hi all, was wondering, when figure painting, its the normal procedure to paint the uniform first and then paint the belt / webbing etc after, was wondering if anyone has tried painting the detail first and then painted the uniform around it, wouldn,t require such a steady hand, has anyone tried this and how succesful was it?

I usually do a base coat of the unifrom colour overall, then paint the webgear, then do a topcoat on the uniform, then drybrushing. I find that way works easier for me to get clean lines on the webbing.

Hi, Andrew.

Yours sounds like an unusual approach, to say the least No one in the DC-based figure painting club that I belonged to does it that way, and when I have taught figure painting for kids, I normally recommend the "inside-out" method (that is, skin first, then uniform, then webbing and gear).

The reasoning is, when painting skin before anything else, you don't have to be so precise at the collar line for example - any overage will be covered when you paint the shirt. When you do the shirt, you worry about precision at the collar line but not the gear and harness - just paint them all. The most precise effort will be the details.

If you invert the sequence, then everything you paint has to be precise and it will also be harder to get a consistent look to the highlights, shadows, and weathering on the uniform underneath the finished details.

Having said all that, painting is an individual preference. If it works for you and you like the result, anything goes! I hope you'll post some pics of your figures

Happy modeling --

John A.


These aren't the greatest photographs, I know... but they should suggest the challenges posed by inversing the sequence...

No hard and fast rules on this.....

personally, I'd refer to base coat my figures, do the large areas first, then steadily work down into details....

If I have to strip a figure because I goofed the paint, well , its less stressing if I didn't do all that details work, then goofed the rest of the figure.....

A mixed approach is best - some areas will need detail painting, simply because once assembled, it would be very difficult to get a paint brush in to that spot.....


HTH

Jamie