, cartridge belt, musette bag and canvas leggings: ",[36,143,76],{}," basecoat, ",[36,146,45],{},", highlight ",[36,149,84],{},". This is cotton webbing, not leather, and it should read ",[152,153,154],"em",{},"lighter"," than the jacket. Late-war kit in the darker shade goes ",[36,157,65],{},[36,159,49],{},[32,161,162,163,107,166,168,169,172],{},"Service shoes and M1943 double-buckle boots: ",[36,164,165],{},"Cavalry Brown",[36,167,45],{},", highlighted ",[36,170,171],{},"Beige Brown",". Russet brown, never black.",[32,174,175,176,107,178,181,182,184],{},"M1 helmet: ",[36,177,38],{},[36,179,180],{},"Nuln Oil",", highlighted on the rim and crown only. Netting is a light drybrush of ",[36,183,76],{}," over the finished dome, not a painted mesh.",[32,186,187,188,191,192,194,195,107,198,200,201,204,205,114],{},"Garand and Thompson stocks: ",[36,189,190],{},"Flat Brown"," highlighted ",[36,193,171],{},"; metalwork ",[36,196,197],{},"Gunmetal",[36,199,180],{},", or Citadel ",[36,202,203],{},"Leadbelcher"," into ",[36,206,207],{},"Runefang Steel",[32,209,210,211,214,215,214,217,220,221,224],{},"Faces: ",[36,212,213],{},"Basic Skin Tone",", ",[36,216,45],{},[36,218,219],{},"Medium Fleshtone",", then a touch of ",[36,222,223],{},"Light Flesh"," on nose and cheekbones.",[14,226,228],{"id":227},"airborne-marines-and-vehicles","Airborne, Marines and vehicles",[10,230,231,234,235,237,238,240,241,243,244,246,247,249,250,214,253,256,257,260],{},[36,232,233],{},"Airborne, the M42 jump suit."," The 1943-44 jump suit is the light drab, so base the whole figure ",[36,236,76],{},", shade ",[36,239,45],{}," and highlight ",[36,242,80],{},", with the reinforcement panels at knee and elbow left a step darker. Jump boots are ",[36,245,165],{}," taken up to ",[36,248,171],{}," on the toecap - these were the most polished boots in the army and it is worth showing. The shoulder flag is three tiny strokes: ",[36,251,252],{},"Off-White",[36,254,255],{},"Carmine Red"," and ",[36,258,259],{},"Dark Blue",". From late 1944 the Airborne are in M1943 jackets, so switch to the dark recipe and keep the boots.",[10,262,263,266,267,144,270,147,272,274,275,277,278,280,281,256,284,287,288,290,291,293],{},[36,264,265],{},"USMC, sage green and frog-skin."," Herringbone twill utilities are a sage green, greyer than Army drab: ",[36,268,269],{},"Olive Grey",[36,271,49],{},[36,273,269],{}," with a little ",[36,276,84],{},". Frog-skin helmet covers and ponchos are base ",[36,279,76],{}," with small rounded blotches of ",[36,282,283],{},"Camouflage Olive Green",[36,285,286],{},"Chocolate Brown"," and a scatter of ",[36,289,65],{}," spots, the whole panel then washed ",[36,292,45],{}," so it settles into one garment.",[10,295,296,299,300,302,303,305,306,308,309,311,312,314],{},[36,297,298],{},"Vehicles."," From a jeep to a Pershing, everything wears the same single colour, which makes this the cheapest motor pool in the game: ",[36,301,38],{}," overall, ",[36,304,45],{}," run into panel lines and around fittings, a drybrush of ",[36,307,65],{}," on edges, then dust the running gear with ",[36,310,69],{},". Recognition stars go on in ",[36,313,252],{},"; pure white reads as a decal.",[14,316,318],{"id":317},"tips-and-common-mistakes","Tips and common mistakes",[137,320,321,327,333,339,348],{},[32,322,323,326],{},[36,324,325],{},"Two drabs, not one."," Dark jacket over light trousers is the 1944 GI. One flat olive over the whole model is the commonest American mistake and the easiest to fix.",[32,328,329,332],{},[36,330,331],{},"Nothing on a GI is black."," Russet boots, khaki webbing, brown slings. Blackened leather belongs to the other side of the table.",[32,334,335,338],{},[36,336,337],{},"Webbing sits between the layers."," Lighter than the jacket, close to the wool. If it vanishes into either, the torso loses its shape.",[32,340,341,344,345,347],{},[36,342,343],{},"One bottle does the armour."," A pot of ",[36,346,38],{}," covers every American vehicle you will ever buy, which is worth remembering when you are costing an army.",[32,349,350,353,354,359,360,362,363,367],{},[36,351,352],{},"Dust, do not mud."," A light ",[355,356,358],"a",{"href":357},"/guides/drybrushing","drybrush"," of ",[36,361,69],{}," on boots and leggings ties the figure to its ",[355,364,366],{"href":365},"/guides/basing-miniatures","base","; heavy mud belongs on the Eastern Front.",[10,369,370,371,375],{},"When the palette is settled, ",[355,372,374],{"href":373},"/tools/scheme-generator?color=6B7539","open this scheme in the generator"," to swap brands or lighten the base towards the early-war wool.",{"title":377,"searchDepth":378,"depth":378,"links":379},"",2,[380,381,382,383,384],{"id":16,"depth":378,"text":17},{"id":23,"depth":378,"text":24},{"id":134,"depth":378,"text":135},{"id":227,"depth":378,"text":228},{"id":317,"depth":378,"text":318},"2026-09-04","How to paint Bolt Action Americans - the two olive drabs of a 1944 GI, khaki cotton webbing, russet boots, the M42 airborne jump suit and USMC sage green with frog-skin camouflage.","md","Bolt Action United States",null,"#6B7539","Two drabs, khaki webbing and not a scrap of black",{},true,"/factions/bolt-action-united-states",{"title":5,"description":386},"factions/bolt-action-united-states","bolt-action","3XGOH5H5XdoHzg0qnB8wx6mxdR6VXX7pvy8uQfCv8IE"]