Painting the Blue and Gray Unit Patch on WWII US Army Uniforms

June 16, 2021 | Kreighton Long | Bolt Action, Gaming, Models and Painting, Tutorial, Warlord Games

By Kreighton Long

29th (US) Infantry Division history – Battle of Normandy – D-Day Overlord

In honor of my new home in Virginia, and for a less commonly seen WWII US Army theme, I decided to design my US Army on the 29th Infantry Division.

The 29th was a National Guard division recruited from northern Virginia, Maryland, and southern Pennsylvania.  The division deployed to the European Theater of Operations and took part in the amphibious landing at Omaha Beach, bocage fighting in Normandy, siege warfare at Brest in Brittany, then urban fighting and battles of maneuver in Germany.

The division’s patch represented the unification of both the north and the south, divided during the American Civil War, against a common threat. In fact, the three regiments of the division had long histories before adding World War Two to their stories. During World War Two the three regiments of the 29th were the 115th, 116th, and 175th Infantry Regiments. The 115th was once two different 1st Maryland Regiments during the American Civil War with one fighting for the Union and the other for the Confederacy. The 116th was once the 2nd Virginia Regiment which served in the Stonewall Brigade under Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson during the ACW. Members of the 116th became known as “Stonewallers” and suffered horrendous casualties on Bloody Omaha.

The 175th was once the 5th Maryland who’s predecessors gained notoriety during the Battle of Long Island in 1776 where the regiment bravely charged the British lines giving the Continental Army time to withdraw. Soldiers of the Blue and Gray wore a unit patch on their left shoulder and photos from World War Two show some soldiers of the division with the blue and gray painted on the front of their helmets. In order to make my soldiers less of a target I avoided painting the unit insignia on the front of the helmets but if you want the historical accuracy points for yourself go for it. Below are the steps I took to hand paint the Blue and Gray unit patch on my GIs.

 

Paint a black circle on the left shoulder of the model. If your circle is imperfect, like mine here, don’t fret. We’ll clean up the outside a bit later.

 

Paint in the gray half of the unit patch. I find it best to paint a circle at the top then paint the tail from bottom to top in a counter-clockwise motion. I used Vallejo’s Pale Grey Blue (907) for the gray half.

 

Next paint the blue half of the unit patch. I find it best to paint the circle at the bottom then the tail from top to bottom in a counter-clockwise motion. I used a 1:1 mix of Vallejo’s Andrea Blue (841) and Luftwaffe Uniform WWII (816).

 

The last step is to clean up the outside of the unit patch. Carefully apply some of the uniform color, in this case Vallejo’s Khaki, around the outside of the circular unit patch. Preserving a thin black line is ideal.

 

29 Let’s Go!

Happy painting!

5 thoughts on “Painting the Blue and Gray Unit Patch on WWII US Army Uniforms”

  2. IIRC, the 29th’s CO also required them to put the symbol on their helmets. I did the shoulder patches and helmets for my 15mm FOW assault company. The helmet logos really stand out, though it was an awful lot of fine detail painting!

    BTW, my dad’s cousin, Capt. Svend Holmstrup, was a company commander in the 121st Engineer Combat Battalion, 29th Infantry Division. His first-wave company was tasked with opening the Vierville draw at Omaha Beach. Sadly, like so many others in his unit, he died that day on the beach. So, doing all that painting was a labor of love for me.

  3. Superb job sir!
    Please can I ask what colours you have used on the rest of the uniform please, I see khaki on the jacket but the rest would be greatly appreciated

    1. Thank you! The jacket is Khaki, trousers are US Field Drab, helmet is Brown Violet, and the webbing and packs are Green Grey.

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