Painting skin and flesh.

smeagol the vile wrote:

thanks, the links are very appreciative.  Just sometimes its hard to do all the little details they say, on a 1/35th scale figure

Tell me about it... I have a whole tackle box insert filled with little green/tan/grey guys looking at me... they stare at me.  Maybe one day I'll give 'em a shot.  My Chally TC turned out OK, bolstered my hopes that I might be able to turn out decent figgies one day.

Depends on the scale of the "skin and flesh" in question.  Most folks would use Vallejo for figures, since they are very thin (almost transluscent) and if you're painting figures you want to build up the layers.

Check here:

http://www.ttfxmedia.com/vallejo/cgi-bin/_modelis.asp?p1=ing&p2=modelcolortecnicas

It's Vallejo's guide to painting figures with their Model Color line.  It can be applied to just about any type of acrylic paint.  Keep in mind that Vallejo paint is very thin (as stated above) so if you're using another brand, thin it out to get it somewhere between airbrush consistency and straight OOTB (out of the bottle).

Also depends on what figures you're doing and the climate they are in.  For my Challenger I tank commander (think desert, with rolled up sleeves), I used a two parts XF-15 Flat Flesh to one part XF-64 Red Brown to get a tanned look.  I thinned it out about 50/50 with some X-20A thinner and build up three or four coats.  He looks OK, but was the first 1/35 figure I've done in 20 years.  I guarantee you that the 1/35 Wehrmacht in winter gear won't be getting that treatment, but personally the XF-15 is waaay too pink looking for me.  I'll probably try different mixes with XF-57 Buff and a couple other colors to see if I can find the right mix.

Just my and I'm by no means a figure guy.  Hopefully Al or some of the figure gurus will help out more.

There are several How To Paint figures books, covering the various media, and almost all of them contain paint formulae.  Buy three or four and see what others have used/recommend.

Skin tones will depend on the figure.  A soldier could be expected to be suntanned and have a look of being exposed to the elements.  A Geisha, on the other hand, would not.

Most of my busts are French Napoleonics.  I use oils (a little), hobby enamels, and acrylics.  My basecoat of choice is Testors flat desert tan.

This is something I've always wanted to try, so I've kept this link around from my RC days:

http://www.acesofiron.com/skin_tones.htm

They recommend Humbrol enamel flesh or Tamiya acrylic flat flesh.