No probs Andrew, hope it helps.....
What is interesting is how much thinking about what I’m actually doing and what I need to explain really slows me down. If I miss anything please let me know....
S model 1/72 3.7 cm PaK 36 Auf Renault UE build (Simon T tribute group build)
- Thread starter Tim Marlow
- Start date
What is interesting is how much thinking about what I’m actually doing and what I need to explain really slows me down. If I miss anything please let me know....
Ok then, let’s give the face a little life by adding a five o’clock shadow.
To do this I use a stain technique. Basically very dilute paint, but using inks because they are more translucent. These are the inks I use..
I use 1 drop of the blue and the black, six drops of medium, and six drops of water. Using the same number 1 brush as before, dampen it, dip it in the stain, then remove the excess off of the brush. I use a sheet of cartridge paper and draw the brush across it.
You can see how thin this is. You can dilute the ink with water, but again it will bead up and not wet the surface as you want. Some medium helps it act like you want It too, improving controllability.
When you paint this onto the surface, remember that the direction of the brush stroke matters. The thinnest paint will be left at the start of the stroke, and the thickest at the end, so for the shadow paint from cheekbone downwards to the neck.
More in a minute, need to clear the iPad cache so I can post images again...
To do this I use a stain technique. Basically very dilute paint, but using inks because they are more translucent. These are the inks I use..
I use 1 drop of the blue and the black, six drops of medium, and six drops of water. Using the same number 1 brush as before, dampen it, dip it in the stain, then remove the excess off of the brush. I use a sheet of cartridge paper and draw the brush across it.
You can see how thin this is. You can dilute the ink with water, but again it will bead up and not wet the surface as you want. Some medium helps it act like you want It too, improving controllability.
When you paint this onto the surface, remember that the direction of the brush stroke matters. The thinnest paint will be left at the start of the stroke, and the thickest at the end, so for the shadow paint from cheekbone downwards to the neck.
More in a minute, need to clear the iPad cache so I can post images again...
OK, here we go again.....
When painted on the face it needs to barely tint the surface. If it’s too strong you could get this......
It shows the placement very well, but well, it is a bit strong......
You can see it here, but only barely. It’s all you really need.....
As alway, ask away if you need any more information....
When painted on the face it needs to barely tint the surface. If it’s too strong you could get this......
It shows the placement very well, but well, it is a bit strong......
You can see it here, but only barely. It’s all you really need.....
As alway, ask away if you need any more information....
D
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Very, very informative Tim. Thanks for sharing your secrets.
Thanks Peter. Nothing here you don’t already know I would think though.....told you it was smoke and mirrors LOL....
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- Andrew
Thanks Tim.
Looks very good indeed and a nice reminder of the wacky races too!
As Peter said very helpful. The only downside is that the list of things I need to buy is growing every longer....
Keep up the great work.
ATB.
Andrew
Hi Andrew. You can do the shadow with paint. Just use a blue/grey (Prussian blue and black, mixed on a wet palette) and dilute it with medium alone. The trick is to unload the brush first on the cartridge paper so you don’t flood the area. You want to paint it, not wash it. I use inks because I have them and their translucency makes it easier to hit the “sweet spot” in dilution, but they are not essential..
therapy
SMF Supporter
And these guys are what size again?
Amazing!
Nick
Amazing!
Nick
Hi Nick. They are 20mm high. They are standing on golf tees. So far I would say that there is only ten minutes total painting time been used on all four figures. What I am trying to show is that acceptable results can be achieved by using the right techniques and materials. It doesn’t take super talent and laser vision, just application.......And these guys are what size again?
Amazing!
Nick
Jim R
SMF Supporter
Hi Tim
That is a very clever and very effective way to paint figures at this scale.
Jim
That is a very clever and very effective way to paint figures at this scale.
Jim
Last edited:
Thanks Jim. Glad you like them. I always think the shapes and tones are more useful on figures at this scale than absolute detail. The ideas are not really original, just synthesised from many sources until I developed an efficient workflow with effective results.
Hi Rick. Glad to be of service sir. Hopefully I’m showing that there is nothing to be afraid of as well.
Hi Mick. Glad you like them, thanks for the support.
OK then, moving on to the hair and the hats......
I decided to go with mid brown hair for all four. You can’t see much of it, so I didn’t see any point in spending time mixing for different hair colours. With hair, as with all other parts of the figure, you are trying to emphasise the volume of the area. You simply cannot highlight every hair, you’d go mad before you finished the figure. For this hair colour I used these.
I paint the whole area with 872 then highlight the hair volume with 875. If there was more hair on view I would use an intermediate tone, and possibly a final highlight, but you wouldn’t see it here so I saved some time.
At this point I decided that I needed a light and dark on my palette so I could tint and shade the colours. I used these..
I rarely use black and white because I think they are too stark. I save them for highlights and shadow on black and white areas of figures.....
Here they are on the palette...
The next stage in painting is to block paint the helmet in German grey and to “frame out “ the face area with the same shade. It is far easier to paint up to an adjacent area neatly than it is to paint a fine line between the areas to delineate them. Make sure you paint the underside of the helmet up to the face, this is what makes it stand out (pop). At this time I also painted the chin strap in the same colour.
Next up, I highlighted the middle of the chinstrap with a lighter shade of grey. I made this by adding a touch of basic flesh tone to the German grey.
This can be seen on the palette here....
The strap tint is the one below and left of the dark grey blob. Using flesh as a tint warms the grey slightly and differentiates it from the helmet.
The tints above and right of this are the ones used for the helmet highlights.
The first tint is used on the flare at the bottom and on the crown of the helmet. Remember to unload the brush first to remove excess paint, and to start the stroke where the lightest coverage is needed. You want to paint it, not flood it.
The second tint is also used in these same areas, but covering a smaller area leaving some first tint visible between that tint and the base colour. The last, and lightest, tint is used for edge highlights and the very top of the helmet where it is horizontal and would catch and reflect the most light. To highlight edges it is easier to use the side of the brush, just touching the edge in question. You can do it with the point, but run the risk of painting into the shadow area.
I didn’t take pictures in between the various layers as I use a wet brush and only rinsed between colours.
Here are some shots of the figures as they are now.....
The top figure shows the shadow generated by the initial framing out in dark grey. This makes the face and helmet pop nicely off of each other. Don’t worry about slight over painting on the collar, this will be fixed when that is painted. In the second shot the figure on the left has an olive grey base colour, but the technique is exactly the same, just mix your highlights and apply them as shown. All colours have been applied with the same number 1 brush.....
Lastly, a useful resource for basic German uniforms, including relevant VJ paint colours, can be found here...just use the stated colour as a base and tint or shade with the light or dark paint.
www.panzermodels.co.uk
Hope this helps, as always just ask if my Wiltshire is difficult to understand!
I decided to go with mid brown hair for all four. You can’t see much of it, so I didn’t see any point in spending time mixing for different hair colours. With hair, as with all other parts of the figure, you are trying to emphasise the volume of the area. You simply cannot highlight every hair, you’d go mad before you finished the figure. For this hair colour I used these.
I paint the whole area with 872 then highlight the hair volume with 875. If there was more hair on view I would use an intermediate tone, and possibly a final highlight, but you wouldn’t see it here so I saved some time.
At this point I decided that I needed a light and dark on my palette so I could tint and shade the colours. I used these..
I rarely use black and white because I think they are too stark. I save them for highlights and shadow on black and white areas of figures.....
Here they are on the palette...
The next stage in painting is to block paint the helmet in German grey and to “frame out “ the face area with the same shade. It is far easier to paint up to an adjacent area neatly than it is to paint a fine line between the areas to delineate them. Make sure you paint the underside of the helmet up to the face, this is what makes it stand out (pop). At this time I also painted the chin strap in the same colour.
Next up, I highlighted the middle of the chinstrap with a lighter shade of grey. I made this by adding a touch of basic flesh tone to the German grey.
This can be seen on the palette here....
The strap tint is the one below and left of the dark grey blob. Using flesh as a tint warms the grey slightly and differentiates it from the helmet.
The tints above and right of this are the ones used for the helmet highlights.
The first tint is used on the flare at the bottom and on the crown of the helmet. Remember to unload the brush first to remove excess paint, and to start the stroke where the lightest coverage is needed. You want to paint it, not flood it.
The second tint is also used in these same areas, but covering a smaller area leaving some first tint visible between that tint and the base colour. The last, and lightest, tint is used for edge highlights and the very top of the helmet where it is horizontal and would catch and reflect the most light. To highlight edges it is easier to use the side of the brush, just touching the edge in question. You can do it with the point, but run the risk of painting into the shadow area.
I didn’t take pictures in between the various layers as I use a wet brush and only rinsed between colours.
Here are some shots of the figures as they are now.....
The top figure shows the shadow generated by the initial framing out in dark grey. This makes the face and helmet pop nicely off of each other. Don’t worry about slight over painting on the collar, this will be fixed when that is painted. In the second shot the figure on the left has an olive grey base colour, but the technique is exactly the same, just mix your highlights and apply them as shown. All colours have been applied with the same number 1 brush.....
Lastly, a useful resource for basic German uniforms, including relevant VJ paint colours, can be found here...just use the stated colour as a base and tint or shade with the light or dark paint.
German Uniforms of WWII plus a reference guide for Vallejo Paints
See below for images of WWII German Uniforms, including a breakdown of the clothing and equipment pictured and Vallejo paint references.
www.panzermodels.co.uk
Hope this helps, as always just ask if my Wiltshire is difficult to understand!
Steve Jones
Steve Jones Scale Modelling Site
Really appreciate you giving us an insight into your figure work Tim. Enjoying this blog unfold. Great work all round
Thanks Steve. Glad you like it.
Hi all
Not got much done recently, just trousers....
As always, I’ve gone with a preferred colour then shaded it for the shadows and tinted it for the highlights using the light and dark that are already on the palette. Not much to work with on the standing figure, but both were under painted with the shade. The vertical surfaces and those above horizontal that catch the light were painted with the straight tint. Finally the kneeling chap has had the top of the thighs and top of the creases lightened with the highlight. The standing chap has just had front of the thighs highlighted in the same way.
As I was painting four figures I tried to generate a little variety in the uniforms. I therefore used these colours as the basics
I did two in fieldgrey, and one each in the other two....
Here they are on the palette...
As you can see, one advantage of this approach is that you will eventually generate a wide variety of closely linked colours on the palette. These will all remain useable unless you take ages between sessions. Therefore if you have several figures to paint you can easily add variety to the figures by using whatever colour you want to use. You are not tied to one colour for all the uniforms. It increases speed considerably. Also, because they have been tinted and shaded with the same colours they will tie together visually yet will exhibit the shade variety seen in life.
You can also use these mixes to correct any overpaint mistakes made during the more demanding equipment painting.
Next up, I need to frame out the jackets with a dark colour and then paint them. Normally I would paint the boots next, no real reason why, I just do
As these figures are not conventionally based I won’t do that. I will wait until the top part is painted and varnished so I can handle them without damage.
As always, any questions just ask....
Not got much done recently, just trousers....
As always, I’ve gone with a preferred colour then shaded it for the shadows and tinted it for the highlights using the light and dark that are already on the palette. Not much to work with on the standing figure, but both were under painted with the shade. The vertical surfaces and those above horizontal that catch the light were painted with the straight tint. Finally the kneeling chap has had the top of the thighs and top of the creases lightened with the highlight. The standing chap has just had front of the thighs highlighted in the same way.
As I was painting four figures I tried to generate a little variety in the uniforms. I therefore used these colours as the basics
I did two in fieldgrey, and one each in the other two....
Here they are on the palette...
As you can see, one advantage of this approach is that you will eventually generate a wide variety of closely linked colours on the palette. These will all remain useable unless you take ages between sessions. Therefore if you have several figures to paint you can easily add variety to the figures by using whatever colour you want to use. You are not tied to one colour for all the uniforms. It increases speed considerably. Also, because they have been tinted and shaded with the same colours they will tie together visually yet will exhibit the shade variety seen in life.
You can also use these mixes to correct any overpaint mistakes made during the more demanding equipment painting.
Next up, I need to frame out the jackets with a dark colour and then paint them. Normally I would paint the boots next, no real reason why, I just do
As these figures are not conventionally based I won’t do that. I will wait until the top part is painted and varnished so I can handle them without damage.As always, any questions just ask....
.