Life Miniatures 1/10 WW2 German King Tiger Commander

[Bigmick]

Well I had so much fun painting the U Boat captain I thought I'd try another Life Miniatures bust, plus I'm doing it as my entry in the Flory Models group build, Feuer Frei (if it's of 100% German origin you can enter it)

Now after a quick Google there's a few beautiful versions out there, painted by Sang -Eon Lee, in fact as part of the beginner series Life Miniatures offer a simplified version of this bust without the headphones and a free pdf to download from Sang-Eon Lee.

https://www.lifeminiatures.com/step-by-step

A method of painting the bust called planar painting, new fish to me but I'll adapt it to my bust.

Now it seems that the most popular version of the parka being worn by the tank commander is the reversible winter parka in splinter pattern/white.

Luckily a work colleague has one so I borrowed it and took some pictures for reference.

But after careful study and a little reference reading from the books I have

I decided on this pattern, autumn oak leaf reversible to white.

Might be more difficult, or easier, we shall see.

So, to the kit itself. Lots of beautiful resin with no mould seams or bubbles.

Removed the casting blocks from the head and torso with a scalpel in a couple of minutes, there are a few small parts like the lead connectors, which are actually ribbed like springs and parts for the headphones, the copper wire is a bit too stiff and thin,

Luckily I've got some 0.6mm solder which fits perfectly after the parts are drilled out plus is easier to conform.

So to start, primer first, after a quick wash with detergent and a stiff brush,

Games Workshop Chaos Black from a rattle can, two coats, self levels, dries in minutes, shows every blemish.

 

Then Games Workshop Corax White, sprayed from the direction I want the light to come from.

 

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So, now the easiest bits done where to start?, as usual I set everything up, look at it and think "all the gear, no idea".

I added some more paints to the collection, ones I thought I might need and the Vallejo WW2 German Camouflage Set.

The first challenge being the background colour for the parka, it's not orange camo brown, or flat earth but a shade of brown violet, luckily Vallejo make a shade called brown violet, so I bought some, and wasted £2.50, on my wet palette the top left colour is allegedly brown violet, now to my eye tis neither brown, or violet, or any mix of the two.

So, back to Mr Google, after a quick search I found this page which describes painting autumn oak leaf.

http://www.timelinesforum.com/index.php?page=oakleaf1

Now I'm assuming they're 1/35 or 54mm figures, but the colour principal is the same, I'll start with their mix of paint then fine tune it to the actual garment sat in front of me, I haven't grasped the concept of scale effect colours, if it's the same colour as the real thing it can be wrong.

So, Vallejo (as normal, unless I let you know otherwise) Old Rose 70.944, Chocolate Brown 70.872 and Matt Black 70.950 mixed by eye so there's enough pink tint in the brown, duly painted on in 5 or 6 thin coats.

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More to come.

 

Regards.

 

Mick

[Bigmick]

Now, this next bit is long winded, if you have a look at the pdf I linked in the first post it will explain the painting process far more eloquently than what my blathering will convey.

I imagine Sang-Eon Lee uses many different paints, he uses Vallejo, which I have a few of, he also uses paints with a JS prefix, these are Jo Sonja acrylics, which I don't have, now the pdf lists the JS paint colours and mix proportions very nicely, but after a really good Google search I found no paint conversion chart, so I firstly had to mix my Vallejo paints to match the JS colours, then mix those again to create a palette to work with, everyone with me so far.

So here's the palette, for example JS Cashmere, or close to it, was Ivory and Flat Eart, looks close, the dark blue grey/green was supposed to be JS olive green and JS French blue, but Vallejo camouflage olive green and Prussian blue would have to suffice.

So base colours, the collar of the shirt is a bluey grey green, the jumper more greys with a hint of blue.

Yeah, I know, and this is supposed to be an easy way to paint.

I also added a base colour to the inside of the hood, it's meant to be a JS raw umber mix but V burnt umber will do.

This is after planar painting and blending, following the pdf to the letter.

Basically it's a way of blending using progressive shades of the colours used, the base colour is mixed with the highlight to provide a transitional colour, then mix the transition with the base for another shadow shade and transition with highlight to get another highlight shade, yeah, I was in the corner rocking back and forth at this stage as well.

[Bigmick]

As you can see I painted in all the highlights, this was done with many thin coats, many MANY thin coats.

Next the dark shadows were overpainted with a lighter shadow colour.

Then more blending using a mix of highlight colour and second shadow using dots of colour around the edges.

Then pure white added, again in thin coats, probably a dozen or more, going over the shadows as well to soften them.

Finally the iron cross ribbon and iron cross, base coat Matt Black then gunmetal grey, natural steel with chrome as a final highlight.

So that's the planar painting done, now the pdf describes doing the face in the same tecniqu, but I want it done this year, so back to face painting how I know.

More to come.

 

Regards and thanks for your patience.

 

Mick.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Bigmick

[Dads203]

Superb work indeed, loving the shading and highlight work going on here:) 

[giemme]

Great job so far, Mick  I more or less use the same method when painting large areas white or red - many many coats, I know, but look at the result! You've painted a perfectly realistic white!  

 

Ciao

[colin]

Must say it seems a lot of work, but as giemme says it looks good

[Bigmick]

Colin, It's more work than I'd anticipated, but always willing to try new painting styles, will tackle the face tomorrow as need to make a load of colours in the round well palette

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Wow that shading is gorgeous.....Beautifully done! 

[Bigmick]

And walking round the annual Stoneleigh militaria fair I spotted this, dealer was kind enough to let me take a picture, I would have made him an offer but I can't afford to sell another kidney.

[Gimme Shelter]

good to see you back in action Mick - looking forward to seeing this materialise

 

what about Deanerys though.... did you find a way to deal with her eyes...

 

John

[Bigmick]

Hi John,

Daenerys will have to be started again, it'll be a tandem paint with Sansa "Queen of the North", I've got to order half a dozen matching turned wooden bases for all the GoT characters, bought the Andrea Miniatures Ned Stark as well, but she will get done, sometime this year, maybe 😁.

 

Regards.

 

Mick.