questions about paint color and mounting of figures

[goodcop2000]

(02-24-2012 10:17 AM)Emp Wrote:  Nice first attempt.
Don't worry about the varnish pools, they go away. Just to make sure...don't go dipping them in a pot of varnish now ok?

Next up improve the details. When you take a closer look at the figures you will notice some grey coming true. Especialy one some of the sides and where things come together (shirt & hand)
Still, a nice first run mate!

Ps: jumping kids (I have to of my own)....the power of the ducktape....

Thanks for the encouragement. I noticed the missing spots most on the primer step but I was worried that if I kept on adding primer to fill in every spot that it would layer up too thick and take away the details of the figures.

Those spots where things come together (as you mentioned) are frustrating! I would find myself painting for example some hair but it would encroach too far on the face. Then I would wait a few minutes and try to touch up the face but it would encroach on the hair. I did this back and forth several times on tough areas.

I tried to paint the Indians eyes 4 times before I got a result that, while not great, at least didn't look like the Indian was crossbred with an alien.
I don't know how in the world I could get a pupil in there, though. I think I would have to find an even thinner brush than the ones I'm using.

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(02-24-2012 12:25 PM)Old Dwarf Wrote:  Ok you got your feet wet,which is big step,the more you paint the more you'll improve.
To make your figs really POP try some highlights,basically on the raised areas use a lighter
shade of the same color.On the Cowboys jeans the raised creases could be a lighter blue.

Also work the details like the belt buckles,it's the small things that give the fig a finished look.

I put in about 20 minutes a night on fig painting it's a relaxing part of the hobby.

OD

Hey OD, thanks for the advice. By the way, your avatar freaks my kids out. They don't mind all the bloody zombies but the jack o'lantern gets them for some reason.

The highlight idea sounds cool. So when adding that lighter highlight I would intentionally brush just across the raised ridges, right?

I didn't even think about the belt buckle. I didn't have any reference photo so I was just creating a color scheme as I went. Some details are so small that I just didn't feel like I could hit it with the brush. The one Indian's shield had some other designs in addition to the x shape but they seemed to be too small to successfully detail them.

Another thing I learned last night was how difficult it is to layer some colors of paint over grey. For example the grey primer kept showing through the orange shirt on the cowboy until I had put about 4 layers of the paint on there. I know I read somewhere (maybe in samuraitrev's materials?) that some people use either a white primer or a black primer depending on whether they are painting bright or dark colors. It seems like a good idea.