Painting figures....

tramcar trev

tramcar trev

all manner of mechanical apparatus...
I've got a "crowd" of unpainted people on order and just wondering about painting them
I have a selection of Tamiya paints and just wondering if the "flat flesh" looks real or do I ad a touch of brown to it?

I'm starting with my crew; giving them bottle green uniforms, pale green shirts and gold embelishiments with spit polished black shoes.... Motormans cap will be gold edged to show his status:rolf::rolf:
I have both enamel and acyrilic also bought a set of 24 Jo Sonjas paints that are in tubes and can be intermixed to get differing tints for hair etc
I hope it goes well, not my usual thing freehand artistic painting
 
I've started using Vallejo. Before that I used cheap acrylics and mixed my own flesh colour (yellow, red, white). As you can see this sometimes ended up a bit too orange:

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Then a wargaming friend of mine gave me a tutorial (and did this example), He starts with a matt black undercoat. Then a thin wash of darker flesh colour and finally dry-brushes the top coat of Vallejo flesh colour. He always goes from dark to light.

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Rik
 
I've used Tamiya acrylics successfully for figure painting. As to colour - it depends on the character being painted, doesn't it? An outdoor type could easily have a small amount of brown added to the "flesh" which can be a bit pink straight out of the pot - you might try a tiny bit of white in it for an "indoor" person. For foreground/featured figures some extra definition to the face is worthwhile; try shading the eye sockets with a slightly darker flesh shade particularly under the eyebrows. Then pick out the cheeks with a blush shade and suggest the lips with the same colour - a one-hair brush (000) needed here!
 
a one-hair brush (000) needed here!
yes I have some of those.......
I found some gold leaf today in a $2 shop it was actually $3.99 and that may be good for gold braid etc.... Gold paint I found always goes dull......
 
I've always found Games Workshop acrylic paints to be very good. They cover extremely well and are readily available thanks to Games Workshops "dominence" in the high-street for wargaming figures etc.
They sell two flesh tones which work very well together.

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Hobo, as everyone else is probably dying to ask but doesn't have the nerve to (and I have a long-forged reputation to uphold, as those who know me will attest....) - so I'll bite:

Where did you get your schoolgirls from? (That's REALLY not a line you can use very often and get away with it!) :rolf:

I'm sure that I've seen the one on the platform for sale on a website somewhere (yes, hahaha, I know...) but can't recall where.

Jon.
 
Zerogee said:
Hobo, as everyone else is probably dying to ask but doesn't have the nerve to (and I have a long-forged reputation to uphold, as those who know me will attest....) - so I'll bite:

Where did you get your schoolgirls from? (That's REALLY not a line you can use very often and get away with it!) :rolf:

I'm sure that I've seen the one on the platform for sale on a website somewhere (yes, hahaha, I know...) but can't recall where.

Jon.
Click to expand...

It had to be you Jon ........:rolf::rolf:

The lady with the ice cream seems to have....err... slipped somewhat. Do all railway workers have the same effect on females...mind you the one in the first photo has a rather 'camp' appearance and so does not seem to be attracting any attention!
 
It's a question I often get asked (but via PM :cool: )
The girl on the platform is a 1/18th diecast car accessory from "Motorhead" - they're pre-painted plastic figures.
The ice cream girl is a Phoenix miniatures kit and her "friend" opposite is an unknown manufacturer, both white metal and were evilBay finds.
I wanted figures for a "School Special" and I have a, er, reputation to keep :laugh:
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There used to be a lot of good brush suppliers here in the Potteries (as you'd expect), I'm not sure if many remain but if I can remember to ask, "I know a man who can."

I remember back in about 1974ish, I bought a signwriter's No 6; and it cost me £6 back then. That was a full week's modelling spend, and some. Good buy, as I still have it and it is still good. Ya can't beat a good 'un.
 
Hobo said:
It's a question I often get asked (but via PM :cool: )
The girl on the platform is a 1/18th diecast car accessory from "Motorhead" - they're pre-painted plastic figures.
The ice cream girl is a Phoenix miniatures kit and her "friend" opposite is an unknown manufacturer, both white metal and were evilBay finds.
I wanted figures for a "School Special" and I have a, er, reputation to keep :laugh:
5100309086_cd50c3b691_z.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yes, I'd thought the figure on the platform was one of the car collector "accessory" figures, I was sure I'd seen it while browsing t'interweb, just couldn't remember the make.

I really should have recognised the "ice-cream girl" as a Phoenix kit from the sculpting style - I'm sure that's a Tim Richards sculpt, he did some work for me many years back (in a smaller scale, but equally risque subject matter). He truly has an exquisite appreciation of the female form! ;)

Congratulations on your collection of miniature pulchritude! :bigsmile:

Jon.
 
beavercreek said:
Zerogee said:
Hobo, as everyone else is probably dying to ask but doesn't have the nerve to (and I have a long-forged reputation to uphold, as those who know me will attest....) - so I'll bite:

Where did you get your schoolgirls from? (That's REALLY not a line you can use very often and get away with it!) :rolf:

I'm sure that I've seen the one on the platform for sale on a website somewhere (yes, hahaha, I know...) but can't recall where.

Jon.
Click to expand...

It had to be you Jon ........:rolf::rolf:

.......
Click to expand...

Thanks Mike! ;) I have worked long and hard for many years to get this reputation, as my customers will know.....

Jon.
 
Just had a chat with my wargaming friend and he uses only two brushes - a 4 for blocking in background colour and a Citadel fine detailing brush (somewhere around a 1) for the fiddly bits. He reckons that he can do even the finest of detail (and his figures are a lot smaller than ours) with the Citadel as it has longer bristles which means it can be drawn to a finer point. He used to use 000 etc but now finds a well cared-for larger brush is better.

Interestingly, he reckons synthetic bristles are better than sable - in his opinion Vallejo acrylics flow better from synthetic bristles than sable.

Rik
 
ROSS said:
bobg said:
There used to be a lot of good brush suppliers here in the Potteries (as you'd expect), I'm not sure if many remain but if I can remember to ask, "I know a man who can."

I remember back in about 1974ish, I bought a signwriter's No 6; and it cost me £6 back then. That was a full week's modelling spend, and some. Good buy, as I still have it and it is still good. Ya can't beat a good 'un.
Click to expand...

You get what you pay for no doubt about it. £6..a fair bit of money then as well.
Click to expand...
The reason I remember it was £6 was that it was a No 6. Daft thing was I bought it for just one lining job on a boat model and then didn't use it. I have plenty since to make up though. I always wash it out gently but thoroughly, and then coat the bristles with grease, to stop them dying out.
 
A quality brush is worth every penny BUT always look after it, wash thoroughly immediately after use and it will last lifetime.
Sable is usually best, look for one which as the hairs come out of the ferrule they 'swell out' slightly before coming to a perfectly even tip. This shape will hold a large amount of paint without 'dumping' it where you don't want it.
I used to have one which had a diameter of approx 1/3" but came to a single hair point. It could be used for anything from double elephant paper size 'wash' to a line a fraction of a mm wide.
It cost several £s back in the mid 1950's.
Some barsteward stole it!!
 
ROSS said:
They recommend washing animal hair type brushes ( viz Squirrel, Sable and mongoose) with hair conditioner from time to time believe it or not!
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Makes sense and might help the surface tension difference which iIassume is why some brushes will hold liquid and not others. Although the finer hairs on some might also have a bearing.
 
That witch video is great, just needs a voice over from Ringo Star and you will have an x rated Thomas and friends:rolf::rolf:
Great stuff
 
the tamaya flesh is a bit darker -brown yellow -than say humbrol (my personal fav-matte too-not too pink, or brown, etc)
i find too that tamaya , for hand painting, does not seem to cover as nicely with as thin a layer (tamaya is one of my favorite paints)

i use model master as well-they make a pinkish flesh and a darker shadow flesh tone-pretty good stuff
all are matte

im sure youll find something if you do go to a fantasy figure shop-i find that there are amazing color choices

ill try the black undercoat tip -you know in the times of giotto, in italian paintings, flesh was painted with a green undercoat -

liked the potter vid too-shows you my sophistication and mental age
 
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