Tuesday 29 March 2016

New Rally Pawn and Camel... the dirt

With all the paints on, it was time for the washes.
First it was time for a general layer and then I added some pin washes...
It still needs a few more layers and detailed little washes here and there but this is what they look like now.







Sunday 27 March 2016

New Rally Pawn paints and decals

This guy is coming along pretty nicely. Paints and decals are on, and both he and the Camel  are now ready for stains and washes...
The photos speak for them selves I think but in short it went like this.
Black primer > yellow orange base layer > red and nato black top coat > steel details > chipping using a sponge in flat black > graphite for bare metal effect > clear coat > decal > clear coat (thin).

Enjoy! Drop me a line if you want to know more.

Cheers,
Martijn














Monday 21 March 2016

Figure painting tutorial of sorts.

Ok some guys on Instagram asked me to explain the process I go through painting figures a little more in-depth. So here's a step by step. I'm still trying to figure out who I can get some video of it, but until then all I've got is stills...

Hope it helps and you can leave any questions in the comments. 

So let's go!
Step 1. First off: the paints and the tools. 

I always use Tamiya acrylics but it should be just about the same process with any other brand of acrylics. Not sure about lacquers to be honest...
Anyway these are the colours I'm using. 



For the tools:
A number 00,  number 0 and a number 1 brush and a toothpick or as in this case a wooden 'sate' skewer 








Step 2. Base paint. 
I use Tamiya grey base paint, no specific reason I always use a base coat. It makes the paints stick better and the grey is nice and neutral. 



Step 3. With the number 1 brush I put on a base colour of a mix of red, orange and pink. It should be a reddish orange and it functions as, well as a base. 





Step 4. Layering
On the base coat I start layering thin coats of the skin tones using the number 0 brush.
Which is basically the Tamiya Flesh tone mixed with the tiny amounts of Flat Red for the redder parts (like the nose, cheeks and around the eyes) and mix in a tiny bit of Medium Grey for the jaw and upper lip to suggest beard stubble. Keep it subtle!

I thin the paints with water. This is a little tricky and might take some trial and error to get right, but I want the paint thin enough to be transparent but it shouldn't be too runny or it will run in all the creases and ruin the detail of the mold... remember if it all goes to shit, just dip the thing in thinner and start over.



Step 5. The white of his eyes!
I think this is the most common way to do eyes at this scale. The trick is basically to put the white on kind of sloppy. Not to worry about going outside the lines and then cleaning it up later. 




Step 6. The pupils. 
For this I use the toothpick. I've seen guy elsewhere on the interwebs use a brush for this and I've tried... but I just can't do it. 
I first put in a dot of brown and then a dot of flat black on top of that. It's just to get a suggestion of some colour happening in there as the scale is too small for actual irises and pupils.

When using the toothpick make sure there's no droplet on the end of it. The wood should be absorbent enough (if that's the right word) to hold enough paint after you take off the excess paint. 

Again the pain will go over the eye-lids here. Don't worry about it, we'll clean that up later. Focus on making the guy look straight... or cross-eyed, however you want them to look. 




Step 7. A face lift.
Now it's time to clean up the eyes. 
With a number 00 brush I carefully touch up the eye lids. It can be hard to see now but you can get pretty close to the eye-ball so to speak. Here again the thinning of the paint is pretty essential. Too dry with make it lumpy, to thin might make it 'flood' the eye. It can be slightly thicker than before but it still needs to flow a little... again: trail and error. No simple trick here (even weather conditions can effect this), sorry. 

I also touched up the guys eyebrows with a mix of dark brown and flesh tone. I find it works better when you keep the eyebrows subtle. You could make the eye-brows heavier then here, but always build the colour up it thin layers so that there's more flesh tone mixed in at the ends... This suggests a thinning out of the hair, so avoiding "the caterpillar effect".

Also done did the lips with a mix of the Flesh and Flat Red. 




Step 8. The hood
No tricks here, just put some paint on the hood and be careful not to get paint on the face.



Step 9. Pin wash.
With all the acrylics done I hit it with a layer of glossy clear coat. And add some pin washes. 
I use oils for this, thinned with odourless terpenoid. For the face (especially around the eyes, in the eye lids,  the nostrils and the mouth eye use a mix of dark crimson and a lighter red I forgot the name 
off sorry and some ochre. And for the edge of the hood and nose holes I mix a little black in there too.

Also did the seams on the hood, and I think that's about it.  





I think the whole process took me about 30 minutes, including drying time.

So I hope this kind of clarifies how I go about it. Any questions, let me know. 

Thanks for looking!

Cheers,
Martijn

Saturday 19 March 2016

New Rally Pawn (Camel sidekick)

As I mentioned in the last post I was going to build a little side kick for the Camel in the shape of a New Rally Pawn (I know I said Luna Pawn, but I meant New Rally Pawn)
Anyway the build is coming along pretty nicely and although I promised myself I wasn't going to do any detailing on it I couldn't resist adding some to the back as it is quite plain and well, frankly boring.

I also mixed up some of the parts. Some sprue are have parts of other versions of this same suit design and I decided to use some of them in this one. The exhaust sticking out of the back of the helmet is not supposed to be there originally. It should be a some grate and with a clear plastic cover but I usually find clear parts a pain in the bollocks, and I like this exhaust thing... so there.

Also put a little tank of some kind on the back and gave him a couple of elbow shield things.

I have to say this isn't my favourite Ma.K design, mainly because the body stops quite high above his pelvis and his ankles are really exposed.... as if his pants are hiked up really high. It looks like Urkel basically.

Anyway...





So then there the figure. I had a choice of a man and a woman's head. I went with the guy because he had better detail.

And here's my process of painting figurines' faces... I thing the steps speak for themselves. If not let me know in the comments and I'll explain further...




Now we can close the suit, add the final details and start painting it.

That's for next time.
Thanks for looking!