A little advice please

[Peej]

I have been thinking of painting figures for a while. I have seen some miniart ones I quite like the look of and they don't seem a bad price. I don't think I will go to any particular period. The area I would like advice is about the paints. Is there such thing as a starter kit? I know the basics as about 25 years ago when I was recovering from a bike accident I passed the time painting citidel figures. Any help, gr

 

[JR]

Paul, think you need some advice from Peter Day he can set you in the right direction.
All I would say if your going to use an acrylic like Vallejo it seems to be thin coats so you don't obliterate the detail .

 

[Jason Crausby]

Hi Paul... it all depends on how detailed you want to be and if you don't mind mixing...For example you will need flesh colours and I seem to have built up a collection of different shades of flesh colours over a period of time which makes things a lot easier...otherwise its a bottle of basic flesh colour which you can lighten or darken to get shades. I seem to recall that I got a bit fed upon doing that and bought a pack of flesh coloured paints ...about 5 bottles I think which is good for me as I mainly do busts... If you were doing a smaller scale you wouldn't need quite so many.
I often find that I make a start on something and then find I haven't got a particular colour so its either a case of mixing one or a quick look on eBay and a couple of days wait for it to arrive... That way your paint collection will grow without you actually realising it!
Thanks
Jason.

 

[Dave Ward]

Humbrol do a figure basic set for figures https://www.humbrol.com/uk-en/acrylic-figure-painting-set.html
Most other uniform sets are pretty specific https://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/?s=uniform+set
I think you'd be better off by getting a particular model, and seeing what you really need, rather than buying complete sets, and only using one or two colours.
Dave

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Paul, don't start with Miniart! They are poor kits and take a lot of work to get into a decent enough state to paint, and even then you'll only get a half decent figure. My advice would be to have a look at the Tamiya figures (Rommel, German Machine Gunner and German Tank Commander are good) or the Dragon ones - John stocks a good range here at Scale Model Shop.

I think Dave is right, in that it's best to buy the paint you actually need. The sets will include colours that you'll never open, so it's more cost-effective to wait and see what the figure requires. Over time you'll build up a set of colours that will actually be of use.

 

[Peej]

Thanks for the replies, it's very much appreciated.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Paul
I would concur with the others, just buy the paint you need to start with. Just out of interest, what model paint do you use at the moment, it should be transferable to this discipline unless you use Tamiya exclusively. Lastly, just push paint around and have fun.....and ask questions if you get stuck.

 

[Peej]

At the moment I use revell acrylics and I have also a small selection of vallejo. Some maybe ok for figures but most are colours for military aircraft.

 

[Dave Ward]

Paul,
I skipped over the 'MiniArt' figure in your post - I would follow along with Mr Day's advice, steer clear! I have attempted 4 MiniArt figure models - and finished one! ( Athenian Hoplite }. They're old models, the fit is um........... not good & instructions poor.
What scale are you thinking of, 1/16, 1/24, 1/35?
Dave

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Hi Paul,
Whatever acrylic paint you use I can recommend using a wet palette which keeps the paint usable for longer. I got back into figure painting eighteen months ago, after a lifetime of Humbrol enamels and I found the quick drying time of acrylics incredibly frustrating; my painting experience was mostly pain.
Now I almost ENJOY the painting......
I would also echo the advice of the others and say only buy the paints you need for each job rather than sets- I have quite a few that I will probably never use .
I would also recommend not being too cheap in your choice of figures. I thought I would use some 1/32 soft plastic figures for practice but the mouldings were so poor I got completely disillusioned. I think if you are inspired by the subject it will be a much more positive experience.
And if it goes badly, there's always Dettol, which means you can start again
Good luck and I can't wait to see the results

 

[Tim Marlow]

Second the wet pallet advice. The other advantage is that your mixes will still be available if you need to touch in later on. Last bit I missed is good brush soap. The Masters is the bees knees to me. It will extend the life of your brushes exponentially. Once you are used to using it buy some good brushes, but at the outset only but cheaper ones because you will destroy your initial ones in all probability (Everyone does to start with). If you are looking for inspiration and advice Vince Ventruella’s YouTub channel has some very good videos, even if his voice is a little soporific....

 

[Peej]

Paul,
I skipped over the 'MiniArt' figure in your post - I would follow along with Mr Day's advice, steer clear! I have attempted 4 MiniArt figure models - and finished one! ( Athenian Hoplite }. They're old models, the fit is um........... not good & instructions poor.
What scale are you thinking of, 1/16, 1/24, 1/35?
Dave

Not 100% sure about scale yet. Probably 1/24.

 

[Dave Ward]

As A toe in the water, may I suggest an ICM SWAT figure

They're around £11 mark, modern moulds & they fit together well.................
Dave

 

[Peej]

Looks like I will be doing some research later (after the football).

 

[Peej]

As A toe in the water, may I suggest an ICM SWAT figure
View attachment 391885
They're around £11 mark, modern moulds & they fit together well.................
Dave

Thanks Dave. Do these kits come with colour list, instructions and guide or is it a suss out yourself?

 

[wotan]

Paul

Acrylic paints are probably the easiest to use and need not be expensive. I echo Peter's suggestion to avoid the complete sets since you may well not need the colours they contain. You can even start off with the cheap craft paints that most art stores sell. They are cheaper than the big name brands and the pots are bigger too. You probably need buy only 12 colours to make a start. Look out for tips on making your own colour mixes and feel free to experiment. I would suggest the following set of colours to start which, with a little experiment, will enable you to mix almost everything you will need. You can easily thin down acrylics with plain tap water.

White
Black
Yellow ochre
cadmium yellow
Vermillion
Ultrmarine blue
Burnt sienna
Burnt umber
Chrome green

For mixing: yellow ochre and black makes all sorts of olive drab colours, German greys can be mixed with black, white, some ultramarine even throw in a little burnt umber. Experimenting allows you to create many variations which will add to the interest of your figures. Basic flesh tones can be made with white, burnt sienna and yellow ochre, add some vermillion for pinkish tones or some ultramarine for cool flesh tones. Just add a little at a time until you get the colour you want.

John

 

[Peej]

Paul

Acrylic paints are probably the easiest to use and need not be expensive. I echo Peter's suggestion to avoid the complete sets since you may well not need the colours they contain. You can even start off with the cheap craft paints that most art stores sell. They are cheaper than the big name brands and the pots are bigger too. You probably need buy only 12 colours to make a start. Look out for tips on making your own colour mixes and feel free to experiment. I would suggest the following set of colours to start which, with a little experiment, will enable you to mix almost everything you will need. You can easily thin down acrylics with plain tap water.

White
Black
Yellow ochre
cadmium yellow
Vermillion
Ultrmarine blue
Burnt sienna
Burnt umber
Chrome green

For mixing: yellow ochre and black makes all sorts of olive drab colours, German greys can be mixed with black, white, some ultramarine even throw in a little burnt umber. Experimenting allows you to create many variations which will add to the interest of your figures. Basic flesh tones can be made with white, burnt sienna and yellow ochre, add some vermillion for pinkish tones or some ultramarine for cool flesh tones. Just add a little at a time until you get the colour you want.

John

Thank you very much. That's a great help.

 

[Dave Ward]

Paul,
the ICM models come with an instruction sheet & colour call outs - Tamiya & Revell, but you can find equivalent charts for most paint makes
Dave