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Tamiya 1:16 Elite Figure (pictures attached)

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  • Member since
    December 2007
Posted by JigSawMan on Saturday, December 29, 2007 4:45 PM

Thanks for the compliments.  I agree, but the figure's eyes are molded as such and I didn't see the need to try and correct them, since at scale, they are difficult to see anyways.  Most people look at the figure and base as a whole because of this.  I would say that if it weren't for the fence, I probably would have done something about it.  I attached a close up of the face because the face seems to be the topic of discussion in so many threads. 

Thanks,

JigSawMan

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Saturday, December 29, 2007 4:34 PM

A gorgeous job on the painting, JSman! The uniform and the face are perfect!

The only small thing that tweaks me just a hair is that the eyes' gaze is not really consistent with his line-of-sight looking through the fence. I would have painted the eyes looking askance to the left, to match up through the fence hole... 

  • Member since
    December 2007
Posted by JigSawMan on Saturday, December 29, 2007 4:08 PM

No problem at all.  I'm glad you found the information useful Smile [:)]

JigSawMan

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Niagara Falls NY
Posted by Butz on Thursday, December 27, 2007 7:24 PM

Hey JSM,

 First off, thank you very much for taking the time to explain your procedure.. It is greatly appreciated..

 I have a figure in my stash of a US Ranger that I am going to make for a friends family, sadly he was lost this year back on Nov 16th.. He too was a US Ranger!! 5th tour to boot

 Anywho, you mentioned about doing an article, that would ROCK..!! I most certainly will use your guide when I go and do my figure..

 Thanks again!!

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way 

  If you would listen to everybody about the inaccuracies, most of the kits on your shelf would not have been built Too Close For Guns, Switching To Finger

  • Member since
    December 2007
Posted by JigSawMan on Thursday, December 27, 2007 6:49 PM

 Butz wrote:

Sign - Ditto [#ditto] Well done and I am sure your friend appreciated it!! What a kewl Christmas gift!!

What technique did you use for the skin tones, especially for the face? 

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way 

Thanks for the compliments and yes he did like it Big Smile [:D]  In answer to your question, when I paint and this goes for anything from 5mm figures all the way up to 1:3 scale, it is always with a brush and VERY wet paints.  What I mean by this is that I take a puddle of the darkest color I plan to use and a puddle of the lightest color I plan to use.  I put a few drops of water between them and start to drag them together, just a little.  I'll lay the darkest on first (definitely hitting all of the recessed areas) and while it is still wet I'll start to lighten the dark color up with the light color painting into the same recesses but not all the way to their max depth.  My paint is usually very thin because of the water and each coat goes on pretty transparent.  I continue this process until I have made it to the highest edges of the area being covered and the lightest color I have.  The face in this example took me 15 minutes to do the flesh tones. 

At that point I had to move on to the lips.  I'll always use the darkest color plus a little dark red and a little brown.  I mix it until I am satisfied with the shade.  The shades will vary depending upon how light or dark skinned the figure is, but those colors almost always work just fine.  Next I move onto the 5 o'clock shadow.  I'll also use the darkest flesh tone I started with and mix a little black ink in with it.  This goes for any figure with any hair color because an army figure may have blonde 5 o'clock shadow, but most stubble always stats out dark until the sun bleaches it anyway.  Not to mention in field grime too.  I'll also apply this as a very transparent color and may actually do 2-3 coats depending upon how much I think it needs.

To finish up the flesh areas, I will go back with a slightly darkened version of the lightest color and apply it to those areas where hair does not grow.  Look at the face picture again and you'll notice around the lips, there is bare skin as well as just below the edges of the mouth.  Generally hair does not grow in those areas and will look cleaner.

Finally the eyes.  If asked, most people would respond to the question of color in the eyes and say white and XX, where XX is green, blue or brown or something.  The fact is that the "white" area of the eye is not white at all.  It is a very light fleshy color, so I choose to do mine the same way.  Then I add the iris color if needed but in this case since the figure is squinting, his irises would appear much darker, hence them just being black.  One final thing about eyes, is that if you look at eyes, the pupil is almost always half covered by the upper eye lid.  Placing your eye color in this fashion will almost always look the most presentable on a normal figure.  Normal meaning a figure that isn't frightened or something and his eyes are wide open.

Without sounding like a braggart, If you guys do have interest in more of the way I paint, I certainly would be more than willing to share with you.  I had always planned to do articles on specific areas of the body along with graphic representations.  If it's something you might be interested in just say so here and I'll put something together.

JigSawMan

  • Member since
    February 2003
  • From: Niagara Falls NY
Posted by Butz on Thursday, December 27, 2007 5:30 PM

Sign - Ditto [#ditto] Well done and I am sure your friend appreciated it!! What a kewl Christmas gift!!

What technique did you use for the skin tones, especially for the face? 

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way 

  If you would listen to everybody about the inaccuracies, most of the kits on your shelf would not have been built Too Close For Guns, Switching To Finger

  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: USA
Posted by Mike S. on Thursday, December 27, 2007 9:27 AM

Beautifully done, and the presentation illustrates the way a single figure should be displayed.

I think we may have found the second shooter at Dealy Plaza, judging by that fence, too. Whistling [:-^]

  • Member since
    December 2007
Posted by JigSawMan on Thursday, December 27, 2007 12:11 AM

Thanks for the compliments.  Though I said the actual work on the model only took about 15 hours, the research was additional time.  I spent some time cruising the internet looking for pictures of old wooden fences just so I could make sure what colors might be involved.  Originally I had the broken part of the fence bottom matched by pieces of the top that were still attached and pushed out and upwards.  I decided against that because that portion of the fence ended up covering alot of the figure.  So I took them down.

Your compliment on the face meant alot to me.  I have been practicing faces for a few years now and think I and getting close to perfection with them.  One of the things I pay most attention to is 5 o'clock shadow.  Most people will just darken the mustache and beard area and call it a day.  But if you look at a face, you'll see that generally facial hair does not grow in certain spots around the lips or corners of the mouth.  This is where I make sure to keep a skin tone and the dark shadowing away.  To me, it looks a lot more natural.  Again, thanks for the compliments.

JigSawMan

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: The Green "Mountains", Vermont
Posted by IanIsBored2000 on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 9:13 PM
Great work---everything--falen leaves, camo, skin, small tree, groundwork--everything.  Especially the face, and the wood looks absolutely perfect.  Nice job.
"Scanlon: work your knobby hands on the table in front of you, constructing a make-beleive bomb to blow up a make-beleive world."
  • Member since
    December 2007
Tamiya 1:16 Elite Figure (pictures attached)
Posted by JigSawMan on Wednesday, December 26, 2007 5:22 PM

I just finished this for a friend as a Christmas present.  Just thought you guys might like to see it.  I used some of the techniques that I found here too, which were very helpful.  This particular figure/diorama took me about 15 hours to my recollection.  The base is scratch built from just mounding up some plaster, using a brown base color along with real dirt and staic grass.  The fence was scratch built as well and then washed and dry brushed with varying colors.  I tried to mimick wood that was pretty dried out and a little bleached in spots.  I used a variety of Tamiya, Games Workshop and Adikolor paints.  In any event, enjoy.

 

P.S. yep, those are falled leaves on the base.  Yep they didn't come from that nice green tree in the backgound.  I assumed trying to put a tree as big as the one they came from in the diorama, might just drown out the figure.  So use your imagination Shy [8)]

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