~Yeah Edmund sent those Archer eyeballs to me! He gave up on them pretty quick---I asked him to send me a sample to see what I can do with them--and he sent the whole thing (such a great guy!)  I haven't yet messed with them but I'll give it a shot and update here. The thing is with them...is that they are indeed 'balls'--they have to be precision cut (it's TINY!) to fit into the particular eye-slit sculpted into your figure's face--the one good thing is that silvering will finally look good for once. Maybe it's possible to sort of 'carve 'them into place on the face, but its no magic bullet to good eyes it would seem.   

   Brian--The 'ball-shape' is the problem I see with your head there- (as already noted the eyes aren't quite a match) (His left eye is pretty good) but the thing is we never see a whole round circle of an eye on anyone----the roundness needs to be chopped-off top & bottom to a more 'almond-shape' 

 Cool thing with oils is  after making sure

~~ your eye-area is dark to start,

 ~~you can go placing some off-white in the eye-area,

~Then...you can place about a printed period worth of near-black at the desired position of the pupil and then scrape across the top& bottom with a splintered toothpick to take off the top and bottom(with oils you can even wait til it's dry to avoid ruining the part you want to save) 

This figure is farther along on my near-by thread, but this pic shows the eyes pretty good

~Tony~ Man I think the best thing for that figure is just keep experimenting  with it--it was an experiment from the start--or pick up another and try it--you'll have a better time when those new heads arrive!

Tony, thanks for the heads up on the Archer eyes.  Saved me a little cash there!

As for Little Tony, I think your on the right track so far buddy!  It does not look that bad at all!

Brian

After running around town and buying some figure painting supplies I didn't have, I applied four very thin coats of base flesh on the hands. Not much to show huh?

Tony Lee

WOW CC I don't blame you kinda like quitting while you're ahead so to speak.

Tony Lee

Figures are darned hard to paint.  I consider this one to be my best, and merely a happy accident that it turned out so well- It's a 1/8 scale resin sculpture of Wonder Woman-  I am really not interested in trying another similar project, because I don't think I could top this!

Edmond tried those eyes and said they were to big for 1/35th. Just to let you know.

Tony

Heh heh, yeah now you mention it he looks a bit like he has the old lazy eye going.   The tough part seemed to be getting both the right size.  I see Archer transfers makes water slide transfer eyes....I just wonder how crazy a decal that small would be to work with!   I'll fiddel around some more with the eyes and see what I can do.  I think going in with some white/paynes grey and getting the eye smaller then going in with some base brown a the bottom of the eye to reduce it a bit may do the trick.  This is why I was using the spare Tamiya....if it all turns out bad I have no problem chucking it.

Brian

The color tones look good. The eyes do look a little large but I think what makes them not so natural looking is the left iris is a little lower than the right making them look that way.

Tony Lee

While it is requiring a bit of a steady hand overal it has not proven to be quite as hard as I thought it would to drop it down to the smaller scale.  Since we are talking about it here are some quick photos of the current project (and I apologize if this is a hijack of your thread):

I am not 100% sure I got the eyes right....they seem a bit big.  I also tried a wash on the jacket which I went in with dry brushes to blend down but not quite sure I like how that turned out, but since I just did it I am putting it aside and looking at it tomorrow morning with fresh eyes (I notice that sometimes something that did not think was 100% good when working looked better the next morning.)  Thankfully the oils dry slow enough that tomorrow if still not 100% to my satisfaction I can probably get most of it off with mineral spirits.

Anyways, it is not as difficult as you may think.  A steady hand and a little patience is all that you need (and from what I have seen you have both!)

Brian

Thanks Brian that guy did a nice job and looks really good to me.

Only thing 1/35th is a whole new ball game I think.

Tony Lee

PS: you mentioned time. I've got plenty of tank work to do while things dry so waiting on a figure is no big deal.

Oh and btw i've got a big bottle of Simple Green that will correct mistakes in short order.

Hey Indy,

Yeah, I am not kidding myself about how great the Tamiya figs are.  The only reason I used it was because I thought "Hmm, I want to try that method out".  So for a test bed I figured the Tamiya was good enough since it was already paid for.   It isn't going with a build, and surely not any kind of contest piece.  If all goes well (as so far I think it is) then I have some decent Dragon figures I may do some more practicing on.  There are some larger scale busts I want to pick up and paint at some point.  But I want to fiddle with this method for a bit before I start moving on to the expensive stuff.

Brian

~Brian~ That's a pretty good looking way to do it--those would be nice results if  on a 1/35 head.

Happy to hear you're moving forward with your figure skills man, but  Tamiya heads/figures....well... I did it too... practiced on them and I don't think it's doing yourself any favors--the detail is just not there .    I resisted spending $$ on resin replacements for a time...but they are so much more convincing, easier to get good results with, and enjoyable to work with.....by now I have a whole collection and swear by 'em.

Pvt Mutt

Thanks Brian but I can't do that and I sure would like to. He has my IP addy blocked because I questioned his expertise and made him mad. Silly Me

He has me and about 100 other labeled  as BOZOs

Tony Lee

Ah, ok Tony.  Sorry to hear (and anyone that would call you a bozo probably ain't worth the photons of electricity he has posted anyways. )

If you like to use artist oils you could also try this method in the future:

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/painting/9629-tyz-guide-figure-painting.html

The figure in the above tutorial is 1/16, but the concept can be applied to 1/35...I know because I am trying it out right now on a spare 1/35 figure I had from a Tamiya kit.  So far I like the results I am getting, but because of the dry time invovled with artist oils it is not for everyone.  One thing in the above tutorial I would alter is instead of "painting" on the brown base you can probably get away using a real heavy wash instead.  But either way it is a pretty neat way to approach figure painting.

Brian

~Hi Tony~ Glad your on the warpath to getting this right, Buddy. Looks like  this wasn't the greatest detailed head to begin with--nowhere as good as those killer Hornet heads you sent off for--they are so much better sculpted, it will paint itsef(practically) by comparison--that and /or that Lifecolor basecoat was applied to thickly--I know you know how to paint, but its crritical to apply that base in very thin layers to save every detail completely---that way after its cured up the wash will have some details to flow into. If done right the head with just a wash should look really good--just not have a life-like skin-tone...like :

This is that Custom Dioramics head, with the Tamiya base mix, and  a couple oil washes, 1st a Burnt Sienna wash, then  after an hour or 2 --some gentle downward brushing to remove the excess from the tops of features, then a Vandyke Brown wash(in the deep recesses of the face) and wait, and remove a bit of excess.

P.S. Vinnie banned you!! -lol- well, that proves he has no idea whos cool.

Thanks Brian but I can't do that and I sure would like to. He has my IP addy blocked because I questioned his expertise and made him mad. Silly Me

He has me and about 100 other labeled  as BOZOs

Tony Lee

Instead of a wash, try laying in the shadows with a darkened shade of the base color. You'll have more control of the depth. That said, yes, when I did washes, it was not uncommon to look pretty bad until the dry brushing went on. Again, though, layering in the shadows and highlights as in thetutorial in the link I sent you, will give you a better effect in the long run.

The way i do faces now, in 54mm , slightly larger than 1/35 is to lay down the base flesh as you did. Add the whites of the eyes with Pale Flesh, add a point of dark brown, blue or green for the iris and reshape the eye with the base. I'll then start layering in shadows with Vallejo Dark fleshtone from their games line added to the base. Lighter shadows in larger areas first, then thinner layers of darker in the more deply shaded area. Next come thinned base color applied to the forehead, chin, upper lip, upper cheek bones, jaw line, and ridge of  the nose. The higher areas get some base mixed with pale flesh and thinned with a final very thinned aplication of pale flesh to the very highest highlights. Poster Dupes and Browniii came by my house last march and we did a sit down painting session. Following these instructions, they were quite happy with their 1/35 faces.

Hey Tony,

It looks like your wash was a bit thin.  I would say thicken up and just rehit the lips, eyes and ears again to get them a bit darker.  But other than that I think your doing good so far!

I also found this link some time ago.  Maybe it will be of some help:

http://www.modelarmour.com/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=81&jfile=viewtopic.php&f=12&t=866

Brian

I applied the first coat of burnt umber wash  today and this looks terrible. With the naked eye it doesn't look near this bad. Is this normal?

Sorry,i'm only human, after all.

Tony Lee

Great job so far Tony, afraid I don't really have anything to add to what the guys have already said though.

Tony, you're movin' on nicely, just, like AJ said, it's practical to complete the skin first (sometimes gets messy and it helps if you don't have to watch for the color boundary), and just then move to the uniform and finally the gear.

If the debate is OK, I'd like to write some more on this.

Adam - I'm a nice guy and I mean no harm and no disrespect. I sure wish people would have no fear to learn something new, but I know they often do and I admire anybody who is willing to leave the safety of known environment and reach out for THE NEW.

And while building models isn't easy, as you have to know a lot and try hard, I think it also isn't THIS hard for people who do it as a hobby. I just think we need a little bit of distance in almost everything we do. And then if you mess up a fig, you can always strip the paint and try again, so no sweat, right? Of course it's differentfor a new man, who just starts the hobby and don't have many practical, but also mental skills (for example dealing with work that went wrong). An experienced modeller worked out many things like handling a brush, mixing paints, not giving up. Still many things to learn, but this is the thing I was thinking about.

So Tony, respect for trying something new and thanks for sharing with us. I'm sure you can do it, and I'm going to watch your progress just to find out how good the result is going to be, because I know it will be good. Best luck with your project, and have a nice day

Pawel

Hey guys I don't mind anybody coming in on my threads as long as the it stays on subject as this one has. It's when the girlfriends,cats,dogs and goldfish take the lead that's uncalled for.

I've got one reason to be showing what I do and that is to show other new people and maybe give them some encouragement to hang in there because lord knows I can't compete with you people but I at least try to compete with myself. Heck it's just a hobby and not life or death.

So you guys carry on,i'm enjoying it and that's what it's all about.

Tony Lee

~Tony- Great start,  my friend--as you know I exepct great things from you  & enjoyed the PM's and getting to know you some.    Meanwhile...looks like these guys wanted to have a conversation and I missed it.

I'm certain that Pawel was just being encouraging saying Painting figures aint all that hard(you know--mind over matter)  {{Somehow I keep digging you out Pawel -- Somehow I seem to understand your Eastern European sensibility}}   Even still....my arguement would be that painting a figure isn't hard, but painting a decent figure takes alot more work and time and practice than we usually think it does. Even after the number I've painted with some success, I still forget just how much work goes into it---and a really great figure? No one here that I see can say, myself included....but I'm on the road

Pawel

Well awright, looks like I started a debate here - unintentionally! AJ, of course building models isn't the easiest thing to do. And I have no problems agreeing that the top of building models is painting figures. (the dio builders and wooden ship builders will probably have their problems here, but...). Do we want to discourage people of taking a shot at it? Do we want to tell one can not get results he/she wouldn't be happy with? Do you expect an experienced modeller with tens (or even hundreds) of completed models to have bad problems with painting his first figure? I sure don't, that's why I wrote what I wrote. I didn't want to say painting figures is easy. And I didn't

And while I still look to improve my figure painting skills, still a lot of room for improvement, I must say I have a lot of fun painting figures and so I stick with what I wrote - painting figures isn't so hard. I know you disagree and I respect that. That said, I wish you a nice day

Pawel

Well, we do come here to have discussions about modeling right? so sobeit if a debate gets started. Tony, You can have your thread back in just a sec, I just wanted to say a few things about what Pawel said there, my own views.

Pawel, we see it all the time--as you say " an experienced modeller  with  tens (or even hundreds) of completed models to have bad problems with painting his first figure? "  They sure do--there's tons of guys like that--that went on & on developing vehicle skills and never put the work into thier figure skillset---and now won't show you thier attempt at a figure--even though thier builds are crying for them! It's a whole new skill-set and its back to square one(almost) and most of these guys won't do it--won't be as B@LLZY as Tony and just put some work into it

GO TONY!!

One more thing--as a Dio guy---Yes Dioramas require  a vast bunch of skill-sets, a convincing Dio needs great figures, vehicles, landscape,ect,ect and every kind of finish  BUT to  me the ultimate scale model in terms of dificulty in all fairness , is the flying model plane- Guys that can build a realistc scale model plane that actually flys with the same flight characteristics as the full-scale original are the kings of scale models.

Ok I'm done 

Man Tony, after all that talk here you off to a great start!  Love that skin tone.  I keep hearing about Life Tone.....maybe I should be checking them out!

Brian

OK AJ, Thanks

Tony Lee

If that 335 Feldgrau is Vallejo, there's no need to wait that long for it to dry. I apply highlights and shadows with highly thinned Vallejo minutes after the main coat has been applied. Before you do that, however, you might want to do you skin with highlights and shadows. The rule of thumb is to work form the skin outwards. Here's vallejo's tutorial on their paint, in case you haven't seen it before.

Howdy Folks, boy is it hot.

Ok I filled the hole on the back of the neck and hollowed out the cuffs. All the base coat colors are applied so I guess i'm about ready to get down to the nitty gritty after it dries for a day of two.

Flesh is "LifeColor" base coat flesh. The uniform is "Panzer Ace" 335 German tanker II Feldgrau and the belt and boots were painted with a mix of "Tamiya" Flat Black and Nato Brown.

Standing by

Tony Lee

Awwwww AJ you weren't discouraging at all. I'm no stranger to disappointment that's just part of life.

You know when people first start in the hobby or even come back after a lot of years some of them ask what brand of kit they should start out with and nine times out of ten they are told Tamiya,i'm talking tanks here,and that's where I am with figures.

I don't expect to do any show stoppers ever,just a presentable figure to finish up a shelf queen if you know what I mean. I'll post some pictures up later today of the base colors and ask for advice on how to proceed so stay tuned.

Thanks

Tony Lee

Sorry if it sounded like I was discouraging to Tony, that was not my intent. Figure painting is a journey that many of us have been on for many years and we continue to learn. Very few painters achieve spectacular success their first time out. We learn, practice, get advice, retrace our steps, practice, get a little bit better, get a bit worse, practice, hopefully improve, practice. Anyway, Tony, give it a shot. Hopefully, you'll get honest feedback here (and anywhere else you post) that will help you along. It would be great if the most honest feedback were to be, "That's excellent!"  

May the force be with you Tony.

I agree with you that it figures that figures give scale and life to a display and we improve as we go along.

Before discovering the passion for Dioramas I used to paint vinyl figures like an assembly plant to play with. All it took was a diorama competition that had an entry date that spanned one week. Within that space of time I had entered two dios. The first one was horrible, the second was also horrible but much improved and got me a prize for my figure painting ability. So I think practise makes perfect. Over the years I hoped I have improved further.

Anticipating to see your painted figure soon.

Cheers,

Richard 

Hold on now folks. You guys have both made some good points  and I appreciate them all.

My dad always told me that "NO ONE" is born with the ability to do a task no matter what it is. It's all part of a learning process. Some have an easier time of it and others don't so depending of your determination and attitude you can do anything anybody else can.

I don't have much trouble with the mechanics of building something,never have but when it comes to the artistic side of something now that's a different story, it takes a lot of effort on my part to pull that off.

With modeling you get out of it what you put into it. That takes us right back to the "Determination and Attitude" part of it. Right now what I build is not perfect and a very unrealistic goal but a clean well received model is and if I stay with it the "Perfect" might just rear its head one day.

I've always felt that for my models to be complete they needed a figure to set them off so here we are and if you people and your guidance will stay with me we'll get er done.

Thanks for dropping by

Tony Lee