After seeing some really amazing figures here, I decided to give one a shot.

I got 2 figures off Ebay, one put together but not painted, and a finished one to use as an example.

The one on the right is the one I painted, the one on the left is the one that came done. The panzerfaust and luger holster came from my Tamiya halftrack.

I painted it completely with Vallejo paints, and later I'm going to use Mig Vietnam earth mixed with European dust on the boots. I didn't have any references to work off of, so it might not be historically accurate. I'll have to go to the university library some time and see if there's any books with lots of photos.

Nice figures there. The German's face looks a little red, but like how the rest of him came out, as well as the other one. Thanks for sharing your work. Nice Sherman in the background too!

Cheers -

Tim

Nice job philip!

Three things: I noticed the soldier on the left is holding what appears to be a russian submachine gun. Yet he is standing next to an American Tank...Also, the germans were forbidden to shave their heads during the war to the figure on the right should have hair, something easily made with Tamiya white putty. The german on the left looks a bit green to me, undertand that the field uniform came in many variations but this just looks less like a variation and more like just straight green. He's also very underdressed for what the figure on the right is wearing.

Just my two cents.

off to a good start:D
when i paint the german fieldgrey jacket+botoms, i usually do them 2 seperate colours, this may not be entirely accurate, but it adds a little contrast into the figures
for the green , i am a bit guilty of doing it a little bright like you have here, but being your first figs, you should worry more about penning techniques
vallejo, a brilliant choice to start figure painting with,
one thing i found, when figure painting, was taking plenty of time, and staying slightly more relaxed than usual helped with all the fiddly details,
the chap on the right could do with a little face shading also
hoep my comments were helpful,
btw for first figures, i wish mine had turend out how these did
keep up the good work

Guys read the post again



Not bad for your first figure, White can be tricky to paint for clothing. What some people do is paint a very light grey so that pure white can be used to highlights. Am I right in thinking he'll also have a helmet.

If I was you I wouldn't bother buying prepainted figures from Ebay buy some packs of masterbox , miniart or dragon in your LHS and practice on them - for help ask here or look in the features section here and on HF.

OMG! Pat I´ve seen a few early DML figures that are only fit for practicing on,the Gen 2 are not. The MB figures that I´ve seen in my LHS are also too good to practice on.Maybe some Italeri or Zvezda would be more appropriate for practice;Hornet&Wolf or Alpine are definately NOT for practicing. Phil ,stick with the Vallejo paints they have given me better results than all of the others & see if you can find the decal insignias for figures by Verlinden. I wish my first figures were as good as yours but I was only 6 years old & I didn´t have Vallejo paints.

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions. I'm still just getting started and I am definitely going to make more. Sometimes I like to get a finished model to use as a reference.

As for the paints, sometimes the colors are weird, like Vallejo Panzer crew black is a little brownish. I think they are supposed to be mixed. I'm going to have to read more articles on them.

Next up is the Dragon "Survivors Panzer Crew" set.

I'm new too bud. hang in there, and take all the advice from these skilled guys here and your modelling will improve greatly!

The MB figures, MiniArt, Dragon, Tristar, etc are perfect for practising on. They have nice details that can be paintined. On the other hand, Italeri and early Tamiya are rubbish and are NOT good for practising on. They do not have details and make painting actually harder.

I can understand buying some figures to get a reference, but theres no guarantee for quality, and the figure you bought, is testement for that. Try and attend some local shows or competitions or maybe even join a local club. This will give you the chance to see more painted figures and the opportunity to ask questions. As well as seeing what can be done, it also offers loads of inspiration and ideas!

See if you put a helmt on your figure as it will add a lot. And theres no magic tip to turn you into a master figure painter overnight. It takes practise and more practise. But you are off to a good start.

Vallejos have a proven track record .. but like anything its a technique that needs to be learnt. But its not the only choice ..... for some reason I can paint with acrylics and have found enamles/oils easier. The message here is dont be afraid to experiment. Even when things go wrong, you have seen something and hopefully learn from it.

i used to practice on verlinden figs!
not too detailed , but u can see the details

your first figre looks impressiv ive just started mine
and its a verlinden one although i have got some dragons figs
i am going to use the verlinden guy in a diorama when i finish my afv

keep it up then you will be a great figure painter

Real good job for your first figure.
I agree with practising on the Italeri and zvezda figures. I find myself always modifying the figures I buy and often are cutting the heads and hands off and replacing them to capture the right pose for the figures. Italeri, Zvezda and Tamiya leave alot to be desired for the detail and are good to cut your teeth on.
Vallejo paints are great to work with. If this is your first figure you'll be turning out competition figures in no time. Great job!

Semper Fi!