The prospect of painting complicated tartans has probably turned a fair number of people away from wargaming the Jacobite Rebellions. Yet like so many other things, the prospect of painting the figures is more difficult than the actual task. If you have never painted Highlanders before, but you enjoy figure painting, then you are in for a real treat. Jacobites are admittedly more complicated than British or French line infantry of the SYW period, but with a few tips and hints provided herein, I hope to make the task easier for the Jacobite enthusiast.

First of all, the dreaded plaids; "clan tartans" as we know them today did not exist at the time of the Forty Five. Reds and dark greens were the dominant colors and the people of a particular clan did not wear a uniform pattern. This formality was introduced in l 822, occasioned by the visit of King George IV to Edinburgh on a state visit. His interest in the Highlands and in Highland dress had been stoked by the novels of Sir Walter Scott. The King wore a kilt to one of the social events and soon ever important family was inventing an "official" clan tartan. Therefore, one only needs to learn two or three plaid patterns to capture the look and feel of the Jacobite army at Culloden. I will demonstrate to you that these patterns are simple to execute.

Remember, also, that the Jacobite soldier was basically a civilian militiaman, so his clothing undoubtedly reflected his everyday dress habits. Accordingly, I outfit my Highlanders' shirts and jackets in solid earthtone colors such as tan, brown, grey, blue or green and reserve the plaids for their kilts and blankets. The only distinguishing feature of all Jacobites was the white cockade that was worn on the bonnet. Bonnets are generally painted black, dark brown or blue.

Tartan Techniques

Step One: paint the background color of the kilt first. Dark Blue, Green, Light Blue, Red and Light Brown are the colors that I generally use. Apply this color to the kilt as if it were a single color garment. This will become the predominant color of the kilt.

Step Two: paint a windowpane pattern over the kilt, preferably in a color that contrasts with the "background color" applied in Step One above. Green over Dark Blue is the basic "Government Sett" or "Black Watch" pattern used for my Napoleonic Highland units and looks right at home in the Forty Five. It is also the easiest sett to paint and so it appears on my Jacobite units with a high degree of frequency. The picture below illustrates the technique of donning the kilt and gives you a good example of the "windowpane" effect in the figure on the left.

If the kilt has vertical pleats sculpted into the casting, then paint the vertical stripe of the windowpane color on every other pleat. Once this is completed, then return and paint several horizontal stripes to compleat the effect. Usually two or three horizontal lines are sufficient to create the right effect. You will find that the tartan will look better if you keep the windowpanes few and large as in the above illustration. Too much detail clutters up the overall effect, so do try to be a minimalist painter with this technique.

Step Three: Choose an "intersection color" that is either a shade or two lighter than the "windowpane" color or one that contrasts with the windowpane color. Any place where two lines intersect, simply dab on a spot of the intersection color. I find that this system gives you three colors on each sett and is more than enough to trick the eye into believing that it is viewing a complicated plaid pattern. In some instances, I don't even use and intersection color, particularly if my windowpane color is black. Black over Green or Red; Yellow over Green (basic Gordon sett); Red over Green; or Light Blue over Tan are good examples of attractive twocolor plaids.

Here are a few basic tartans that you can use in your Jacobite army:

Basic Murray of Atholl Sett: dark green background with a red windowpane.

Black Watch Sett: dark blue background, medium green windowpane, and light green intersection color.

Basic Gordon Sett: dark green background, yellow windowpane.

If you are feeling particularly crafty and want to try a double windowpane effect, then make the boxes formed by the first windowpane a bit larger than normal. Then offset the second windowpane color so that each intersection occurs in one of the boxes formed by the first windowpane. This probably works only on 25mm figures or larger and is not recommended for 15mm figures. ln general, let the casting dictate where to paint the windowpanes--the sculptor will frequently make this obvious by making deep cuts between the kilt pleats oust paint on the raised surface of the pleat); and finally, keep things to a minimum. A lot of plaid detail does not improve the appearance of the figure. Less looks better.

If you want to learn more about modern clan tartans or simply seek inspiration for new patterns, then pick up a copy of The Clans And Tartans of Scotland by Robert Bain.