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thats also one of my favorite website haha cool,cheers i'll have a look and see if this can help me with my little procurement
"And now, for something completely different..." see various Monty Python episodes...
Hi, Si! Welcome to the "WONDERFUL WORLD of FIGURE-PAINTING"!!!
No, seriously-
I like to model figures in various scales from 1/48 on up to 120mm, which covers a pretty broad range from which to choose my subject matter. I sometimes use my own custom mixes of various "weathering powders" to simulate the subtle nuances of facial and other skin tones, by using various small red sable, or red sable/synthetic-blend paint brushes, to very good effect. Weathering powders in a veritable myriad of colors are available which will also help you in creating shadow effects and in simulating creases, folds and wrinkles in your figures' clothing.
The GREAT thing about weathering powders is that you can dip a moistened brush into your mix or color of choice and MIX it into your paint. (On a separate palette, please- You'll thank me later for helping you to avoid minor catastrophes!
) This works whether the paint is acrylic, or oil-based. DON'T load a lot of the weathering powder onto your brush; a very small amount goes a long way- Just a bit on the tip of your brush, and you can create ALL KINDS of great colors that just aren't available "straight-out-of-the-bottle". This practice will make your mix dry VERY quickly; you can moisten your mix every few moments with a tiny drop of your thinners, or wipe your brush, and dip it into a small, separate receptacle of said thinners, to avoid cross-contamination between colors. This technique has the added benefit of "flattening" your colors even more than what comes in the bottle originally, thereby avoiding that sheen that you sometimes get with paint that is supposed to be "dead-flat". I've even added tiny amounts of White weathering powder into some of my airbrushing paints to "flatten" them, with NO adverse effects, whatsoever. The White weathering powder DOES NOT affect your color in any way, except to "flatten" it...
I've been painting figures "the right way" since I was 17, and I'll be 64 in January, so I think that just ma-a-a-aybe I've got a little bit of experience with this very rewarding pastime. My first figure-painting "How-to" publication, was Peter Blum's Figure-Painting booklet, published back in 1972, I think, by IMRIE-RISLEY. This little booklet first opened my eyes! At about the same time, when I bought some of the MONOGRAM 1/48 Aircraft kits, there were diorama leaflets depicting Shep Paine's marvelous aircraft dioramas and modelling techniques! WHOLE NEW VISTAS were now forming in my fertile imagination, and I quickly started putting Mr.Paine's methods and techniques into practice in ALL of my subsequent modelling projects. I bought my first Airbrush, a PAASCHE H-1 when I was 14, but now, following Mr.Paine's expertise, my airbrushing efforts came unto their own...
Back to figure painting- I also like to custom blend my enamels, (I prefer the TESTORS MODEL MASTER II Enamels), on a separate palette, and sometimes I add a touch of GRUMBACHER Artist's Oil Paints into my mixes.
The key to blending skin tones, is to wait a few minutes, allowing the paint on your subject to "set up" just a little bit, and then blend your colors by using an (I like to use a quality thinner, such as GRUMBACHER's) almost dry, moistened brush to blend the colors into each other with. I'll dip my brush into a small receptacle of CLEAN thinners, and then I like to wipe the excess thinner on a clean paper towel. Too much thinner on your brush will only make a mess of things. A light hand is essential, and I suggest some practice with this technique before you commit yourself on your "good" subject. The same technique can be applied to clothing and equipment, etc. Dry-brushing "highlights" such as Cheek-bones, the Bridge of the Nose, the Chin, the Forehead, etc, is also easily accomplished, but remember that you're working a VERY small area, so once again, a light touch and a very small brush are absolutely necessary. Lips are not as hard as they at first may seem- Paint the Lower Lip FIRST, and the Upper Lip SECOND, in a DARKER SHADE than the Lower Lip. Once you become really proficient, you can start dealing with figures which feature open Mouths, i.e, talking, eating, yelling, laughing, etc. Also remember that Teeth aren't PERFECTLY WHITE, unless you're a paid professional in a tooth-paste commercial, or an actor...
Another "trick" is to NOT use WHITE when painting "eyeballs"- This little bit of knowledge I picked up from the Late, Great Master Model-Builder and Figure-Painter, Shep Paine... People out of doors tend to squint a bit, and more so in direct sunlight.
You can avoid that "pop-eyed" look by painting the Sclera (that's the White part of the eyeball), in FLESH, and the Iris in varying shades of Brown, Green, or Blue. If you look at your eyeball in a mirror, you'll see that your eyeball isn't TOTALLY White, anyway. If you have a REEEALLY steady hand, (I'm LUCKY, in that respect), then you can even add a small Black "dot" in the center of your Irises to represent your Pupils.
In Bright sunlight, people tend to squint even more, so you can simulate this by just painting your eyelids with eyelashes closer together, leaving the barest idea of eyeballs being present on your figure. This works quite well with 54mm Figures (approximately 1/30-1/31 scale), and larger figures, as well.
Another little hint that Mr.Paine imparted in his various publications on Figure-painting, is to dispense with the "eyeball" altogether, by just painting a very thin Dark Brown horizontal line across the area between the eyelids- I've done t5his NUMEROUS times with my 1/48 Pilots, Aircrew and Ground Personnel. This particular practice also works on 1/35 Figures quite nicely, and is VERY convincing, if done properly- Simulating "eye-wrinkles" in the skin outboard of the eyes helps this effect, immeasurably...
Mostly, when I paint my latest figures, I combine my various techniques, i.e Enamels, Oils, and my custom-mixes of Weathering Powders. I like to use TESTORS 1960 Lusterless Flat as my fixative...
An EXCELLENT reference and "How To" book is OSPREY PUBLISHING's "BILL HORAN's MILITARY MODELLING MASTERCLASS", of which there are quite a few copies listed on ebay, for decent prices...
GOOD LUCK to you in all of your endeavors in this most pleasing aspect of our hobby...
