Practice, Practice, Practice!

Tanker-Builder

Hi Ya'll;

         I usually don't comment on this thread. But I just had to stick my nose where it didn't belong before! I started this with an errant Purchase. The Master-Box feminine figures(Pinups) and the Indian princess, and some Maschinenkreigers (Gustav and one other). Well, guess what? I NOW like to work on my figures by meself, not bragging about them, but experimenting with paint and shadow and wash techniques. the three best I have right now(NO Pictures) Are the Indian princess(In Honor of my late First Wife) and the German Tank Commander in1/24 that was a gift and a Peasant in 1/35 who turned out looking like Joseph Stalin BEFORE he became the leading Communist!

        These things are fun! I have probably improved my dry-brushing and shadowing 100% by doing these. It sure has helped me in weathering Buildings and Autos. Ships? Hands down a winner. Way more subtle and believable, and I don't make mistakes like the All Flat Sea Blue on a 1/350 Buckley destroyer escort.( Ya can't see any detail without a magnifier and flashlight!) .

        Now the figures do something else too. Especially those from games like Warhammer(The Age of Sigmarr). talk about taking a dive into SteamPunk! These allowed me to move into a color and detail area I had studiously avoided. Proffessional Modeling takes a lot of different skills and I am glad I learned these. The H.O. crewmen on  The Model of the "Charles W. Munson" for a client in H.O. will certainly look the part. Yes, I have taken my figure detailing to that extreme and gosh It is FUN! Plus, Now I don't have to hire someone to do the figures for me. A little late(Semi-Retired now) but still fun!

 

I know exactly what you mean! I avoided figures for years, only creating a decent one once in a blue moon as long as it didnt have any skin showing. But I started doing them more often with my armour and watched a lot of tutorials on youtube. Not only did I get much better at it, I also started to love it. 

Ive taken a really long break from modelling over the last year or two, but things in my life have changed drastically and now I'm back to my beloved hobby. First thing I did was to pull out my Tamiya King Tiger and paint up the classic commander that comes with it. I've managed to get all of the badges, tags, and details on his uniform painted up and he's quite a detailed figure. I did some undercutting and defined his collar and cleaned up his epaulettes so they're under his collars.

I really enjoyed the entire process.