the whites of their eyes.......

I don't paint smaller than 120mm (1/15th), with the exception of some wargaming figures...but here's what I usually do with the smaller figure eyes...

I'll paint a line horizontally with a liner brush (12/0 -18/0) from each corner of the eye. I typically use Vallejo #928 light flesh. Let it dry. I'll then take a dark blue-gray, and fill in 80% of the eye area, with the focus on getting the irises lined up, to avoid the Jack Elam look (Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing in Cannonball Run, and a slew of films from 1944 to 1995). The white undercolor provides some base for the iris color, making it a bit more vivid. It also leaves just a touch of white on each side of the eye, so small that you really have to look to see it. Now, obviously, if the figure appears to be squinting, then leave the whites out. I then line the eye with a brown/red wash, underneath and across the top, then apply a light flesh drybrush to the areas around the eyelids.

That's what works for me...

Jeff

I've seen some of the eye decals. On larger figures, at least, they wound up looking like doll eyes. Good luck on using them and make sure you post you experiences and some pics.

I found 1/35 eye decals on ebay, bought them got 100 per sheet.

Great jobs on those figures, folks!
I hope I didn't sound like a curmudgeon here, because those are all excellent paint jobs on those figures!

I think the main problem with doing eyes on figures is that the eyes, by far, are the features on human faces with which we are most familiar. We look at eyes everytime we interact with anybody, when we look at pictures, watch TV, or go to the movies. Thus, if they're not perfect on a figure, I think it really is apparent in our mind that something's not quite right.
The same phenomena has been said about CG animation: robots, monsters, and machinery can now be done absolutely convincingly with complete photorealism, and it's hard to tell whether it's "real" or not, but with our utter intimacy with the human form and human movement, it's still exceedingly difficult to create a dead-on convincing CG human character on screen. We can come close, but we still can easily identify a CG human when we see one.

Aj........ great work on those figures.

Hmmmm J-Hulk I see your point. I guess Ive been painting gaming minis for too long I forget what actual scale faces look like. I`ll have a bash at some 1/35th tank crew I have and get back with the results as soon as I can.
Nice work there Ajlafleche.My wifes Lene Lenape Indian . Im sure shed appreciate these models too. I`ll let her see them when she gets home. Cheers.

For the longest time, I followed the Shep Paine shaded eye socket, but having mentors who were getting good eyes in scale, I tried again.
Here are some results:
http://www.armorama.com/modules/photopost/data/500/5916th_AK.jpg
http://www.armorama.com/modules/photopost/data/500/591bar8.jpg
http://www.armorama.com/modules/photopost/data/500/591DSC00026.JPG
http://www.armorama.com/modules/photopost/data/500/591composite2.jpg
http://www.armorama.com/modules/photopost/data/500/591kf5.jpg
What I do is paint the whites then the iris, then the face, getting as close as possible without overpainting the eye. I use a 5/0 up to an 18/0 brush.

Great work on the figures, Deusmex!
I appreciate the hard work you put into those eyes, but, although nowhere near "ooga booga," to me they still look "animated" as opposed to "natural." I think the eyes work beautifully on those pieces, though.
Thanks for sharing your technique!

Whites of the eyes hmmmm well I have this guy in 54mm (not a great pic but he does have wites showing)
http://groups.msn.com/deusmexsminipics/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=110
or this guy who does admitedly have the 1000 yard stare going on (also 54mm)
http://groups.msn.com/deusmexsminipics/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=79
or this guy in 28mm who reminds me of Telly Savalas (who loves ya baby)
http://groups.msn.com/deusmexsminipics/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=127
My method is to try and leave a black outline to the whites of the eye and use a really really really thin brush. The brush I use defies description but here goes, Its an old Games Workshop fine detail brush with most of its bristles missing which has somehow kept a point allbeit a very bent point so I have to paint at a weird angle but it never fails me in the eye painting dept so I havent replaced it.I have heard of others using 10/0 brushes for this job tho.Once the white is ready i paint a black verticle stripe where the pupil should be as I find that colours dont stand out enough to warant me painting them. (Shep Paine does however do the colour thing he paints a blue stripe then a thinner black stripe in the middle of the blue).
When that part is done I tidy up around the eye with the appropriate flesh tone.
However it is a huge pain in my ****** to do all this and I rarely paint eyes on my minis (just when I want to show off I do) most of my minis look like this
http://groups.msn.com/deusmexsminipics/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=113
The point is you do what you feel comfortable with. As most of my models are used for gaming purposes I usually paint eyes on models I know will be picked up and scrutinised (ie commanders or extra ordinary conversions) , the run of the mill guys get the eye wash treatment.

The old Master, Shep Paine, never painted whites in the eyes & his were some of the most realistic figures I've ever seen. The technique is to use a light shade of flesh in the eye socket & blend & shade with darker color around the eye. On larger figures, eyes get easier to do, but so many 54mm & smaller figures end up looking googly eyed if you use white.

Regards, Rick

j-hulk, that's just the answer I was looking for........ thanks!

In my humble opinion, you don't need whites in the eyes of 1/35 figures. I've NEVER seen convincing eyes done in 1/35 that tried to incorporate the whites of the eyes. Whenever I see modellers try to paint the sclera white, it always turns out like a big googly-eyed zombie. Ooga booga!!

If anyone has seen any figures that they think have convincingly "whited" eyes, please post some pix here!

Look at pictures of people taken at a distance, particularly outdoors, and see if you can see the sclera. Probably not. And if the figure is to be depicted outdoors, he or she will probably be squinting anyway. No whites at all, even if you were standing right next to the person.

Not that I'm a figure expert, but I usually just let a dark brown wash represent the eyes. Looks convincing enough for me!

Much better than ooga booga, anyway!