realistic fatigues on figurines - help!
HOWARD CAMP
figures! They always look... well, plastic, I guess. I have seen
some *really* nice figures in local hobby stores, but I haven't the
slightest idea how to imitate a realistic painting.
Specifically, I've got a USAF Ground Crew set that I am trying to
paint w/ realistic-looking fatigues. I can't seem to get them to look
like anything but olive-drab coated plastic people. Any help to make
them look a bit realistic would be appreciated.
- How
hc...@herbie.unl.edu (preferred)
hc...@nde.unl.edu
Greg Simpson
Did you ever see Shepard Paine's book "How to Build Dioramas"? Excellent book. He
has a chapter on painting and posing figures that is pretty good. I'm sure there
are other good books on just painting figures, but since it sounds like you build
dioramas, this book may be perfect.
But no matter how good the book is, it is still only a book. I've read it a
number of times, but my figures still come out in the poor to embarrassing range
(sigh).
The way I understand it, after painting the basic color, go back over and paint
a lighter shade of it on the tops of folds and a darker shade on the recesses of
them, then blend. This goes for skin as well as clothing.
Enjoy.
--
Greg Simpson
sim...@rchland.vnet.ibm.com
Peter Shyvers
> I seem to be having the hardest time painting my 1/48 scale
>figures! They always look... well, plastic, I guess. I have seen
>some *really* nice figures in local hobby stores, but I haven't the
>slightest idea how to imitate a realistic painting.
>
> Specifically, I've got a USAF Ground Crew set that I am trying to
>paint w/ realistic-looking fatigues. I can't seem to get them to look
>like anything but olive-drab coated plastic people. Any help to make
>them look a bit realistic would be appreciated.
The best I've seen anywhere on this is Shep Paine's two works on Dioramas and
Modeling Military Vehicles. In both he covers how he does his figures.
The keys seem to be (first and foremost) realistic colors - which includes
modifying the colors, as necessary, to accomodate fading, dirt, sweat, etc.;
an understanding of shading, to give the figures depth; modifying the figures'
out-of-the-box pose, to ensure a lifelike stance; and realistic body parts -
most notably the eyes. Lots of work, but his results are stunning.
The soft-bound 8.5x11" format books are from Kalmbach Publishers, and avail.
in any reasonably-stocked hobby shop.
--
Peter Shyvers, SE Manager Internet: pshy...@pyramid.com
EDS
3860 North First Street Phone: (408) 428-8831
San Jose, CA 95134 FAX: (408) 428-8513
James 'Bo' Begole
HOWARD CAMP <hc...@herbie.unl.edu> wrote:
> I seem to be having the hardest time painting my 1/48 scale
>figures! They always look... well, plastic, I guess. I have seen
>some *really* nice figures in local hobby stores, but I haven't the
>slightest idea how to imitate a realistic painting.
The nice thing about hobby shops, vs. mail-order, is that you can talk
to people there that do work that you like. Ask the store people about
the figures you've seen, who made them, when they come around, etc.
They may be able to give you some tips themselves.
> Specifically, I've got a USAF Ground Crew set that I am trying to
>paint w/ realistic-looking fatigues. I can't seem to get them to look
>like anything but olive-drab coated plastic people. Any help to make
>them look a bit realistic would be appreciated.
And to continue the praises of Sheperd Paine, he has a new book out
specifically on figure painting, called _Building and Painting Scale
Figures_. It is an excellent book, but aimed more at hobbiests who
specialize in figure painting (like me :-) ). His diorama book is
probably better for what you want. Making small scale figures, like
your 1/48 USAF, look realistic is more difficult than larger scale
figures, like the 75+mm figures most figure painters do. So don't be
discouraged, you have a harder job.
The other messages about shading and highlighting are right on the mark.
A simple technique for shading small scale figures is to use a "wash" of
a very thin dark color. You can make a wash by adding a few drops of
black to a lot of thinner (just use some old dirty thinner you have to
try this out, but not if it has any metallic particles floating around
in it). Brush it on your figure after the base color has _thouroughly_
dried (a day or two) and it will sink into the shadow areas,
where it will dry. Note that a black wash is good for dark uniform
colors, but is too dark for light colors, like caucasian flesh. Use
brown for caucasian flesh. Other wash mediums that I like are india ink
in alcohol, and acrylic paints in water. These two work nicely on
top of enamal base colors, since they won't thin the base color before
it is completely dry, but the acrylics in water can leave "rings" as
they dry.
"Dry brushing" is a good technique for adding highlights to your small
scale figures. To dry-brush, mix up a much lighter shade of the color you
want to highlight, put a little on your brush, then wipe the paint off
on a rag, until the paint is _almost_ out (but not quite). Then scrub
the brush on the high parts of the figure. You will have to add paint
quite often, and be sure to wipe the brush almost dry each time. Try it
with straight white the first time so you can clearly see the results,
but white is often too bright for a dark uniform highlight. But if the
the base color is light, like caucasian flesh, white does a good job.
Shep Paine's book offers more advanced techniques, but these two basic
techniques will take you a long way to good looking small scale figures.
You play around with washes and dry-brushing and see if you don't have
the best looking figures around! Good luck.
-Bo
--
--James "Bo" Begole beg...@cs.vt.edu
Necktie Junction
In addition to the previously mentioned suggestions above, here are a few extra
tips I learned from various fellow modelers:
1. For clothes, always use flat or semi-flat paints. Even shiny fabrics, such
as leather or vinyl, should be painted less glossy than its actual counterpart;
it looks too fakey given the small scale.
2. Work on detail. Find alternating shades of a color or different colors
completely to make pockets, straps, zippers, buckles, and other accessories
stand out. Often times novice modelers just use one primary color for a
figure's uniform, obliterating fine detail and giving it the "plastic look".
Keep aware of shading and highlighting.
3. In accordance with rule #1, don't paint small scale details with the same
tonality as the actual scale counterparts. (ex: eyes on a figure should be a
dark pink, grey, or off-white at most, same for the teeth. White makes your
figure look bug-eyed; metal parts should not be painted straight silver, try
adding some flat black or grey to the paint for a more muted, realistic effect.
4. For coarseness, some modelers add talcum to their paint when painting a
figure's clothes. If the right amount is used it gives the "fabric" a
realistic texture without removing detail.
5. Study faces and clothing and note the lack of solidness, save for new
clothing. Faces have varying shades of yellow, red, pink, and even blue in
certain areas, and some areas are even shinier/flatter than others. Clothes
have fading areas, stains, spots, and other discolorations. Try to replicate
this in your figure-painting.
6. Just keep practicing. It'll all come to you in time. Good luck!
--Brian
>
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AJ Madison
:
: 5. Study faces and clothing and note the lack of solidness, save for new
: clothing. Faces have varying shades of yellow, red, pink, and even blue in
: certain areas, and some areas are even shinier/flatter than others.
I have occasionally dabbled in painting watercolors (yup, onto a plain
piece of paper, my boring, isn't it?? :-) and several books with sections
on helping to paint people, portaits, etc. have indicated that in reality,
the human being is translucent, especially the face. We think of ourselves
as solid, monolithic beings, but close examiniation shows that in fact, we
are somewhat transparent. Provided its appropriate to do so (well, okay,
looking at yourself in the mirror is the easiest), one discovers there is a
tremendous amount of detail in the human face. There are veins, arteries,
musculature, hair, bone, and all of their resultant shades and shadows in
evidence. Admittedly, its a little hard to duplicate veins at 1/24 scale
(0r whatever, sorry, not a figurine enthusiast), but in fact, all of this
detail is there, we just take it for granted, and something is not quite
right when we don't see it in person (bit of a pun there, aye :-).
In any case, I've seen some amazingly realistic figurines, and my hat is
off to those folks who have modeled them.
--
A.J. Madison PHONE: (508) 490-6972
Stratus Computer Inc.
55 Fairbanks Boulevard INTERNET: a...@sw.stratus.com
Marlboro, MA 01752 OR: Andrew_...@Vos.Stratus.com