Ok well yes i am new here and looking to get into expanding my skills. so i have gotten back into building military models but i want to try my hand at figures so i'm looking for a quick and easy way to paint flesh i have seen a 15 minute a day for two weeks way but that is just way to much and i really don't want to mess with oil based paints and all that. and i'm not looking to do super relistic 1/35 figures. i'm just looking to do simple flesh tones without deep shadows or five a clock shadows things like that. so does testors or tamiya make "flesh" paints that can be mixed in different ratios to do different tones?

Yes, they both do. I cannot recall if testors has any in acrylic though. I just usually buy the base flat flesh colors and then add a bit of this or a dash of that and there you go! You might want to try enamels because they are easy to find and cheap. All you need is a bit of mineral spirits and you're set. I do just as much cleanup with acrylics as I do with enamels.

Ps. I like the Testors flat "light tan" it's really just flesh but they call it something else.

Avoid Tamiya, you'll be frustrated beyond belief with trying to brush paint them. Since you're starting out on the dark side of figure painting, (Welcome ) consider investing in Andrea or vallejo paints. About $3 a bottle, but they last forever. Take a look at "My photos" below. All the recent stuff which you'll see at the beginning, were painted with these colors. I use Beige red as base tone and add charred flesh or dark skintone to get darker base colors. I add light flesh to the base for highlights, ending with straight light flesh for the highest points.
You may need to mail order or buy them on-line, but both have a flesh starter kit available from Military Miniatures Warehouse.
For a good tutorial, got to here and choose "model color" from the drop down menu and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Well, the fastest way I have found for painting flesh (although, not the BEST way to do it) is this.

1)starting out with Tamiya FLesh color, thin the paint with some rubbing alcohol, and apply two thin coats. Allow drying time between coats. This should only be a couple of minutes.

2) using an oil wash of raw umber or burnt umber (model master makes enamel paint in this color that works fine thinned also), do a light pin wash of the recessed creases on the parts to be painted. Allow 20 minutes to dry.

3) using pink or red, paint the mouth of the figure lightly.

4) using model master "warm skin tone" dry brush your figure parts around the forehead, cheeks, backs of hands, and neck. Allow drying time of maybe 20 minutes.

5) using model master "light skin tone", dry brush all raised areas like the nose, fingers, palms, chin line, ears, etc. Allow 20 minutes to dry

6) last, take a piece of sprue, heat it up, stretch it out, and cut it so you have a fine point at the end. Use the to paint the figures eyes. If your going to paint eye brows, moustaches, beard, hair, etc, this is the time to do it.

As I said, this isnt necessarily the best way of doing it, but if you dont have a lot of time, and your doing 4-5 figures at the same time, you cna knock them out in a couple of hours.

Welcome to Armorama, sgtrock76!

I take a different approach to this than many of the talented folks here. In fact, just the other day I replied to a similar question in the Painting forum, describing my fingerpainting method in great detail. I’ve been painting figures for 25 years and teaching it for four, and I have yet to find a cheaper, faster, or simpler method.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/88780&page=1

I use craft store acrylics. You can achieve beautiful results with them, but I will say that it takes a bit of practice to get consistently good at it. Since I wrote that response, I’ve been working on some 1/35th scale figures in preparation for my big D-Day diorama, which I don’t want to fall flat due to substandard painting. I’ve decided that using washes for highlights as well as shadows is even more effective on faces at that scale, so I’m advocating that from now on.

(In case anyone is going to give it a try, highlight washes are done exactly as described, only with not quite so much water in the mix and not so much on the brush. It’s applied directly – and precisely – to the raised surfaces with a fine brush, like a 4/0 round, instead of with a large flat brush as with shadows.)

I’m writing this from work, but I have an example I can post later tonight when I get home.

Anyway, sgtrock76, I still maintain that you’ll need a bit of practice no matter what medium you use, and whatever way works for you is the best way there is. Happy modeling!

John A.
Manassas, VA

Thank you guys for your help and advice.

I think i will be trying out some testors flats in a mix and match way to find something that works and is easy buy yeilds some good results.

With this info and the info i got for the guys at work who just came back from iraq i hope i will be able to put together some good reps of army and marines.

Hi again - -

Here are the 1/35 figures I referred to earlier. These took me a few hours to do the faces and hands. With acrylic washes, it's important to let each coat dry completely before starting the next one. But it's water, so it takes only a few minutes.

John A.
Manassas, VA