Hello

Do you all paint the cross belts first or the jackets when painting 18th century and Napoleonics?    I have a lot of trouble making my lines look good so thought about maybe cleaning them up with the jackets and doing the belts first.   I bought a gel pen but have not tried it yet.

Thanks

I'm working on Prussian and French SYW armies right now, and I paint the jackets and the facing colors first, then paint the cross-belts. I use a 10/0 brush and I've become pretty good and fast, but I've had a lot of practice painting 28mm D&D figures with lots of fine detailing. Just keep working at it and you'll improve over time. At this scale, I wouldn't sweat the small stuff (pardon the bad joke). It'll probably look fine on the tabletop. Always remember the 3 foot rule.

For 19th century I prime black, drybrush the whole thing the primary (jacket) colour, then paint on trousers and cross belts.

Thanks guys!  My eyesight is not what it used to be.  I get new glases every year but this year for some reason my eyes are having trouble with focus on the small guys.   However using the 3 foot rule they are looking pretty good based.    Turning 53 and its just one of those things I guess.  I will try what you guys are talking about.  Its the main reason I have set aside the syw guys and have been painting up more ACW do to ease of painting.   But nothing beats the look of the syw in my opinion.

When I started having trouble focusing, about 15 years ago, I bought a pair of thos magnifying glasses that fit on your head. The lenses are fitted into a type of visor, so can be raised and thus also fit easily in front of glasses. At 72 and with glaucoma, I can. now paint anything between 28mm and 2mm with complete clarity. One of the best buys I have ever made for the hobby. 

Crossbelts always last. In general it's a best practice to paint the deeper lying areas first, less likely to get errant paint where you don't want it.