painting white on figures can u help?

I tend to cringe a little when someone says they're painting white on a figure. White is such a strong color and to be honest, its not really all that natural of a color. Especially in scale. Its kind of like painting pure black on a model.

I think that anything needing white, should be given an off-white coat .... even if its just a touch of off-white. After that, I think that shading and highlighting will do the rest. However, if something is painted pure white, there's not much that you can highlight it with. I think long-story short ... that's what I was trying to get out.

Just my 2 cents.

Are you having problems with coverage or the way it looks once it is on?

thanks scott...even if that didnt answer my question!

manny, its a little bit of both!!

camo junkie wrote:

thanks scott...even if that didnt answer my question! manny, its a little bit of both!!

I usually prime my figs in flat white, dark yellow or khaki...this does a couple of things...it allows lighter colors to go on w/o the bleed-through of a darker primer and also sets up a good base for flesh tones....when I want white to be a final color (for example, white camo pants) I usually use a "dense pigment" brand of paint, such as Humbrol, which is very opaque. As mentioned earler, I rarely use straight white, I usually mix a little gret in it to "knock down" the brightness of a stark white...And of course, multiple cots may be required...don't be tempted to apply succesive coats before the last one is bone-dry...

well since all i use are humbrol paints...do u recommend me thinning them? thinning white paint is like making milk...!

camo junkie wrote:

well since all i use are humbrol paints...do u recommend me thinning them? thinning white paint is like making milk...!

Not at all...my point was that I find them to be thicker than most paints when stirred properly.  I think they give good coverage.

so, im just trying to understand manny...dont thin them!?!? wont it be thick and "abundant" if i dont? i always thin my paints to just "cover" so since i rarely paint white (unless a.b.). again, i hope u didnt mistake my last posting or this one...its just one of curiousity only!

http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/figures/mbwhite.htm this is mark bannermans way

camo junkie wrote:

so, im just trying to understand manny...dont thin them!?!? wont it be thick and "abundant" if i dont? i always thin my paints to just "cover" so since i rarely paint white (unless a.b.). again, i hope u didnt mistake my last posting or this one...its just one of curiousity only!

I typically DO NOT thin Humbrol enamels for brush-painting figures.

well, i will try your white idea without thinning but as for any other colors...i thin them...but to each their own!

CJ,
There are a couple of schools of thought regarding this. When I paint white on figures I go one of two ways. Warm white or cool white. If painting warm white, I use a buff base coat. To the buff I add white in progressive ratios to build up my highlights. The buff will acts as your shadow color and you are building up in successive layers your highlights. For a cool white, I use a light grey and do the same. Since I use Vallejo, Andrea or Reaper acrylics (all heavy pigmented paints) its very easy to build up the layering to provide smooth transitions with pure white being the highest highlight. For deep recesses or folds you can darken up your base coat to provide more contrast or deeper shadows. This also allows you to provide depth to your figures by creating very 3 dimensional modeling in your "painted" lights and darks to create depth in the fabric as it disappears under belts, straps, boots, over garments etc.

thanks 4 that renarts. its definately the warm whites im going for at the moment! and i will try your technique (minus the vallejo's). thanks again!