MINI UPDATE: Head Painting

getting some progress again on multiple fronts. started work on the face painting and the base colours for the figures' uniforms and gear. hard to take pics as the glossy sheen of oil paints not quite dry makes for some awfully tough photography. got the face done on all five figures but here's a pic of the Medic at the second stage of work. next he gets some more detailing with oil paint on his face and then washes, highlights and such for his uniform:


i also have to make tiny masks to do the white circles and red crosses for his helmet and the red cross on his arm band. not at all looking forward to the task but trying hand brushing gave a thick relief which i quickly rejected.

happy modeling and cheers again, mh.

I case you haven't seen these!

http://www.archertransfers.com/FG35055.html

superbe face painting! the eyes are really well done!

Congrats on that

Claude

hi again,
yes, John, i'm going to try making some decals from my scrap box as i think the masking job will be too much bother. i should have just bought some but i think i'll try just cutting some circles and crosses to keep everything as flat as possible. thanks for the link as i will use it as a guide with my reference pics.

thanks Claude, i came up with a trick many, many years ago for doing tiny little eyes as i find the "squinting" look i have tried not as nice. i came up with a technique based on painting from subtraction. i paint the whole eye area and around it white, then i painting a vertical strip down the middle of the eye in brown and then i frame the eyes by inching brown paint up to the edges of the eyes until they are both a nice size of white showing. i then paint flesh tone up against the brown outline of the eyes until it is barely visible at the bottom of the eye and just a thin line above the eye.

this way i "subtract" the previous colour by overpainting it. all it is really is painting the colours in reverse order and allows me to get tiny details even though i am painting with a thick brush stroke.

Juan, the base colours are a mix of Humbrol enamels and Vallejo acrylics. Vallejo paints are $5 CDN which is pricey but you get a lot of paint in their bottles. it was a lot of research to find which colours i wanted to use for US figures as there is wrong information on the box instructions and i wanted it to be as accurate as possible. first time building and painting US soldiers for me... learning new things once again.

cheers everyone, mh.

UPDATE: Jagdpanther Paint Completed

finally got the Jagd painted and ready to roll out of the paintshop and onto the diorama. not the best pics i've taken but here we go...











next thing to do is finish up the figures. still have to glue the tracks well to the wheels so both tracks are set up correctly. have to pry the tank off of the spray can cap it's been stuck to for the last lil while to glue the tracks from the inside.

cheers and happy modeling, mh.

The jagd is great. The figure face and flesh looks nice so far.

Very nice job on the tank

thanks guys for the kind words. i will post the paint step-by-step in a few days, i just have to organize the pics i took.

armorama has invited me to submit this as a feature and i think i will submit the diorama build as one feature and perhaps the painting of the Jagd as another but i will post the paint steps here as well as requested.

thanks for coming by to check out the progress. cheers, mh.

UPDATE: The Figures Completed

...and the figures are done now. tried some different things this time with the figures. lessons were learned for the next time i paint 1/35 soldiers. here are the best pics i could get of them:















next is to glue the figures down on the diorama, but first i will play around with their locations as tweaking the composition is a fun time... so close to the finish line.

cheers and happy modeling. mh

yes, i should buy a few extra cheap lamps so i have a good photo area always set up. here are a few better pics of the figures though:







i had my camera accidentally turned off of steady hand so all my pics were somewhat blurry. these are a bit clearer i hope. my first blog and i am still learning proper presentation (not as easy as i thought it would be). thanks for the suggestion Juan.

cheers everyone, mh.

PS: Juan, i am not sure what "outline" figure may mean. i did use washes and then painted shadows and highlights with enamels. i hope this is the answer you were looking for. your buddy, mh

UPDATE: Diorama Completed

the journey of this diorama is now completed. feels great to have her finally done and i'm keen to start my next build. here are the pics...





















want to thank everyone who came by to check out my very first build blog and send those who offered help, inspiration and info my deep appreciation for their time and efforts.

i will still like to post the paint steps for the Jagd here when i get a chance in the next few days. for now, happy modeling and cheers, mh.

Great work all around meats!
You have a good handle on the various media/elements of assembly painting composition etc. A really interesting scene to view, as the choice of building and layout means many angles for viewing, each wholly different to the next.
The figure face painting has a realistic element to it, and when you consider out of all the elements on a scene like this the faces are genereally the hardest thing to convey in photos the realism of a piece you have done it justice. Well done
Brad

Fantastic job Hellhound. I'm very impressed. I love the work you did on the rubble. It's one of my weak points and you've made it look very realistic. Can't wait to see your next project.

hellhound,
That is one awesome diorama. The figures are great. I wish my figures would come out half as good as yours. What kind of magnifier do you use? To be able to paint all of the detail you do. Look foward to your next project.
Tom

MH,

Been following this one and just want to say I really like the finished piece. I have been meaning to pick up this building myself, I like the design of the architecture. I would love you to go into more detail on the paint process for the building, will you be doing a more in-depth article on this?. Also the rubble and debris looks extremely good and it ties the whole thing together perfectly.

Once again, stunning work. Congrats

Andy

Good diorama Hellhound, I really like what you did with the building/ rubble. i wait to see more from you on those pages

Lookin´ good Hellhound. The whole base is tied together well and composition is good. Great job on the rubble ... makes things look realistic.

Yo Hellhound,

Splendid diorama! Nice story and layout, all togheter well blended. The rubble is spot on.

Very good work, go on tho the next!

Greet Nico

Well done. This one came out really nicely. The techniques were great, the composition is outstanding and tells a well written story.

Good job, great to see -thanks for sharing.

thanks once again everyone, really means a lot to get such nice feedback from fellow modelers of whom i consider to be excellent at this hobby.

Juan, i now understand the profiling question and for these figures i did the shadows by using thinned oil paints such a Raw Umber and Burnt Sienna in the recesses and then blended them into the base colours while they were still wet. i then added detail to the shadows and highlights by drybrushing enamels (Humbrol) to make them less harsh.

Tom, i don't use a magnifier though i have been thinking of getting a pair of the kind that straps to your head like goggles to maybe help me with painting the figures better.

one tip i can share for doing the tiny details like the black buckles and tiny buttons is i let the base colour dry overnight and then when i attempt the tiny details, i try my best to get them as right as possible. if the paint goes a bit crooked or one button is bigger than the others, i wait 5 minutes after applying the paint and then use a sharp X-Acto knife blade tip to lightly scrape the paint off until it is the correct shape. the new paint is only barely dry and comes off easily while the base colour is harder and does not get scraped.

i find this useful for me to get sharp details such as straight buckles and clips that i would otherwise find tricky to do perfectly on the first go.

again, thanks to one and all for their kind words. happy modeling everyone, mh.