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WW2 Figure painting


Murdo

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Hi all,

Doing my first foray into figure painting with these, the Corporal and Officer for now.

Drat! I can already see a seam line on the Corporal's neck and the L/H side of his mouser needs trimming a bit. :rolleyes:

They were brush painted with Tamiya acrylics which (as usual) I found very difficult. Unfortunately these paints are all I have for the time being.

The figures obviously aren't finished yet (some bits still held on with Blue Tack) but what do you reckon?

Is the shadowing too stark?

Should I keep or strip and repaint when I get "proper" figure paints?

They don't look too bad from a distance (around 60 feet away). :D

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I'm planning to attempt my first desert diorama attempt with this lot and that base:

IMG_1784Large.jpg

Criticisms and suggestions welcome

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Hi Murdo.

Your first figures, my first advice. Hope iy helps.

First off let me say they look better than my first attempt. i have no Criticisms, but if i was to offer some advice, i would say that the high and low lights are probably to stark, try using a wash and build it up slowly. one thing i tried was to start with just water, and them add the pigment a bit at a time untill you are happy with the result. as always it easyer to add than take away. or you could leave what is there and over paint with the main colour a little diluted allowing the shadowing to show through. have you tried dry brushing? Also spend a little more time on areas where flesh meets clothing.

My other advice is to stay as far away from tamiya flesh as possable. i find the coverage poor and the shelf life very short, just my opinion. Others may disagree but there are far better flesh tones out there. i have started using Vallejo model air paints, perform well when built up in layers and last a long time. buy online for a little less money and same size bottle.

Aint Figures a bitc h!

Hope this helps.

love the Stuart. Oz.

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I agree with ozz-too big a colour difference at the moment.A couple of ways of adding high/lowlights.Similar to what ozz says-use diluted black and add shadows (yes,pretty much a wash).When dry add another coat but only in the deeper parts of the same creases-so you are building graded layering and get a softer edge.Then do the opposite,add a very diluted white to the highlighted areas,let that dry and add another coat on the tips to get a graded look.So in effect you have got a base colour and two shades of high and lowlights.Then go over the whole area with a thin base colour to blend it all in.Or you can cover an area with a base colour and for the shadows add black to the base colour-just a little and paint the shadows,let it dry and add a second coat in the recesses.Do the opposite to the highlights by adding a drop of white and two coats.Think about where the light is coming from and apply the shading to the right areas-a really good source to copy is your own clothing.Finish off with a good matt varnish,nothing worse than shiny clothes-I use Windsor and Newton Galeria.Same applies to skin areas for shading too-use translucent coats and build up.

HTH

Mike

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If you have to brush paint Tamiya then they go on better if you mix a few drops of acrylic retarder into it as Tamiya is VERY difficult to brush paint straight out of the jar.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Murdo,

Instead of black for shading on these light coloured clothes try using a dark brown. Applied in thin washes to build up the colour and only use black for the very deepest shadows. I would also invest in some Vallejo Model Colour or Model Air for figures.

Paul

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Ditto what the others have said there is too much of a contrast between the base and shadows. I would also echo the comments re Vallejo for painting and if you haven't seen it there's a useful archive on their site about how to figure paint with their paints.

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Hi Murdo,

I would echo what has already been said. For the F1 figures I paint I use Vallejo paints.

Also and I think you may already do this looking at the last photo, I use a white primer first.

Great first attempt.

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I'm not much cop at figures either, but I followed the Vallejo guide too.

It says to paint the figures with a base coat... Let's say Khaki, in this case, then add your shadows with a darker mix of the same colour, then dry brush over the top with a lighter mix of the same colour for the highlights.

This results in a more subtle light/dark contrast, and loses the starkness.

This is my interpretation of the advice... But like I say I'm no figure painter, but it worked for me on my recent Camel post (I still need more practice though).

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You might find some ideas and inspiration from the wargame side of figure painting, there's a nice 'how to' of the 'layer' method on the Steve Dean figure painting forum, plus some really inspirational stuff in the pictures subforum. The 'how to' is a conversion and paint job on a medieval figure, but the principles, especially for painting flesh, are applicable to any period in history. Although some modellers don't like the over emphasis on shadow and highlight that go into a gaming figure that is designed to be viewed from three feet away (the average distance from the observer to the figure when in use on a gaming table).

Linky

I've (briefly) used Tamiya for figures but found them a real struggle. My personal preferences are for Vallejo, Games Workshop and some of the Wargames Foundry acrylic ranges, but it depends how much money you feel like investing in a whole new load of paint and every one you ask will have an opinion on 'What Am Bestest!!'

I've recently started working up from a dark brown rather than a black under coat, it's not as stark and the following layers seem to cover easier and it's easier to see the detail on the figure. If I want a heavy black shadow I just use a pin wash in the area to darken it down. Hope this is of some use.

Cheers

Damon

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Thanks guys.

The figgies have been put on the "Shelf" (far too easy and common a thing for me to do these days) till I get some decent paints. I'll try getting some of the Vallejo stuff.

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Do you have a Games Workshop nearby? If so drop in to see them and ask for a tutorial on figure painting. They'll be glad to help, I'm sure. I've done this in Nottingham and Derby and learned a lot each time (though not enough as my figures are still unsatisfactory!)

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  • 1 year later...

As above, Tamiya paints are crap to paint with.

Also I read an article that suggested that you paint figures as though you were dressing them.

Not sure if that is any help.

Simon.

PS I am crap at painting figures myself.

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