Here is my first attempt at a 1/16 Figure, Tamiya German Tank Crew. I think I need more practice at the finer details. Any help would be greatful.

Thats not a bad attempt at a first large scale figure. What, specifically, are your unhappy with and/or looking for help with?

If I had to pick fault kevin it is that the colour is too uniform, this is especially clear on areas such as the gloves. Some washes should help bring the figure to life.

@Karl..I am thinking the flesh may be a little light, not varied enough, but did not want to get carried away, also not sure about the eyes. I also have a little problem with picking out the very fine detail, like the ribbon on the collar.


@Darren...thanks...I did apply a couple of selective pin washes, but thinking a I should have maybe done a full wash. I find sometimes heavy shadowing looks a little to exaggerated. But I will try some new techniques on the next one.

Thanks for your comments.

Kevin- you are somewhat right about the flesh color. Its not a bad place to start and I wish some of my earlier figures had turned out as good. Flesh is always tricky to get right, no matter how many times you do it. There are flesh painting sets out there from Vallejo and Andrea which go through a step-by-step process of painting- those are very helpful in learning about how to shadow and highlight faces to achieve the desired look.

There are a few tutorials in the 'Features' section of armorama and Historicus Forma, Kitmaker's figure website. I would also suggest a visit to planetfigure.com.

Eyes are also a difficult aspect of figure painting. Again, there are a good few articles out there on how to do it. If you could post an up-close picture of the face and eyes I'm sure I (and others here) could give you some better advice.

As for small details- there's no easy way to do them. Small brushes and small amounts of nicely flowing paint is always the best bet. Too much paint obscures the detail and usually over-paints onto an area where you don't want it. Too little paint and its just not right. Brushes around the size of 5/0 should be good for a figure like this- you can get down to 10/0 and I recommend you try these as they really do help get into tricky spots.

In this scale you can also get decals for some of the details- like the collar tabs and eagles etc- they often have way more detail than a brush or moulded plastic could have. You can also get etched brass insignia and details too, but you still have to paint them!

Anyway, I hope this helps and good luck with your modelling !

I like the big Tamiya figures, they're great for practicing on I think. I can't really advise you since I'm only on my second figure at this time myself; just keep practicing I guess until you get the look you want. If you're not happy, you can always strip it and redo. I've done that before, many times.