The thread where we can talk about painting figures

[robemcdonald]

Mini update. I’m on the IPSM Letchworth stand at the Milton Keynes show this Sunday.
I’m going to be taking a few of the models I have built recently.
I wanted to do something with the pilot. I also had a built Airfix mk1 spit from ages ago so put this together.

[AshVX220]

How did it do (if it was a competition)?

[robemcdonald]

I didn’t take it with me on Sunday. I had a bit of bad luck with my car breaking down and in the curfuffle it got left at home.

Good news is I have a new resin bust to try. I’m not sure when I will start it, but I will update this thread when I do.

[robemcdonald]

I decided to do my new figure as my next build.

It’s a French grenadier.

Unfortunately there was a bit of damage in transit. A bit of filler was required for some. The broken buckle was a bit more of an issue.

I drilled out the hole and super glued some florists wire into it, then trimmed it to length. It’s not perfect, but better than a broken buckle.

[robemcdonald]

This is after the repair.

I assembled the figure using blue tack. I want to paint the parts separately and assemble at the end.


Using the airbrush I sprayed white from above and nato black from below to mark what will be the highlights and shadows.


It’s now disassembled ready for some paint.

[robemcdonald]

Some progress on the face this evening

[robemcdonald]

Back from Wales I was able to spend an hour or so last night working on this.
First I added some darker shadows to the bear skin hat. Then I added some colour to the braid.

This morning I did a couple of quick washes. I’m fairly happy with it although I might add a bit more colour to the cheeks.

[henryk001]

Brilliant work. Not my cup of tea “subject wise”. However the skill you have for colour and shade is amazing. The last picture is great.

[robemcdonald]

Thanks Henry.

It’s not my first choice of subject either, I wanted to try another figure and this one looked interesting from a face / expression point of view.

I’m going to do a motorcycle next. The great thing about this hobby is you can either stick with the thing you’re really good at and enjoy, or try different things. Always new challenges keeps it interesting..

Anyway, here’s today’s update


The head is done (bar the inevitable tinkering) I have started to get the colours down on the torso.

[Riley Blue]

henryk001 said:

Brilliant work. Not my cup of tea “subject wise”. However the skill you have for colour and shade is amazing. The last picture is great.

those eyes...

[robemcdonald]

Managed to get a couple of hours this afternoon.
This seems to be taking a lot less time than the pilot, but I think it looks much better.
It’s soon going to be time to break out the oil paints.

[anonymous-user]

That’s brilliant Rob.

[robemcdonald]

Thanks very much.


This one has come along really nicely.

I’m wondering what to do next... a Roman solider, or something more modern perhaps.

[robemcdonald]

I made some decent progress tonight. I could finish him tomorrow...

[robemcdonald]

Finished.

Now on to something more normal.

[robemcdonald]

Time for a new project.

I was in a model shop in Northampton this lunchtime looking for a quickish project for the weekend.
I really fancied doing another figure and the shop had quite a good selection of figure kits, but unfortunately no resin stuff.
I picked this up, I didn’t even know that Tamiya did 1/16 figures. Every day is a school day.

I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the moulding. Being Tamiya I guess I should have expected it to be good.

It didn’t take too long to get the parts off the sprue.

The two halves of the body caused the biggest assembly issue and a bit of clean up was required. Only a few minutes work though in honesty.

After clean up I couldn’t resist a trial assembly.

I mounted the parts on to cocktail sticks ready for paint.

The first job is to add highlights and shadows using white and nato black.


Then I blocked in the basic colours with the airbrush.

And that’s where I’ll call it a night... more tomorrow.

[robemcdonald]

I managed an hour or so on the figure this morning.

First stage was to use silly putty to mask the boots and gloves before spraying them XF1 black.




The next and much longer job was to paint in the rest of the detail on the figure.

Next step is to detail the face.

[robemcdonald]

Face painted and figure assembled.

The next step is to give it a clear coat and then washes.

[robemcdonald]

Clear coat done and I’m leaving it to dry in preparation for washes later tonight

[robemcdonald]

Late start this evening. With only an hour or so I managed to get the washes on the face and life jacket done.

Hopefully I’ll get to the uniform tomorrow.