1:72 Imperial Mercenary Infantry in summer dress (Thirty Years War)

A mercenary in summer dress and his soft silhouette

The armies of the years 1618 to 1648 did not yet know a uniform in the later sense of the word. The looser cut of the clothing worn at that time gives a figure an outline without hard edges: the brim of the hat overhangs the shoulders, the breeches widen above the knees, the cloak breaks differently from the uniform coat of later times. It is precisely this softness that can be seen at first glance on a finished scene, and it sets the Thirty Years' War apart from everything that came after it.

Movement hidden in the folds

With subjects of this period the movement is carried mainly by the cloth. When a sleeve is gathered on one side and smooth on the other, the eye reads from it the direction in which the arm has just risen. It is therefore enough to shade the folds along the direction in which the figure is walking, not across them — otherwise the movement breaks up and the figure looks as if it were stuck halfway through a step.

• The sash or the belt over the shoulder is the most conspicuous accent of color on the whole figure
• The hat shades the face, so the face can stay a shade darker
• A highlight on the barrel draws attention away from missing detail on the hand

If you want to give the group plausibility, mix it up. The soldiers of the hired companies came from various countries and their equipment differed from piece to piece, so variety of color is not a shortcoming here but a documented feature of the time. Two figures with the same coat side by side, on the other hand, look like a later army two centuries younger.

On the groundwork it pays to play with height as well. A figure kneeling behind a gabion or leaning against a palisade will break up the level surface of the heads, and the group then stops looking as if it were cut out of a brochure.