Anglian Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) I have recently been refining a different painting style for my 7mm figures. I was using a similar style for these as the one I was using on my 4mm figures and I wasn't completely convinced it suited 7mm figures as well. It has taken quite a bit of experimentation to get this to where I want - thank heavens you can easily strip metal figures off and try again. I like to refer to these figures as 'Splash Test Dummies'. I have a few refinements to try but this is the direction I am now heading in for 7mm. The basic technique is using artists inks. I wanted to desaturate the colours without losing all the contrast. what I have aimed for is the colour depth that we are used to seeing in older colour photographs and then knocking that back even further to demonstrate the change of colours when seen at a distance - scale colouration of you like. This smaller picture might give some idea ( depends on your screen ) how it could look on a layout 7-492-07_sml.jpg Here are some more brutal closeups 7-492-00.jpg 7-492-01.jpg 7-492-03.jpg If you're painting with acrylics you can mix Vallejo Stone grey into your colours and it will desaturate the colour key to give scale distance. Stone grey is a very warm gentle colour. It works well and is great for knocking back flesh tones to give that 'distant' look. Varnish – I don't varnish all the figures I paint. As long as you are careful installing them on the layout they're never going to get handled again so they don't need protecting. However, if you want to varnish the method I use works well and will give dead flat finish. Firstly seal the paint work with thinned acrylic gloss varnish. Let it dry for at least 24 hours. The matt varnish I use is Daler Rowney Soluble Matt Acrylic. It's sold in glass bottle for about £5. When you by it, if it hasn't already separated into thick matting agent at the bottom and and clear carrier fluid on top you need to leave it until it does settle out. Pour off almost all the clear carrier into a small air tight jar (art shop sell suitable ones). Then slowly add the carrier back in stirring hard as you go. You need a scrap figure painted black or dark blue. Test your varnish on this model, the dark colours are the hardest to matt varnish and give the best indication of how satin or matt the varnish is drying. At this stage it will probably dry very matt with white streaks. So add in a little more carrier fluid and retest. You need to go carefully and get it just to the point where the varnish dries matt without any white streaks forming. Painting over gloss will leave odd gloss spot showing if you miss a bit. If so let it dry and then resolve. However, this isn't the real reason for sealing the artwork with gloss – if you use this Daler Rowney varnish straight onto the paint it will darken it. Edited February 15, 2015 by Anglian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Here are some platform figures for a commission customer ... 4mm 1/76 I guess the flowers must be for his Mum ? 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 I found this linked elsewhere on a US forum - would the blog belong to somebody we know? The work looks familiar! http://petesnewworkshop.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Hi Shortliner That's not me - if that is what you thought ? Also those techniques really couldn't be any further away from mine - actually really very different in almost every way. I don't use enamels and I don't drybrush ( not on figures anyway ) - different primer colours etc etc etc. With that said - nice work and lovely figures too. But this thread is supposed to be about my business really so I wont say too much more about his :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Ah, I did think it might be you - my apologies! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted May 29, 2015 Author Share Posted May 29, 2015 Just a quick note to let you know that I am now on holiday until the 15th of June and will be unable to reply to any enquiries until I return as I am unlikely to have any internet access. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben04uk Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Does anyone know what has happened to Rob since he went away on holiday? I can't seem to get hold of him at all. Is is still providing his painting service? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Wellyboots Posted July 26, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 26, 2015 I brought a book for him that had on eBay in mid June. It arrived so I guess he's still around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Gilbert Posted April 1, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 1, 2018 There is the opposite argument that misleading terms used in a ebay description simply clutter up search results and aggravate the person doing the search. For example if I was doing a search for Triang (gaud forbid) I do not want to plough through 100's of items/pages of 'Hornby'. Also if I were searching for "4mm,figures,painted' I would not wish to be distracted by brass kits or old copies of BRM. But I guess that is not a problem now I have your website bookmarked. I don't have a website.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now