The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part 5: Imperial Japanese Infantry Painting Guide

Whenever I start a new period or unit, I make sure I put how I painted the unit into my journal. Before I purchase figures, I first do my research and kinda/sorta figure out how I want the unit to look - then I purchase figures! As I started my Boxer Rebellion project, I decided to use the new Imperial Japanese Infantry from Crusader Miniatures. Always prime your figures as paint sticks to paint. Whether you use white, black, pink is up to you. If you use contrast type paints you will need to prime in white or light grey. For these figures I used Citadel Bone Wraith (not as dangerous as a Banshee) Grey for my primer.

Photograph of Japanese Infantry, Chinese Relief Expedition, 1900. Photograph by Captain C.F. O’Keefe, via National Archives, U.S. Naval Historical Command, and Library of Congress.

1. I started with a coat of Citadel Contrast (CC) Darkoath (BWAH HAH HAH!) Flesh and then painted the garters with CC Skeleton (no bones about it) Horde.

2. Let's talk about painting Japanese uniforms with the Infantry yellow branch color.

CC Darkoath (BWAH HAH HAH) Flesh, CC Skeleton (no bones about it) on the gaiters and CC Ultramarine (For the Emperor!) Blue on the cap.

3. The Japanese uniform was heavily influenced by the German Army at that time. For that color, I usually do a base of Vallejo Prussian Blue with highlights of Vallejo Dark Blue. I compared that with doing a heavy coat of Contrast Ultramarine (For the Emperor!) Blue and found I got almost the exact color for the uniform. I decided to go the speedy way and used Contrast Ultramarine (For the Emperor!) Blue. When I paint I like to do all of the same colors of a figure at the same time. Fortunately . . . I had painted a test figure and decided to do the cap as a separate step due to leaving where the Infantry branch color of yellow would go due to the challenges of painting yellow. The cap is the most challenging part with the yellow branch colors on dark blue.

4. I highlighted the skin with Vallejo Dark Flesh.

5. Now it is time to paint the uniform jacket and pants CC Ultramarine (For the Emperor!) Blue. Optionally you can paint the jacket, pants and cap - or just the pants - however you like to paint white on figures. Here is an reenactor wearing the white summer uniform.

Japanese ranker painted with Contrast Ultramarine (For the Emperor!) Blue. Skin has been highlighted on the "high points" with Vallejo Dark Flesh.

Imperial Japanese Infantry NCO, circa 1895 to 1905 painted with Vallejo Prussian Blue and then highlighted with Vallejo Dark Blue.

6. I went back and painted or cleaned up any areas that would have yellow with white; the collar, the trim on the cap and the trouser pants.

 

7. It's yellow time. For yellow on figures I use various paints depending on the look I want the figure I want to have. I have had great success using Vallejo Yellow Ochre, Vallejo Flat Yellow and Citadel Sunburst Yellow. I wanted to try CC Iyanden (a planet in Star Wars?) Yellow since I was primarily using contrast paints for this unit. It looks okay . . . on some of the figures there was a reddish hue (note the standard bearer in the background of the photo below) and I later cleaned those up with Vallejo Flat Yellow.

The cap and the trouser stripe look great, but the excess paint on the collar looks reddish - I later fixed that with Vallejo Flat Yellow.

8. I'm not going to bore you with each step I did with the rest of the colors of the various parts of the figures. Most of us have our own preferred order for painting; I like to start with the faces and some of the best figures I have seen are painted with the faces last. They're your figures and we all have a way we like to do them. Anyway . . . here are the colors I used to complete the figures:

Cap straps, visors, bayonet scabbard and hair: Vallejo Flat Black.

Haversack and strap: CC Skeleton (no bones about it) Horde.

Metal: CC Basilicum (German for Basil) Grey.

Rifle, Canteen and strap: CC Gore Grunta (I don't even want to ask) Fur.

Straps, ammo pouches and rifle sling: Vallejo Mahogany Brown.

Bayonet: Vallejo Silver.

Boots: CC Templar (and we know what happened to them!) Black.

Epaulets: Vallejo Flat Red.

To replicate the Imperial Star on the cap, which unfortunately is not sculpted on the Crusader figures, I did a black dot with Vallejo Flat Black and then a dot of Vallejo Shiny Gold on top of that.

Tah Dah!

The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part 4: Imperial Japanese Infantry from Crusader Miniatures

 I love these figures. Not only can you use them for the Boxer Rebellion, they are appropriate for the First Sino-Japanese War 1894-1895 and also for the Russo-Japanese War 1904 - 1905. 

The Infantry yellow branch color shows up very, very dark in old photographs.

Essentially the figures are wearing the M1886 dark blue uniform that was heavily influenced by the German Army. My only real complaint is that the national star badge is not sculpted on the caps; but, at the 28mm scale, this can be easily replicated with a spot of Flat Black paint and them a spot of Shiny Gold. 

Historical reenactor of Japanese Infantry circa 1900.

During this period, both rankers and NCOs were also issued a white lightweight uniform for use in hot weather and in this scale, it is almost entirely the same uniform as the dark blue and is appropriate for both the First Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion. In fact, it was not uncommon for a mix and match of both winter and summer uniforms.

Japanese soldiers wearing the winter cap and jacket and the white, light weight trousers. The Infantry branch color of yellow appears as black in older photographs.

For my first infantry unit For The Men Who Would be Kings they are Crusader Miniatures packs BJA001 - Japanese Infantry firing/loading, BJA002 - Japanese Infantry Advancing, and BJA005 - Japanese Infantry Command. I decided not to get the figures in full kit; why? Because I'm lazy and I wanted to get them painted quickly (BWAH HAH HAH - wait until you see my painting guide!). 

BJA001 - Japanese Infantry firing/loading.

BJA002 - Japanese Infantry Advancing

BJA005 - Japanese Infantry Command; yep, still need a flag.

Each pack comes with 4 figures so that in my 12 figure unit each figure is unique. I painted the officer as Lieutenant Colonel Shiba Gorō, the military attaché in the Japanese Legation. He was an artillery officer in the Imperial Guard and wears the red piping appropriate for his branch and the guard. I still need to get some Japanese battle flags and I'm going to use the Japanese flag poles from Tsuba Miniatures pack RJ-J08.

Speaking of the Japanese troops in the Legation, virtually every photograph I have seen show them in the dark blue cap, jacket, but white summer pants with white leggings. Basically, you can pick whichever combination of uniforms you want to identify your separate units and easily defeat any uniform Nazi out there! 

"On to Peking!"

The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part 3: Lt. Col. Shiba Gorō

 

A great figure of a Japanese officer and NCO from Crusader Miniatures.

Shiba Gorō (柴 五郎, June 21, 1860 – December 13, 1945) was a samurai of Aizu Domain and later a career officer and general in the Meiji period Imperial Japanese Army. Shiba Gorō witnessed the events of the Boshin War as a child when Aizu was attacked by the imperial forces in 1868. With the abolition of the Han system, he moved to Tokyo and enlisted in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army in 1873. He was in the 1877 class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the artillery in 1879.

I’m not going to cover this remarkable warrior's entire career but focus on the Boxer Rebellion and the Russian Japanese War. In March 1900, Shiba returned to Beijing as a military attaché, and was thus present at the Japanese legation during the Boxer Rebellion. There his small force fought tenaciously and suffered almost 100% casualties over a 60 day period. He served with distinction during that campaign, aided by his prior knowledge of Beijing and by a large network of local spies. He protected the citizens and diplomats alongside several Western powers during the siege, and was subsequently awarded decorations by many of the western nations in the Eight-Nation Alliance. Shiba's role in the Boxer Rebellion is often highlighted in Western accounts of the conflict. In the 1963 film 55 Days at Peking about the siege of international legations he is a supporting character, played by future director Juzo Itami.

In March 1901, he was returned to Japan and attached to the General Staff. In June 1901 Shiba was appointed commander of the IJA 15th Field Artillery Regiment, which he continued to command after the start of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, where he was awarded the Order of the Golden Kite (2nd class), for bravery in battle.

Here is my painting guide for Lieutenant Colonel Shiba Gorō which, with minor changes, will be used for my other Japanese Infantry.

For 28mm figures I like to glue them to soda caps with all purpose white glue for easy handling. Wait for the glue to dry! I first painted the flesh CC Darkoath Flesh and I was quite pleased with the results.

When I’m trying to work out which paint colors to use on a new unit/army I rarely use an officer figure; but this Crusader Miniature looked so cool I had to give it a try. My gut feel for the uniform was to use a base of Vallejo Prussian Blue and then to highlight with Vallejo Dark Blue. And then I said to myself, “Self, let’s try a heavy coat of Citadel Contrast (CC) Ultramarine Blue. When using contrast/speed paints it’s important to use a quality primer (trust me on this one!). I used Citadel Wraithbone.

He wears the dark blue Atilla blouse and the black braid (it’s hard to see in this picture), boots and cap brim are CC Black Templar. I initially used CC Blood Angels Red but I realized I would need to use Vallejo Flat Red with a detail brush to simulate the finer, well, details. Oh by the way, there was no way I was going to try painting the Austrian loops on the sleeve. The red (technically scarlet) indicates a member of the Imperial Guard.

After doing more research, I realized that I made the trouser stripe too narrow. As a field grade office it should be about twice as wide. I’ll fix that later.

It was also at this time (nothing like carefully checking before you paint!) that he should also have 2 rings on his cap as a Lieutenant Colonel and two stars on the front of the cap. All leather is also CC Templar Black.

As mentioned earlier, I used Vallejo Flat Red to clean up the cap and Vallejo Shiny Gold for the stars. He carries the M1888 officers sword and I used Vallejo Shiny Gold for the details and Vallejo Silver for the scabbard.

I used Vallejo Flat White to make the trouser stripe wider and used CC Blood Angels Red for the stripe. The figure is glued to a 25mm Litko wood base and I used my normal sand mixture and static grass to finish the base. Don’t forget to protect the figure with a clear matte spray.

Almost forgot to add the mustache!

Next: Imperial Japanese infantry.

The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part Two: The SMS Zenta

The SMS Zenta in 1901 at the Pola Shipyard after returning from China in 1901.

Truth in advertising time: I'm an Infantry, maneuver warrior kind of guy. But I love old ships. My real world experience with the United States Navy was interesting. At one time (this sounds more impressive than what it really is) I was the Lead Joint Planner, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, United States Army Europe. I got to work in a vault in Heidelberg, Germany. On the gripping hand, I got to work with the Navy and Air Force and could chose which operations I would be involved with - as long as the 2 Star was okay with it! As the Lead Planner, I was also the Army Liaison to the US Sixth Fleet. I actually had a billet, when activated, on the now decommissioned USS LaSalle.

The Navy loved me when I was on board when I was on that great boat, umm, ship the USS Lasalle:

"Excuse me Chief, what floor is Commander Smith on?'

"It's a deck sir."

"Do I go through this door Chief?'

"It's a bulkhead sir."

"Excuse me Chief, is the latrine through that door, er, bulkhead?
"You mean the head sir?'

"Now where did I put my hat?"

"Here's your cover, sir."

"During General Quarters, should I be on the left side of the ship, or the right side of the ship?"

"I don't care what the admiral said, I'm putting you in the brig sir."

They loved me! Gaming with ships can be fun too! Just don't have me in command of your flotilla. Let's see, how many times did I get my gunboats stuck on sandbars going up the Nile River in the 1890's? My greatest success was storming a British gunboat that got stuck during a fictional Boxer Rebellion game as an Imperial Chinese commander during a great game of The Sword and the Flame, Those were the days.

Anyway, while recovering from foot surgery, I discovered the Georg von Trapp of Sound of Music fame was a decorated hero during the Boxer Rebellion which is my next project. Here are some details on his ship, the armored cruiser SMS Zenta just for fun.

The SMS Zenta was launched in 1897 and represented one of the new iron ships in the Austro Hungarian fleet, a transition away from wooden vessels. Her overall length was 96.88 meters (317 ft 10 in) and a beam of 11.73 meters (38 ft 6 in). Her two four-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each drove a single propeller shaft with eight Yarrow boilers for an average total of 8,160 indicated horsepower (6,080 kW),  achieving a maximum speed of 21.87 knots (40.50 km/h; 25.17 mph).

She also had the extra protection of an armor deck, two layers of 12.5 millimeter (0.49 in) plates and 50 millimeters (2.0 in) over the engine and boiler rooms. Further, she was armed with two 45 centimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, eight 40-caliber Škoda 12 centimeter (4.7 in) quick-firing guns, eight 44-caliber 4.7 centimeter (1.9 in) Škoda guns, and two 33-caliber 4.7 centimeter Hotchkiss guns.

The start of my Austro-Hungarian landing party; figures are Russian Navy from Copplestone Castings Back of Beyond range.

Next: Lt. Col. Shiba Gorō of the Japanese Imperial Guard.

The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part One: Midshipman Second Class Georg von Trapp

Yes. That von Trapp. As we all know from The Sound of Music, etc., Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Navy who became the patriarch of the Trapp Family Singers. Captain von Trapp Trapp was the most successful Austro-Hungarian submarine commander of World War I, sinking 11 Allied merchant ships totaling 47,653 GRT and two Allied warships displacing 12,641 tons. 

Hmmm . . . I think I gave him Groucho Marx eyebrows. that will be an easy fix.

But how many of us knew that he participated, and was awarded for bravery during the Boxer Rebellion? Ladies and Gentlemen, the SMS Zenta:

In 1894, aged fourteen, Trapp followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Austro-Hungarian Navy, entering the Imperial and Royal Naval Academy at Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia). In 1900, as a midshipman, he was assigned to the protected cruiser SMS Zenta and was decorated for his performance during the Boxer Rebellion in China, in which he participated in the assault on the Taku Forts. He personally led the Austro-Hungarian sailors that helped assault and capture Fort Pei Tang. For his bravery he was awarded the Silver Bravery Medal, 2nd Class and the War Medal.

Silver Bravery Medal, 2nd Class 

War Medal

In doing my research I noticed that many European Navies had similar uniforms and that the differences in 28mm are not noticeable. Now if you want to do the French, you can buy the figures with the pom pom on the top or even use British navy figures with Sennet hats as photographic evidence from the Boxer rebellion has them wearing (outside of Legation forces). Back back to the Austrians. I thought the Copplestone Castings Russian Sailors from their Back of Beyond range would be perfect for the Austrian Sailors from the SMS Zenta (reinforced later by the SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth, SMS Aspern and an additional 160 Austrian marines).

"The Capture of the Forts at Taku", by Fritz Neumann in the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University.

I accidentally painted the figure as a Koverttenleutnant thinking that he already passed his Lieutenant examination and had been commissioned at this time - and by golly, the figure is going to stay that way!