Great stuff Doug. When i get my new layout up and running I really *MUST* get back into painting figures - I have several hundred half-painted at the moment! Your photos and techniques are inspiring me to get going again.

Reunited with his sack-truck!

Doof

Great really really great, some of the best 00 figures that I have seen, but how do you do it, do you use Strong glasses to see that close ?

Gosh, Alan, thank you, from a modeller of your ability too.

I normally wear prescription reading glasses, they are about the same magnification as 2.5 - 3 times readers from Boots,  but rely on a magnifying glass from a £1 shop mounted on an old Anglepoise lamp arm I found at the tip, fixed to the bench with an adapted fret-saw clamp. That does for just about everything.




These next two pictures show a 'with' and 'without' effect.









Apart from a little bottle of Testors black acrylic I forgot to photograph here's the entire outfit , matt acrylic paint from Poundstretcher, matt varnish which I use after painting to smooth out the rough bits, a margarine tub top as a palette [the little ring in the middle keeps a tiny puddle of water] and the dirty water from rinsing the brushes.



To help painting defined breaks of colour I go round with a new pointed blade and make a groove so as to form a 'micro-gutter' to aid the process. Like Novice, I apply an overall coat of good quality black fine acrylic paint over the entire figure after washing it with window cleaning spray. Then I wipe most of it off with a cloth* leaving it in the creases to become 'shadows'.

Then I start painting with relatively thin coats of the appropriate colour using a No. 0 brush. I start with the neck/throat area taking the skin/shirt colour up over the jacket/cot, like Novices picture shows.

The dirty water plays an important part, i.e. after lightly painting a face with a base flesh colour [light brown, white and red, yellow added for tanned skin] I let it dry and then brush on the dirty water. It flows into the minute grooves of the facial features, the excess water is lifted off with the same brush after drying it on a piece of cloth* and after touching in the lips on the damp surface to avoid that 'blobbed on lipstick' look [so lightly it seems invisible] I varnish with a well loaded brush [to save scrubbing away what I've just applied] and lift of the excess varnish again with a brush wiped almost dry on a piece of cloth*.  Don't forget eyebrows, too.

My brushes below are [top to bottom] a 3/0, 5/0 and 0 pointed in synthetic from a £3.99p set of six at a Hobbystore and a 0 in squirrel, from W.H. Smiffs, you'll see it has chisel end made by wetting and freezing it and quickly chopping it off with a new blade. It's this one I use for 'cutting in', i.e. getting close up to a boundary/joint, mainly by pushing it against the 'micro-gutter' I mentioned earlier. I varnish with it, too.






I can't think of much else to say about it, perhaps the secret is using several coats of thinned paint instead of one thick one. It takes no time at all to dry, and you can continue until the black paint in the grooves just shows through as a shadow.

The cloth I mention especially because on previous 3 or 4 figures I was getting really angry with minute fluff and whiskers that made things look really rough. Then it clicked, they were coming from the kitchen paper towel I was using, especially in the wiping off of the black base coat. Since I have started using some bits of very old pillow case material, no such problems. Keep paper towel away from the job!

Hope this helps, I couldn't do it without the magnifying glass on a stick device though,

Doug

Beautiful work Doug.If that porter and trolley doesn't end up as a header photo,then there's no justice in the world!
:doublethumb
Cheers,John.B.:thumbs

Very, very commendable.
Apart from the magnifying glass you need a lot of patience to produce work of that quality, Doug.
Congratulations.

Yes   fantastic work, Doug.

Mike

Fantastic work mate, brilliant.

Phill

Hi Doug

I have just caught up with your thread and I really like what you have achieved. The conversions are very well executed and bring new life into these old figures. I do like your painting style too, with great use of subtle colours. I think the final result is superb and it is great to see nicely painted figures - more please!

Bob(K)

 

Great post there Doug ,well worth a read and saving. Thank you.:thumbs

[user=312]dooferdog[/user] wrote:

 mounted on an old Anglepoise lamp arm I found at the tip,

The next time I come up through France I'm going to look for this tip!

Brilliant work Doug and like Bob I much prefer the subtle colours you've applied - quiet exceptional.

Les

I'm just catching up on things Doug.  This thread is superb. thumbs:thumbs  You've created some wonderful figures and given us some excellent tutorials on how to do it.

If I get even near your achievements, I'll be chuffed.  Now - where was that tip - I'm sure I can get there before Les does !!!!