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AFV Painting & Weathering
Answers to questions about the right paint scheme or tips for the right effect.
My 2nd 1/16 scale figure...not happy..look
dronek75
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New York, United States
Joined: February 22, 2006
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Posted: Monday, November 27, 2006 - 03:31 AM UTC
Hi, I'm working on my secong ever 1/16 scale figure...the first one...well looking at the picture you can all see which one is it LOL, was basically just to see if I'm "able" to make it though...In the back there is a figure professionaly made so i can see how it is done that somebody has made for me not long ago...basically my question is how can i make the uniform ( top, pants and boots) to look like this guy have seen some action and not look like on a parade (too clean) is it weathering? I used both, enamels ( MM) and acrylics (Tamiya) in the painting process...some nice tips of how to weather this guy for someone who never done it would be great...cheers







I think I'm getting there with drybrushing but that's pretty much the only thing i ever try to do to my models besides of course simply painting it...what do you guys think i should do to have this guy look like he saw some action (uniform) I would like to give at least some shadow effect to his top and pants so i doesn't look "flat"
jantkowiak
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Posted: Monday, November 27, 2006 - 07:44 AM UTC
Gregory,

From a technique standpoint, these two figures in the foreground are really quite nicely base-painted; that is, you've got the basic colors very smoothely applied, and now they're ready for washes and highlights.

(Be patient; you actually asked about weathering, which is really just an extension of the process I describe below. I'll address that subject last.)

I haven't had much success with either MM or Tamiya acrylics for these, though. Instead, I use craft store acrylics (Delta Ceramcoat is best). The nice thing about them is they're so cheap (less than a dollar on sale) and they last forever - and they come in just about any color you can imagine. I teach a summer course for kids at the Smithsonian in DC using this approach for figure painting.

But first, let's look at the eyes... your figure in the front needs a bit more eyelid (upper and lower) and a bit less eyeball. A fine brush and a touch more of the skin tone should do the trick.

I do washes first. Simply pick a darker color than your base coat. The deeper the shadow, the darker the color. Another advantage to Delta paints is you can choose as many shades of a given color as you like, so you never have to worry about mixing paints on a palette. Beginners especially will find that they've mixed the perfect shade, applied it just right, and then messed up a subsequent step, requiring them to try to reproduce the mixed color to fix it. It never works - has anyone else noticed that? (Easier with oils, but that's a whole 'nother class...)

So anyway, let's talk about the face as an example. Really, you'd repeat the process for every article of clothing and piece of equipment and every item in his environment (groundwork, etc.). With a large scale figure like yours, you'll be happier with a wider range of colors to bring it to life. More experienced painters will pooh-pooh this example as too simplistic - the human face really has quite a range of reds and blues in it. But for simplicity's sake, I would try to make my point using - for a large figure like this - maybe seven shades of brown. For 1/35th scale, five is sufficient. For sake of this discussion, call them shades 1-7; the middle tone, 4, is the flesh tone you have already applied. 1, 2, and 3 are progressively lighter - 1 being the lightest. 5, 6, and 7 are darker; 7 being the darkest. Still with me?

Washes are simple. (I shake the bottle of Delta paint thoroughly, then take the cap off and dip the brush in it. No palette required!) Start with the darkest color first (#7). I call this my "finger painting" technique: Dip the brush in the paint, dip it straight into a cup of water, and stir them together on a finger on your opposite hand - the one holding the figure while you paint. Keep adding water until the paint is transparent and you can see the colors running into the tiny crevices in your skin. Then apply the watery mixture liberally to the figure, brushing from bottom to top, in the areas you want to be darkest: the deepest part of th eye sockets, the nostrils, inside the ears and mouth, under the chin, etc. This will have the effect of darkening everything. Practice will train you to get a feel for how much paint, how much water, and how heavily to apply it. For now, if you use too much, just wipe the brush on a clean finger and touch it to the excess paint on the figure before it dries. You'll be amazed how the brush soaks up the paint, like an eraser. Especially useful to keep the eyeballs bright!

After that dries (just a minute or two if you have the right amount of paint and water), do it again with #6, this time not qoing quite so deep into the shadow areas as before. Let it dry and go again with #5, coming a bit more into the shallow recesses of the face (under the jaw by the ear, for example, and the raised surfaces within the ear lobe).

Now it's time for highlighting, which is a technique you already know: drybrushing. At this point, I usually give the face another pass with the base color - #4. For this technique, I generally use a different type of brush. (I like flat or angled artist brushes for washes, where I want to cover a large area with little effort. For drybrushing, I use a round brush that isn't pointed - it's like a flat-top haircut. I don't recall the name of this brush. I'll see if I can't upload some pictures of brushes later, if anyone is confused about what I mean. You've all seen them.) The reason for this is, especially with a large figure, I use a different brush stroke: stippling. I dip the brush in the paint and stipple it lightly against my finger until most of the paint is gone. Almost all of it. Then I stipple the figure, starting at the edge of the shadows where I want to blend it into the highlight. (With almost all the paint off the brush when you start, you'll have to dip into the paint frequently. But it's easy to get too much paint on the figure, so be careful. Subtle is everything here!) Recall that we applied washes by stroking from bottom to top. This time, I stipple in a downward motion from the top, which is where the light comes from normally. When you start with shade #3, limit your brush stroke to the raised surfaces that catch the light. By the time you're ready to apply shade #1, you want to use very little. Ridge of the nose, top of the cheekbone, top of the chin, etc.

Then, you'll want to add some life with a thin wash of red or pink. Especially on the upper surface of the lower lip and the cheeks. Blue shadow for the unshaven look. You get the idea. Then add eyebrows, eyelashes, etc.

Now, for weathering: Your tin gas mask container doesn't need the depth of color that the face does. Three shades is plenty. Two, if you're good at it. But drybrush with a metallic shade as you did your entrenching tools and rifles. If you really want to get sophisticated, try scuffing the raw plastic or resin with fine sandpaper before doing any painting at all. Then when you're ready to drybrush, the scuffing will stand out.

Leather that gets a lot of heavy contact with skin - such as the helmet liner band or the rifle sling - can become darker and shinier at the point of contact.

As a general rule, I apply a very simple weathering tone to my figures in the field. But I also usually work in smaller scales than 1/16, so yours may be a bit more complicated. But I drybrush - with very little paint, mind you - a dusting of tan on the parts I want to look more soiled. This works well for dry dirt, not mud. But I build it up more on the boots, knees, elbows, and the seat of the pants. Also a very little bit applied to anything black, as it causes the contours to stand out without calling attention to itself.

Anyway, here's an example. They're low-resolution, not great pictures. It's also a Tomb Guard at Arlington Cemetery, so absolutely no specks of dust allowed. But it might illustrate some of my points. I hope.



WARLORD
Staff MemberAssociate Editor
HISTORICUS FORMA
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Warszawa, Poland
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Posted: Monday, November 27, 2006 - 05:35 PM UTC
Check these sites:

http://www.old.modelarstwo.org.pl/forum/index.php - forum on which you'll find many tips in polish
http://www.old.modelarstwo.org.pl/index.php - few useful articles in polish

You may also take look here: http://www.figurki.org/
and finally here: http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2001/12/stuff_eng_tech_paint_faces.htm
Good luck
cbuk
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England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: June 02, 2005
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Posted: Monday, November 27, 2006 - 06:17 PM UTC
John - that is a great and in deptht guide

I have a 1/16 figure I have been putting off until I felt confident enough to
tackle it - but after reading your advice I am gonna make it my next model. I hope everyone else finds it as useful as I have.

Also opened my eyes to washes - I never thought of multiple washes that are progressively lighter.

CB
AJLaFleche
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Posted: Monday, November 27, 2006 - 06:33 PM UTC
Welcome to the dark side!

I only do washes where I want to add shading where the effect is too fine for a brush. For this, I use artist oils with regular old thinner.

Just about everything else is Vallejo or Andrea acrylics. For basic caucasian flesh, I use beige red. I'll add a brown to this for shadows (saddle brown, charred flesh or dark fleshtone) this is mixed in a very thin solution with tap water. I add thin applications under the jaw, above and under the eyes, on the lower cheek, inside the ears, along the side of the nose, in frown/smile lines, on either side of any neck musculature, at the edge of the hairline, and in the cleft of the chin. Adding more of the darkening color and even more water for darker shadows in the deepest recesses.

For highlights, I add light flesh or suny skintone to the base color. Like the shadown, this is applied in very dilute layers on the higlights such as the upper cheek, the ridge of the nose, along the upper lip, the tip of the chin, the huighpoint of the neck musculature, the eyebrow ridge, the tips of the ears and the jaw line. The highest points, suc as the ridge of the nose gets some straight (thinned) light flesh.

At this point, I only dry brush where there is texture, such as fur or hair.

An extemely diluted base color can be applied to tie all the shades together.

For eyes, I use light flesh with a brown or blue iris. This is painted afterh the base color has been laid down and will be shaped by the subsequent color applications.

The same principles apply to other colors.

Choosing he colrrect lightening and darkening agents can be a challenge. For green, try adding a bit of red and proceeding as above.


Vallejo's website has a great tutorial on acrylics (not Tamiya, they are not brush friendly enough for figure work). Go to Model color inthe drop down menu and scroll to the bottom of the page.
dronek75
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New York, United States
Joined: February 22, 2006
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Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 03:46 AM UTC
thanks guys, You were wery helpfull...when comes to Tamiya for figures, it's true that they aren't great for that (hard to apply) I found to be much easier working with MM enamels but i think I'll give a try to Vallejo acrylics since most of you say they are great for figures...Is there a place on internet i can buy Vallejo for my next "project"? I'm in the US (NYC) I looked up on squadron but wasn't able to locate them on that website...once again thanks for the tips of how to give my figure much better look than it is now...without this forum i would give up modelling but now...armorama is an awesome place. I would be very interested in getting a set of colors for face so i can see what results i can get with it...
Cheers...
Plasticbattle
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Joined: May 14, 2002
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Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 04:07 AM UTC
Hi Gregory. Buying vallejo paints wont automatically make the figures perfect. The enamel paints you use already, are good enough. Try out some of the Mark Bannerman methods ... he paints with Humbrol enamels and has some great tips to offer.
As has been mentioned already, the basic painting is perfect. Ive never seen paint as smooth. Some more practise and reading some good articles and trying out (dont be afraid to try) will take you a long way!

Mark Bannerman Methods on ML

dronek75
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Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 04:35 AM UTC
what do You guys think of those...anybody is using something like it? is it helpful in working on really small areas?
http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=DODA05
Thanks
dronek75
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Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 04:36 AM UTC
http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=DODA05

direct link
jantkowiak
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North Carolina, United States
Joined: May 30, 2005
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Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 01:45 PM UTC
Gregory,

There are a bunch of folks in my local figure painters' club who don't go anywhere without the Optivision. They love it. Personally, I see best close up when I take my glasses off. So really it comes down to personal preference, just like this discussion of techniques and paint media. The Armorama club is great because you'll hear all kinds of things you never would have thought of, but the truth is, whatever works for you is the best way there is! So try as many different techniques as you can, and be patient.

Try calling this hobby shop in NYC. I've never been there, but it's worth a try:

Jan's Hobby Shop
1435 Lexington Ave
New York, NY 10128
(212) 987-4765


John Stengel, in Glendale (not exactly Manhattan, I know, but if he's got what you want, it might be worth the train ride), deals mostly in plastic toy soldiers. I think he has paints, and if he does, there's a good chance he carries Vallejo. If not, ask him if he knows a place. I know him because he travels to annual shows in Valley Forge, Atlanta, and DC every year with tables full of stuff for sale. And honestly, I can't be sure that he's got a permanent shop in Glendale. That's where he lives and does mail order, at least. But if nothing else, he can give you some other places to try.

John Stengel
"The Marx Man"
7250 66th Street
Glendale, NY 11385
(718) 418-9439


After I posted those pictures, I thought of some other things to point out to you. There is one bit on this figure that is slightly weathered: the rubber mat that they walk on all day long. I've seen the real thing, and it is surprisingly unmilitary-looking. It's so worn from rain, snow, and sun that the edges don't actually lie flat on the ground. They curl up at the corners and are sort of wavy all along the sides. I was under a deadline for this, so I didn't bother with that detail. What I did do, to show the wear and also to set off the black shoes against the black mat, was to drybrush dark gray evenly along the top surface of the mat, then just a hint of white along the path where they walk. A little extra under his feet, which is at the end of the mat where they stop and execute all those facing movements in exactly the same spot all day long.

I think there's one spot in the picture (other than the gloss black shoes, hat brim, sunglasses, etc. of course) that looks like it reflects the light needed for the photograph: the lower skirt of the jacket under his right hand. Otherwise, all the lighting effects you see are painted in: the shades of blue in the jacket and the trousers, the "catch lights" and shadows of the badge on the front of the base, the variations on the rifle stock and barrel.

I used mostly the techniques with the craft paints, as I already described. I also used Model Master enamels for gloss black, metals, ribbons, and the yellow piping.

So you see, good results come as much from knowing where to put the paint, and how much of it to put there, as they do from than the type of paint you use. (Although it must be emphasized that you combine oil colors differently from enamels, which is different from acrylics. That seems like a whole art form in itself.)

Again - try them all. Experiment on cheap plastic figures. If you can find them, I highly recommend the Airfix 1:32 WWII figures (John Stengel absolutely has those!) $10 for a box of - 8? - figures. Great detail, great poses. And have fun!

John Antkowiak
Manassas, VA


PS. Chris: Thanks for the kind words! I was kind of hoping someone would see that it's not really as complicated as it can seem. Don't forget to post questions of your own as they come up!
spooky6
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Sri Lanka
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Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 02:39 PM UTC
And you might wanna check out Historicus Forma. Some great stuff there.
Tarok
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Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 04:09 PM UTC
Hi Gregory,

As my good friend David (Spooky6) points out, you don't need to leave the Kitmaker Network to find great SBS's, features and advice on figures painting... Simply pop over to Historicus Forma

We have some great features, including painting, sculpting and groundwork.

In addition to features, we have some great discussion groups led by guys like Gino Poppe (regular contributor to publications like Military Modelling) and Markus Eckmann (commercial sculptor). Apart from our 2 "celebrity" hosts :-) our other DG hosts (Al, Costas, Craig, and Engin) are all accomplished modellers.

BTW, íf you pop over to HFM's Acrylic Painting DG (hosted by Gino Poppe) you'll find a very neat little SBS Gino is currently running on Painting a face in acrylics.

Hope to see you there...

Rudi
AJLaFleche
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Posted: Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 07:38 PM UTC
Sentinel Miniatures - Andrea Paints
4 Broadway # 102 -
Valhalla, New York 10595
914-682-3932
Sentinel Miniatures

Military Miniatures Warehouse Has Andrea and Velljo sets
159 Pine Tree Lane
Tappan, New York 10983-2114
845-680-2503
 _GOTOTOP