I'll have to see if I can get a copy of that book, Bish. I can always use more information!

If I could get more tricks and tips for this stuff I'd be happy. Too bad he's not around, but maybe he'll show up eventually and I can perhaps learn some new stuff.  :)

I'm still trying to figure out why most of us are so afraid to get into serious figure painting. Its all the same bag of tricks we already use on other subjects. But I thought if I can help show people that it's not as challenging as people seem to think it is, then I'm doing us all a service lol.

Hello!

I'm with you and Hans von Hammer, recently also known as Sgt Rock Fury - those Tamiya figs can be suprisingly good after some sanding, and most of the time the price is unbeatable. In some cases though, they just beg for resin heads - the faces are hard to save. My results with plastic figures can be seen here (scroll a little for the Command Figures set):

http://www.vietnam.net.pl/M55mod2en.htm

and here (some more resin and less Tamiya):

http://www.vietnam.net.pl/M42mod6pl.htm

Good luck with your builds and have a nice day

Paweł

M. Brindos

If I could get more tricks and tips for this stuff I'd be happy. Too bad he's not around, but maybe he'll show up eventually and I can perhaps learn some new stuff.  :)

I'm still trying to figure out why most of us are so afraid to get into serious figure painting. Its all the same bag of tricks we already use on other subjects. But I thought if I can help show people that it's not as challenging as people seem to think it is, then I'm doing us all a service lol.

 

I have been doing figures for years, but then when you do dio's, figures are pretty important. I think one of the things that might put people off figures is the skin. I struggled with it for ages, in fact it was only last year that I started to get a grip on it. I still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to converting figures. Some of the stuff in that and otehr books i have seen is amazing, with people making limbs and even complete figures from putty.

Thanks for posting this, everything like this will help.

That is some very nice custom work Pawel. I love how you make your figures fit into your subject the way you do. :D

I haven't gone quite that far into modifying my figures yet (mostly arms and heads so far), but something tells me I'll get there eventually lol.

Nice work everyone- I have a LONG ways to go.

Yes, I just bought a couple of the old Tamiya Walker bulldogs, the figures are really good.

You don't have all that far to go, G. Your figures have been well represented. You just need to step out of the box and try some more experimenting. When you start to see figures like you do your armor builds it starts getting interesting.  :D

nice job 

Thanks for the thread Mike, I use the older Tamiya figures sometimes but haven't really tried improving them other than swaping arms and other parts around to get different poses. Going to have to give these a whirl considering the weakest part of the figures is probably the 'soft' detailing. 

Pawel: Those are really cool, I haven't actually had the guts to make modifications that extensive yet. 

And yeah, resin heads from someone like Hornet are a massive improvement, esp to figures like the older Tamiya ones, not so much with Dragon or MiniArt. 

Thank you, crown. It could be much better if I had a third arm to hold the camera lol.

Good Morning Gamera. I started using these tricks on the MiniArt figs because they come pretty close to resin figures for detail level. They're just not as crisp and these tricks really help them out. I have a set of German heads from Alpine and they are exquisite.

But these older Tamiya figs are really soft on the details and it can take a lot of time at the bench to get these results. I think its time worth spending because figures always bring a sense of life and action to the builds. We just naturally relate to things in scale when they are present.

The hard part is painting the faces lol. Painting an emotion on a 1/35 figure is a royal PITA but totally worth it if you can get it right, as you well know.

Examples;

Cocky/Playful:

Serious/Intense:

Tired/Miserable:

These are the best examples I can provide with my skill. I'm still working on improving in this area as I see far less people attempting to get such results and I really do find it challenging.

I see what you mean. Those guys look awesome!

Thank you, crown! :)

That means a lot to me. Thank you very much. :D

Hello!

Thanks a lot guys, I'm glad you like it.

I'd say anybody who is afraid to break something should give those Tamiya figs a try - even if you do break something it isn't much of a loss - they can be cheaply bought and easily replaced, and each "broken" fig is an instant supply of spare parts. Win-win!

Good luck with your projects and have a nice day!

Paweł

I completely agree with you Pawel. Tamiya figs are very forgiving and easy to work with. But even more forgiving are these MiniArt figures. The plastic is softer and more easily manipulated. Dragon's figures are a close second to those and I'd say Tamiya figs are easily in third place.

And I bow to your ability to customize your figures with such skill. There is an art to what you have accomplished.  :)

Great advice and techniques here!

Thank you Stik! I know it's not as inclusive as it should be. I think there is a lot more I can add to make it more understandable by novice figure builders. But I lack the technology to get the images I would need to convey my thoughts into reality.

I need a dedicated photo booth and a camera operator lol.

But for those of us who have the basics down already this advice should help them get their skills to the next level without the guesswork.

Feel free to add to it in any way you deem necessary. :)

I invite everyone to do so.  :)

Love those Mike! I can do a decent job on faces sometimes but have big problems doing it on a consistant basis- well I can always paint over them at least! 

Hope you don't mind but a few I've done. The three figures on this Korean War Jeep are Frankenstein's Monsters assembled from the figure that came with the Jeep, MiniArt Second World War figures, assorted Tamiya parts, and the only legs I could find to fit for the guy riding shotgun were from an old Tamiya Kubelwagen so I modified the pants to a more G.I. style. Shotgun guy also got a Hornet 'East Asian' head as I intended him to be a South Korean interpreter. Looking at the driver now I think I could have used your technique of cutting under the collar etc to add a lot more defination. 

MiniArt figures where I replaced the heads with Hornet 'African' heads for troops of the 761st Tank Battalion, the first of several segregated black tank units to see service with the US Army in the Second World War. The lighting made everything shiny for some reason, guess I should dig the kit out and hit her with more matte varnish. 

And just for the halibut a 90mm pewter cowgirl I did a few years back, guess her pants are a little non-PC now (sigh)...

Mike - thanks a lot, and I appreciate it! My goals were to fit the figs to the model, so that they don't look "floating", and at the same time to avoid seeing "the same guy" on every model I do - there aren't this many Vietnam War figs around. Congratulations on your figures!

Gamera - so you're already into modifying figs! You're doing great! I especially like the tanker boys. When you say faces are tough, girl's faces are a lot tougher still, IMO.

As for painting those faces I'd like to mention two things, maybe thay can help somebody.

First would be to avoid pure black and white on the face, especially the eyes. If you use dark grey and light grey instead, it's easier to avoid that "horror stare" on the figs, and the face looks better IMO.

Second thing, that was suggested to me by ajlafleche, was to only paint the lower lip, and rather use dark brown than some pink/red hue here - helps to avoid that "lipstick" look.

I hope this helps somebody, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Also either only paint the "white" on one side of the eye, or make the degree of each side off balance. Otherwise he's really staring at Gamera's figurine. Those chaps not PC? I think they are right where they belong...

Oh yeah, you guys are good alright. :D

I slopped some skin base on my figs yesterday. I like the way that Testors Flat Tan looks as a mid tone to work from. Plus the enamel sticks like glue and I can safely layer my washes and highlights without worrying about lifting the base cote from the figure.

Nice figures guys! Gamera, that is some really fantastic work there. Of course I don't mind if you show it lol.

ok so it begins 

I slopped some Vallejo dark brown wash on them next, gave them a mild scrub to get rid of the areas that built up too much, filled in some whites for the eyes, redid the blocking so I don't have skin tones on my shirt collars, and then cleared it all.

From this point I will pen-in some pupils and shape the eyes, start layering in my highlights, and we'll see what happens from there.

Hey thanks guys! 

Mike: Those are coming right along! 

Pawel: Well, these were modified by just swapping parts around. I still haven't tried using a wire armature and sculpting new parts around it to get the exact pose I want. 

I've been using ivory for the 'white's of the eyes, a sorta 'dirty' off-white. It might still be a little too bright. I haven't tried a grey yet. And straight black for the pupils and irises, so a dark grey would work better? For lips I've been using a dark plum sorta of red on the lower lips, I'm going to have to try a more brownish red.  

Today was the first day of school for my kids so I didn't get anything done yet. I usually like to add a touch of pink or brown to my whites so they are not so bright. The camera always shows them to be much brighter than they are. But I have a tip for the pupils you guys may like.  :)

I use a dried out Pigma .01 artists pen for a brush. I mix my eye color and simply dip the pen in the paint and "dot" the eyes in. I have a .02 for larger pupils depending on the figure and how much of the eye is showing.

I've found the best results have been to add a color in and then use the .01 to drop in the center. It's almost an invisible effect in 1/35 scale though and you are hard pressed to see it even with the naked eye. I will be experimenting with higher contrast and see if I can get the effect to pop out better.

Using the dried out .01 pen is easier to use then a typical toothpick because the tip is designed to hold ink. Lining up where you want your pupils then becomes the hardest part lol.

Give that a try my friends. You'll probably find it easier as I have.  ;)

Okay so I started with blocked in flesh base and whites in the eyes. I'm going to show you how I do my eyes and move on to "fleshing" out the rest of the flesh tones.

I use a Micron Pigma .01 artist's pen that has run dry as my brush for the eyes. You'll see how simple this is. ;)

Keep your paint thin and dip the tip of the pen in it.

"dot" your eyes.

Then dot in the pupils. Bingo. It may take some practice to hit the mark where you want it, but like everything else it gets easier the more you do it.

Next I went in and painted in the eyelids. I use a very tiny brush for this as you can see in the picture.

Now they look kinda funny. Ah, yes. They need eyebrows. :)

I cleared the figures with Testors Dull Cote before I started layering on the skin tones. I ranged from pale pink to a dark pink and kept them very, very thin. This method takes time to build up the effects, but they appear more natural and smoother than dry brushing does.

I thought the TC needed a bit of alteration to his complexion so I added some 5 o'clock shadow.

Don't forget the fingernails.

A quick test fit to see how he's doing. Eyes are looking in the right direction.

And then I framed the flesh tones in Field Drab in preparation for the next step which is blocking in the clothing.

And then the O.D. (still wet) was slopped on before I had to run out the door.

Thanks for lookin guys. Hope this helps some of you with your own painting.  :D

Looks very good Mike! I've tried the Micron pens for eyes but never thought to use a dried out one for a brush, think I have a few of those somewhere around!