Painting Tartan the Royalist Way

The Royalist Army at Auldearn included large numbers of highlanders and one of the most striking ways to show highland origins for a unit is to cover it in tartan. It is also the quickest route to insanity (or a new hobby) for the wargamer painting multiple large units. Reproducing tartan on a 28mm model is not that easy, and if we are honest the model is probably too small to see the details of any but the most bold tartan anyway.

In this period most tartans were created from a rather muted colour palette of dyes and if we add the muck and grime of hard campaigning (a belted plaid was clothing, bedroll and rain shelter all in one garment), the best way to paint tartan is probably as various grubby shades of dark grey and brown with only the most subtle hints of a tartan weave.

But that's not much fun and doesn't give scottish highlanders the look we want so we need some simple techniques for painting tartan on inch-high models in such a way that they look good on the tabletop.

There are several ways to paint tartan on 28mm models, all of them quite similar in many respects. After painting tartan on almost 170 models for this project alone, I have landed on my own favorite method. Roy also paints his plaids in a similar way, but prefers a slightly different approach to me. Both will be covered in this 'how-to'.

Basic principles of tartan and the terminology

Before starting its worth saying a few words about tartans, how they are made and the basic jargon associated with tartan weaving that is used later in this article.

Firstly the term tartan is used in UK english to describe this peculiarly scottish checked weave. In the US the word plaid is typically used for tartan. In the UK, the word plaid is used to describe a blanket or sheet of cloth, typically of woven tartan. The most from of kilt worn in seventeenth century Scotland was the belted plaid, simply a sheet of woven cloth belted at the waist, with the lower part below the waist hanging as a kilt, and the upper part above the belt gathered to the back and slung forward over the left shoulder.


The three methods I will cover are:

   A. Simple tartan with overstripe only

   B. Simple tartan with block check only

   C. Tartan with block check and overstripe

Before I cover the three methods for tartan a few words on the base garment colour upon which the tartan will be applied.

Base Colour

The base colour is the typically the dominant colour on a plaid. This can be a wide variety of colours, but for simplicity and efficiency I focus on 4 or 5 base colours which I now a use almost exclusively. I use very dark colours as this helps to highlight the lighter overstripe. If the base is too bright, it becomes difficult to see the overstrike. And trust me the overstrike lightens the model enormously so please resist the temptation to give you base colour bright highlights.

• Dark Red
• Dark Brown
• Dark Grey
• Dark Green

Dark Red Base

Base colour = Coat d'arms Negro, with a dash of Foundry Terracotta 37B.  A similar effect is achieved starting with GW Scorched Brown/GW Rhinox Hide with a tiny dash of black.  This is the same base colour I use for Brown tartans so I base the brown plaids at the same time.

Mid layer = Foundry Terracotta 37A

Highlight = Foundry Terracotta 37B

Dark Brown Base

Base colour = Coat d'arms Negro, with a tiny dash of Foundry Terracotta 37B.  A similar effect is achieved starting with GW Scorched Brown/GW Rhinox Hide with a tiny dash of black.  This is the same base colour I use for red tartans so I base the red plaids at the same time.

Mid layer = 50/50 Base Colour & GW Snakebite Leather/GW Balor Brown/Foundry Buff Leather 7A

Highlight = GW Snakebite Leather/GW Balor Brown/Foundry Buff Leather 7A

Dark Grey Base

This is the same colour I use for hodden grey uniforms. Essentially Foundry Granite 37, but I actually prefer GW Charadon Granite as the base colour for this triad.

Base colour = GW Charadon Granite/Foundry Granite 31A (with a tiny dash of black)

Mid layer = Foundry Granite 31B

Highlight = Foundry Granite 31C

Dark Green Base

Base colour = Foundry Bright Bottle Green 41A (with a dash of black). Any very dark green, almost black in appearance.

Mid layer = Foundry French Dragoon Green 70A with a dash of the above Base Colour

Highlight = Foundry French Dragoon Green 70B with a dash of the above Mid Layer

Other Base Colours

When I began painting plaids I would include some lighter base colours, with dark overstrike, but after painting a few models this way I dropped light colour tartans because I much preferred the look of darker tartans. If you like the lighter tartans the method is essentially the same. Here is an example of light tartan with dark overstrike. 

The grey is a lighter grey based around GW Fortress Grey, but the black overstripe darkens it up a lot. The light brown plaid is GW Bestial Brown/GW Vermin Brown with a black overstrike. Now onto the tricky bits...

A. Simple tartan with overstripe only

This is my favorite way to paint tartan. A simple overstripe gives a great tabletop approximation of an intricate tartan, the absence of the underlying block check is not a problem as the block check is often so subtle that it is difficult to spot on the tabletop anyway..

Step One - Paint the Base Tartan Colour

Select your base colour and follow instructions above

Step Two - Add the Overstripe(s)

Overstripe colour
I use two main overstripe colours for all my dark-based tartans; white and yellow. I occasionally use a red overstripe on a green base, but red does not stand out as much as the yellow or white. For my light-base tartans I use exclusively black overstriping and as I mentioned earlier, I rarely use a light-base tartan as it is just not as striking as the dark-base.

Painting the overstripe
Once you have determined your colour, choose whether you want a single or double overstrike. I prefer double overstripe as it gives the tartan a more intricate look, and is not much extra work.

Mix you chosen overs trip colour 50/50 with the Tartan Base colour (Mid Layer) and water it down until it is almost translucent. Use a fine brush (0 or finer) and form you brush tip into a very fine point, and if this is not possible, flatten the tip into a narrow flat edge (I use a flat edge rather than a point).

Make sure the brush is not overloaded with paint by unloading on a tissue or scrap of paper (I do this as I form the tip of the brush into a flat edge rather than a point).

Now the really tricky part - where to paint the stripes. It is obviously easiest to paint tartan overstripes on flat hanging cloth, so I always start there if I can. Locate an edge of the cloth, for example the hem of the kilt, or the base of a shoulder-draped belted plaid.

Move a mm or two in from the edge and using the narrow edge of your flattened brush paint two narrow parallel lines about 1mm apart. Try and do this in slow careful single stokes which end at folds. Pick up on the opposite side of the fold and continue parallel to the cloth edge until you meet the beginning of your overstripe or the overstripe would disappear under a fold or some other overlying item, such as a belt strap, bag or other equipment.

Move 4-5mm in from this first pair of overstrikes and paint a second parallel set in the same way. Trying as far as possible to maintain a steady 4-5 mm separation by eyeballing (there is no need to stop and measure).

The really hard part of painting plaid


Step Three - Add the Overstripe Intersections

B. Tartan with block check only

Step One - Base Tartan Colour

Step Two - Block Check (broad stripes)

Step Three - Block Check Intersections

C. Tartan with block check and overstripe

Step One - Base Tartan Colour

Step Two - Block Check (broad stripes)

Step Three - Block Check Intersections

Step Four - Overstripe

Step Five - Overstripe Intersections

The Earl of Sutherland's Regiment

"Thair cam also of country people in to him,

the Erll of Suddcrland in persone with his pour..."

Spalding on Hurry's army at Auldearn

As the name suggests this regiment was raised by John Gordon, the 13th Earl of Sutherland, in support of the covenanting government forces. Sutherland was without doubt the most loyal covenanting land-owner in Northern Scotland. An unwavering supporter of the covenant, he first raised this regiment in 1642, due to mistrust of his neighbour, the Earl of Seaforth, who professed loyalty to the government but was suspected (with good reason) of strong Royalist sympathies.

In 1644 the Scots Government authorised Sutherland to raise 1600 men for the Scots Army in England. His troops were ordered to be on the English border at Berwick on March 10, but MacColla landed his Irish in July and Sutherland's men went into the field, together with the other Northern Clans, to oppose Montrose. 

The regiment did not see any major action through Spring 1645, and the Northern force was more of deterrent to Montroses attempts to sway the northern clans over to the royalist cause.  In May 1645, The regiment was at Inverness with Seaforth's Army when it was ordered to Join Hurry's Army for the march to Auldearn. The regiment does not seem to have been heavily involved in the battle but both the Earl and his troops survived the rout and appear to have retreated north in good order. 

Sutherland and his men do not feature prominently in events again until 1650 when Sutherland was part of the Government army that defeated and captured Montrose at the Battle of Carbisdale, bringing to an end Montrose's ill-fated 1650 campaign. In an interesting twist of fate, also captured after Carbisdale was the luckless Sir John Hurry, former covenanter General and Sutherland's commander at Auldearn, who was now serving the Royalist cause with Montrose. Both Montrose and the unfortunate Hurry were executed. Harsh judgement for a professional soldier like Hurry, but his luck finally ran out and this time he was not able to switch sides to get out of trouble.

Sutherland's levies were raised from amongst his northern clansmen but seem to have been conventionally equipped with pike and shot by 1644, however in previous years some of the levies are described as armed with bow. As such I have modeled the unit in predominantly highland clothing, with plenty of plaid, but they are armed with pike, musket and the occasional longbow. 

There are surviving records from 1646, documenting Sutherland's expense claims to the government for reimbursement of the cost of raising his regiment. In these claims he includes uniforms, which suggests this highland regiment may actually have been equipped in the standard issue hodden greys. 

I am currently painting up a unit of covenanter infantry, originally intended to be Buchanan's but Roy has long since taken car of that unit. So this next unit is destined to be finished as Balfour of Burleigh's Regiment, garrisoned in Aberdeen in 1644, and destroyed by Montrose at Justice Mills in October 1644. This unit could also be fielded as a uniformed Sutherland's Regiment. More to follow.

When Roy and I started this project, we looked at the OOB and divided up the painting between us. I took all the Royalist forces, plus 2 covenanter regiments; Buchanan's detachment and the Earl of Sutherland's Clan Levies. Roy managed to knock out Buchanan's detachment as a commanded shot using some extras from his other large covenanter regiments, and it does double duty as dismounted Scots Dragoons. 

That left Sutherland's Levies for me, and I could see an opportunity to create a unit of highland clan regulars that, with a change of command, could do double duty as both Farquharson's Royalists and Sutherland's Covenanters.

  

It should therefore come as no surprise that if unit looks familiar to followers of our blog. It is the same unit used for Farqhuarson of Monaltrie's Regiment with the addition of an alternate Covenanter command stand.

  

The figures are mostly Eureka Highland Musketeers and Pikemen from the 17th Century Scots range, but also includes a number of Perry ECW scots in lowland clothing, plus a couple of old Foundry pikemen from the Perry sculpted Elizabethan range. More photos and details can be found in the blog post on Farquharson of Monaltrie's Regiment.

The covenanter command stand is from Perry Miniatures. I particularly like this officer pointing out the Royalist foe, and thought he would make a terrific highland peer. I have painted him with tartan breeks suggesting he is playing up his highland culture to inspire his clansmen.

The flags include both a white colonel's colour with Sutherland arms and motto, together with the traditional Covenanter company colour of blue scots saltire, in this case adorned with Sutherland's arms. Both colours are speculative but respect the convention of the times and are based heavily on known colours of other scots covenanting lords.

  

More information will be provided in a separate blog post on Sutherland's flags. Next new unit from me will be Balfour of Burleigh's/Sutherland's (in uniform) covenanting regiment of foot.

Farquharson of Monaltrie's Regiment

This regiment completes the royalist Gordon Infantry Brigade which comprises Farquharson of Monaltrie's Regiment, Gordon of Monymore's Regiment and the Strathbogie Regiment. As with Monymore's Regiment, Farquharson's Regiment is believed to have been a 'regular' unit conventionally equipped with pike and shot.

This regiment is modelled and painted in a very similar way to my Gordon of Monymore's Regiment. The figures are mostly Eureka Highland Musketeers and Pikemen from the 17th Century Scots range, but also includes a number of Perry ECW scots in lowland clothing, plus a couple of old Foundry pikemen from the Perry sculpted Elizabethan range.

 

For the commander of this unit, which could be Donald Farqharson or his successor, James Farqharson, I have used the excellent Montrose on foot model by Eureka. This beautiful sculpt by Alan Marsh, is indistinguishable from the Perry models and has captured a fantastic air of calm and confidence. Perfect for either of these highland colonels.

I requested the Eureka range through the Eureka "100 Club" back in 2006, with the Royalist Gordon highlanders in mind. They were sculpted by Alan Marsh to be compatible with Perry ECW Scots and were finally produced in Jan 2008. Primary reference provided was the 17th century Stettin print.

I have painted Farquharson's Regiment in a similar way to Monymore's Regiment.  To give the unit a strong highland flavour I have painted almost every model with some tartan. The highlanders have belted plaids, and tartan long coats, and those in lowland clothing typically have tartan breeks (breeches).  

I have to confess this unit almost broke my painting spirit. It was the fourth unit in my army to heavily feature tartans, and despite the patience and time required I did not want to compromise on the look of this unit. As a result painting slowed down to a snail's pace, and this was not helped by a move to a new job in the same period. However I plodded away at it doing a wee bit at a time, and spaced it out by helping my son with his Warhammer armies, and finally it's done. To date I have painted ~170 models with tartan clothing for this army.

The history of this regiment is intertwined with that of Gordon of Monymore's Regiment.  Monaltries's Regiment was raised from the Gordon controlled territories of Upper Deeside, from Aboyne to Braemar, and Strathavan in Speyside, an area known these days for its famous Glen Livet whisky distillery. The regiment was raised and led by Colonel Donald Farquharson of Monaltrie, who had married into the Gordon family, and the original regiment's officers included William Gordon of Monymore and a Lieutenant Colonel James Farqhuarson of Inverey.  Monaltrie is an area of Deeside near Ballater.

First raised in 1639, the regiment was part of Gordon of Huntly's Royalist army and is believed to have fought at the battle of Megray Hill (near Stonheaven) in 1640 where the Royalists were swiftly routed and the regiment subsequently disbanded. 

The regiment was raised again in early 1644, once again in support of an uprising sponsored by the Marquis of Huntly. The unit fought at Fyvie, and Inverary in 1644, but in March 1645 Donald Farquharson was killed at Aberdeen during a surprise attack by Hurry (who had recently changed allegiance and joined the Covenanters). Following the death of Monaltrie the regiment appears to have split into two regiments; the Strathavan men were formed into a new regiment led by Col. William Gordon of Monymore, and leadership of the Deeside contingent was assumed by Colonel James Farqhuarson of Inverey. The Inverey estate is located in Upper Deeside near Braemar.

During the remainder of 1645, Inverey's regiment was present at the battles of Alford and Kilsyth, and may have been present at Auldearn, but this cannot be confirmed. The regiment was not with Montrose at Philiphaugh, but joined Huntly for the infamous storming of Aberdeen in 1646. 

James Farquharson of Inverey appears also to have fought with the Scots Royalist army (which also included many of his former Covenanter adversaries) at the battle of Worcester in 1651, but I am still trying to find more information to confirm this.

When the regiment was raised in 1639 they were described as being equipped with bow and firelock. This means they were probably as poorly equipped as any highland levy of the times. At Megray Hill in 1640 they are described as a 'standing regiment' and are thought to have been conventionally armed with pike and shot. They were not however very disciplined at this point, as their less than impressive performance during this defeat suggests.

The regiment is considered to have been conventionally armed and drilled for the entire duration of the 1644-1646 campaign, and their performance under Montrose, especially at Alford, suggests much improved discipline and training. 

In keeping with all other foot regiments in this project I have given Inverey's Regt two colours. The white sheet is a Colonel's colour with the Monaltrie coat of arms in the centre. This is a speculative flag and no description of Monaltrie's colours survive.  The yellow sheet is a speculative company colour based on a description of a set of colours ordered by Huntly in early 1644. The text and device is described by Spalding but the field colour is speculative (yellow seems likely for a rampant lion).

"Upon Monday the 15th of April he [Huntley] returned about six hours at even to Aberdeen he caused make some ensigns where upon ilk side was drawn a red rampant lion having a crown of gold above his head a 'CR' for Charles Rex having the motto 'For God the king and against all traitors' and beneath 'God save the king'. There were diverse others made for the barons. The marquis and his followers wore a black taffeta about their craig whilk was a sign to fight to the death but it proved otherwise"

An excerpt from "THE HISTORY OF THE TROUBLES AND MEMORABLE TRANSACTIONS IN SCOTLAND DURING THE REIGN OF CHARLES I" By JOHN SPALDING, COMMISSARY CLERK ABERDEEN

There is one curious line in this quote; "There were diverse other made for the barons". Spalding could be saying here that a range of different flags were made for "the barons" (which I assume refers to all the nobles that fought under Huntly) . However I have interpreted this to mean that a number of similar sheets were provided to all Gordon regiments of 1644. This would include the Strathbogie Regt and Monaltrie's Regt, which later split into Inverey's Regt and Monymore's Regt in early 1645.

All of the Gordon regiments in my army carry the 'Spalding' Gordon flag and this helps tie the brigade together. Both flags will be posted on the blog very soon. 

This regiment will be very flexible. It can be deployed as either Monaltrie's or Inverey's Regiments. The figure poses and basing is fully compatible with Monymore's so both regiments could be combined to form a very large regiment of highland regulars, perhaps to march on Worcester!  The figures will also be used to represent the Earl of Sutherland's highland levies at Auldearn, but that regiment will be the subject of later blog post.