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White metal Figures


missile-monkey

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Hello again everyone,

 

I'm looking for advice and guidance from the great and the wise of Brit Modeller land.

 

I am just about to take delivery of some 1/72 scale figures in white metal and resin. for a project I'm working on. My question is what is the best type of paint for these materials enamels or acrylics.? Is there any brands that are better than the others?  I am a complete novice when it comes to this type of modelling being an unashamedly naval/FAA geek.

 

As always your assistance will be appreciated. 

 

Regards

 

MM  

 

 

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2 minutes ago, missile-monkey said:

Hello again everyone,

 

I'm looking for advice and guidance from the great and the wise of Brit Modeller land.

 

I am just about to take delivery of some 1/72 scale figures in white metal and resin. for a project I'm working on. My question is what is the best type of paint for these materials enamels or acrylics.? Is there any brands that are better than the others?  I am a complete novice when it comes to this type of modelling being an unashamedly naval/FAA geek.

 

As always your assistance will be appreciated. 

 

Regards

 

MM  

 

 

the primer is the main thing,  though something like Halfords grey prime would moist likely be fine, or a thin coat of Mr Surfacer.

 

FWIW I find Vallejo acrylics are good for figure work, others use enamels, some use oils.    

 

what paint do you usually use? That might be your best bet as you are familiar with it.

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Most miniature painters coming from model building started with enamel paints and then moved on to acrylics. That's how I started as well. The move to acrylics was a no-brainer, as they were easier to blend and dillute - Layering was the technique of choice back then. This was really a PITA with enamels.

 

Mainly high end painters and those of larger historic figures use acrylic basecoats and blend with oils.

 

For a start with nothing in hand I would advise for an acrylic range. If you get started and have enamels on hand go ahead and use these for your first attempts. May turn out you hate painting figures or feel perfectly fine with what you have.

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10 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

the primer is the main thing,  though something like Halfords grey prime would moist likely be fine, or a thin coat of Mr Surfacer.

 

FWIW I find Vallejo acrylics are good for figure work, others use enamels, some use oils.    

 

what paint do you usually use? That might be your best bet as you are familiar with it.

Hi Troy,

 

For my 1/72 scale aircraft I have always used Halfords spray can undercoat and either Humbrol or Revel enamels brush painted with a flat brush. I'm usually happy with hte results. I have just got myself a basic air brush but my workshop/shed is being used as a store whilst the house is being renovated. Once that's back in business I'm gonna start airbrushing.

Thanks for the advice

Regards

MM

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10 hours ago, Schwarz-Brot said:

Most miniature painters coming from model building started with enamel paints and then moved on to acrylics. That's how I started as well. The move to acrylics was a no-brainer, as they were easier to blend and dillute - Layering was the technique of choice back then. This was really a PITA with enamels.

 

Mainly high end painters and those of larger historic figures use acrylic basecoats and blend with oils.

 

For a start with nothing in hand I would advise for an acrylic range. If you get started and have enamels on hand go ahead and use these for your first attempts. May turn out you hate painting figures or feel perfectly fine with what you have.

Hi Schwarz,

 

I've got plenty of enamels but they are mostly aircraft colours and some flesh tones for my drivers, sorry pilots....

I think I'll try your suggestion and try my hand with arcylics. I take Troys suggestion and go for Vallejo. I've been doing a little research on them and they do seem pretty popular.

 

Thanks for the advice chaps.

 

Regards

MM

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Hi MM

 

I model almost exclusively in 1/72 and use halfords grey primer and Vallejo or Games Workshop paints. I find a thin wash over the top adds a nice depth to creases, flesh etc.

 

A recent project for my dad

IMG_20190402_220755 2019-04-03_10-47-15 IMG_20190407_201944

 

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No worries- hopefully not too much of a thread hijack.

 

I find one of the main things is to keep things as neat and tidy as possible. Dont worry about adding too much detail (such as eyes etc).

 

Once I have all the basic colours blocked in I apply a thinned down black or brown wash to the clothes and a thin sepia wash to skin.

 

I then pick out a few details such as cap badges etc to add interest.

 

A decent light and something you can mount the figure on to handle it really help as well.

 

In the photo mine is superglued to a section of old curtain rail about 4 inches long

 

Hope this all helps

 

Kind regards

 

Ben

Edited by badger
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I can not recommend to go all in on a single manufacturer of colours. They all have their qualities, but none is perfect for everything. For example I can highly recommend the Citadel Inks. Vallejo not so much. But then there is that magic Vallejo Game Color "Smokey Ink" which works wonders to any basic paintjob...

Citadel colour bottles are a pain to work with. Some of their paints are really, really good, though.

Beige and the likes are often hard colours to work with. Some of the Artist ranges offer some better choices. Thinking of W&N, Schmincke and the likes.

Same goes for yellows and reds.

 

I personally prefer Acrylics for airbrush use. Vallejo Model Air is the perfect consistency to be used with a brush on a figure. Their Model Color Range gives you lots of realistic colors, but these behave sometimes strange if mixed with usual acrylics. They seem to be formulated a bit different. Vallejo Game Color was initially made as an 1:1 alternative to the Citadel Colors, so the range matched these quite well back then, but the quality isn't equal for all paints. I haven't used newer Citadel paints, so cannot say much in that direction. Lately I used especially artists airbrush colours, but these requiere lots of mixing as the paints are way to brilliant for figure painting straight from the bottle. Then again you'll find no better red or yellow.

 

What I'm trying to say - if you struggle to achieve the results you're after it isn't always your skills. With waterbased acrylics you are free to mix and match whatever works for you. And you should! No reason to fall for a single brand. In some cases you can even get away with craft store paints (and I know I'll take some beating for saying it out loud...). Blue and green tones are usually not problematic. With problematic paints it is worth to try high-end artist supplies. More expensive, but less struggle.

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Just a quick note ...

I alway's soak my metal figure's in Vinegar for about 2 hour's.

Then a wash with dishsoap and HOT water.

This dissolves any residue left over from the casting proccess, and prep's the figure for paint.

BTW:  I have used Enamel, Acrylic, and laquer based paint's...... there all about the same to me

spacer.png

 

I used Enamel's on this one. But the belly scale's are Acrylic. I used Testor's  Laquer gloss-cote to seal it all together.

 

Edited by Little Timmy
oops, ..... forgot to give an explanation of paint used ... sorry...
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi MM

A thorough wash

Halfords primer

And if you're not used to painting figures, use whatever paint that your are comfortable brush painting.

I like using mainly Lifecolor and  Vallejo acrylics (I find Lifecolor more chalky than Vallejo which I find is more of a plasticky consistency).  I also like using artists oils for "best" work. At the end of the day it's all personal choice and what you find easy to use.

Buy good quality brushes and look after them.

Al

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