I always work out a plan when I paint things and write it down in my little blue book, so that I can follow the same scheme assuming it works, the next time I paint something similar. I’ve worked out a scheme to follow for the 1/2400th scale French pre-dreadnoughts, based on some of the colour combinations that I’ve used before on my ironclads and on colourised photographs, which may not be entirely accurate but look right compared to contemporary pictures. I’ve also had a look at the excellent War Times Journal painting guide and, although I don’t have exactly the same paint shades, it’s a very good starting point:

I’m going to try a test model to start with, featuring the most common combination of black hull and ochre upper works, with decks in light wood and ship’s boats in white. I’m also going to experiment with the less common light grey scheme that the upper works of some ships were painted in, which has an unusual slightly pale blue tone. As the models are so small I am going to try to accentuate this a bit but not overcook it, which might be a bit of a challenge. First things first, however, so it’s an overall black wash to start with, followed by a white blocking in of any areas that are coloured. 

Here we go!