Need help ... first time figure painting

[RaisingArizona]

Hello All,

 

I am building a Tamiya 1:48 Mosquito and I decided to try to paint the pilot / navigator figures.  This is my first attempt at figure painting.

 

I viewed several videos and tried to copy the technique, and here is the result ... 

 

 

Can anyone steer me in the right direction on some tips and techniques.  I am not real happy with the result.  Looks OK at a distance, but close up doesn't look all that nice.  

 

I did coat it with a matt varnish, but till looks a bit shiny.  I am going to see if I can get more matt finish with a different clear coat.

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

[Homer]

What i do is putva skin wash on the face ,and a grey wash on the uniform. Then dry brush with the base colour, it works for me .

[moondrome]

Hi Steve, 

What kind of paint are you using?

You should try to use water diluitable colours like Vallejo, ak 3d gen,  citadel etc. And i would avoid glossy colours in general. As Homer says using the dry brush technique over the base colour to make highlights is good.

And make a lot of practice! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Slackbladder]

Steve I used to have the same problem when matt varnishing my old Warhammer figures, always made them come out shiny. I think all the super-duper matt finished figures you saw in the magazines were photographed before varnishing for this very reason. As these guys will be locked away in a cockpit there's probably no need to varnish at all if you can't get one that gives you a matt finish. I still use Citadel paints with the techniques mentioned above.

Edited yesterday at 08:07 AM by Slackbladder

[oileanach]

On 2/19/2023 at 9:23 PM, RaisingArizona said:

Hello All,

 

I am building a Tamiya 1:48 Mosquito and I decided to try to paint the pilot / navigator figures.  This is my first attempt at figure painting.

 

I viewed several videos and tried to copy the technique, and here is the result ... 

 

 

Can anyone steer me in the right direction on some tips and techniques.  I am not real happy with the result.  Looks OK at a distance, but close up doesn't look all that nice.  

 

I did coat it with a matt varnish, but till looks a bit shiny.  I am going to see if I can get more matt finish with a different clear coat.

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

I recently had something similar. I got myself a bottle of Mig Ultra-Matt Lucky varnish. The name's a bit of a mouthful, but the varnish itself did the trick. It's pretty cheap, £2.96 from my preferred online seller (not sure if we're allowed to plug them?). Even with postage you'll be looking at less than a fiver. 

[Matt P]

I always bin the stock plastic figures and buy pj productions resin ones. Much more detailed so look better once painted. 1/48 is difficult to get detail so don't try to do eyes etc. Just a thin line of black is enough.

Vallejo matt varnish is great but better sprayed than brushed.