Painting Figures

[Keith Hayes]

There are an abundance of figures on the market these days and the Arttista, PBL and Aspen people have been supplemented with a host of new folks available on ETSY and Shapeways. These are not generally painted, though. I have been watching some videos by military modelers, so follow along while I paint some people.

I bought 3-4 folks from Aspen, one fellow is a 3d print from Shapeways. The stove and horse are also Aspen. I cleaned all the parts with a hobby knife and followed with a bath in alcohol to clean the surface.

Once the figures were air dry, they got a coat of Tamiya Primer.


The military guys follow the Primer with a coat of black for shadows. I was talking with Pat Student about this, and he suggested blue, as shadows have a blue cast. The Vallejo French Blue is pretty bright,  so I opted for 3 drops of black to one drop of French Blue.



Next I dusted the figures from above with white to create highlights.



The idea is that the blue-black sits in the crevices and bottom surfaces and now the white highlights the top edges


This is the big idea: the shadows are done now, so follow with glazes to build up the colors. Glazes are simply watered-down paint that are more transparent and this will let the shadows and highlights show through.


I start with the flesh color on faces and hands. These have 3-4 thin coats. I also used some tan on one vest and another pair of pants.

Aspen figures are well sculptured to start, and this method is an easy way to bring out the folds and details.

I have wanted to do a spotted pinto horse, so the horse got a couple coats of white.

More to come!

[Keith Hayes]

Damn upside down images!

[Jeff Young]

Outstanding!  I'm definitely going to try this out in HO....

[Lee Gustafson]

Keith,

Thank you for sharing your techniques and work. Your figures and use of figures in your construction and layout photos adds the human touch and life to your work. The “blue” base for shadow enhancement is a great idea since so many railroad figures have denim clothing. The combination of high quality figures and evolving painting techniques promises to raise the quality level of figures beyond “lead blobs”. As always your posts are most appreciated.

Lee Gustafson

[Keith Hayes]

More progress.

It helps to have a bunch of figures to paint at once. Though you can use a hair dryer to speed drying time, I don't. Do a bunch and be patient. I confess that I have the biggest issue trying to randomize colors some.

[Keith Hayes]

I am calling these fellas done.

And the back side.

The Aspen figures have excellent sculpting.  Don't forget to pick out belts and hat bands. I add some black and white washes to bring back highlights and shadows.  You can also use liner washes for a similar effect. I worked on these four,  plus the horse and stove over a couple days.

Let's see what you all can do!

[Keith Hayes]

I really like Lyle Anderson's Aspen Model Works figures. The clothing is nicely sculpted and they lend themselves to my shadow technique.

I painted a track crew a while back and folks really responded to the scene on the layout. Here is another crew. To review the process,  after I de-sprue and clean the figures,  I paint them with a coat of black primer.Primer. The two fellas on the right show this step. After the Primer has dried overnight,  I use my airbrush to shoot white paint from above. The two on the left show this step. They already look pretty darn good, with nice shadows, and I have hardly done anything!

I forgot to share that I also drill the feet and glue in a brass wire. This both allows me to place the figures on a wine cork to paint and later let's me poke them into my foam scenery for final placement.



I was hoping to do more of a step-by-step for everyone, but it goes so fast it seems silly to stop and take a photo. I start with the faces and add a touch of red to the Vallejo flesh color. Then I painted the coveralls with acrylic washes--some paint and a lot of water. The idea is to keep the pigment thin so those shadows break through. Because there are two of the same model, I mixed it up to try to make the guys different. One has light blue coveralls,  one dark blue, another brown, and the last grey. Likewise,  the shirts are different colors--white, green, red and a light grey. After the paint had dried, everything got a coat of enamel panel liner, and the a coat of matt varnish.

From the white spray to the matt varnish was less than two hours.

I hear lots of modelers express their distaste for figure painting. This is an easy technique that yields good results. The key is to do a bunch of people at once, so when you are done you have a dozen new citizens for your layout.

I got a bunch of engineers and firemen, and my next plan is to start doing some surgery and make some engine crews that are leaning out of the windows in the odd way that we do to see up and down the train.

[Lee Gustafson]

Keith,

Great looking figures. What do you use for primer and what do you use for the white that you airbrush from above? I agree the aspen figures are very well sculpted. Thanks for sharing your work.

Lee Gustafson

[Keith Hayes]

I used Mr. Surfacer 1600 black to prime and Vallejo white for the highlights.

[Mike Trent]

Thanks for this, Keith! Does Aspen offer figures in O Scale? Could you add a website for them and possibly other suppliers?

Just for grins, see how the track gang likes 30' rail. That's what we used on the Loop, Boulder and Idaho Springs. I think that's standard.  

[Jim Courtney]

Hey Mike,

Aspens website is here: https://www.theaspenmodelingcompany.com/Tutorials.php

Besides people, they have some fine horses and other animals. Check out the tutorial for painting horses.

Artista also has a full line of painted O scale figures. They don't seem to have their own website, but Google "Artista O scale figures" and multiple retailers offer them.

[Lee Gustafson]

Keith,

Thank you. I will try your technique on the next figures I paint.

Lee Gustafson

[Geoff Hamway]

Keith,

Many thanks for sharing this great technique!  I admit that my favorite part is accumulating the wine corks, but the rest of the process works well and really does go quickly.  The little guy below was painted using your technique, and I'm quite happy with how he turned out.  The figure is from Modelu -- they have a very extensive line of 3D-scanned and printed figures, including a number of crew figures leaning out of cabs.  Thanks again,

Geoff Hamway

[Mike Trent]

Great, Geoff! What scale is this?

[Keith Hayes]

Geoff, that is a good find!

They have a bunch of 40s figures that will work well for the 30s! Lots of good hats, and women with long dresses.

I am going to consider placing an order!

[Geoff Hamway]

Thanks, Mike.  I model in Sn3, but the Modelu figures can be ordered in 15 different scales!
Geoff

[Jim Courtney]

Hey Keith,

My first order of Modelu figures just arrived from Bristol. UK, this afternoon.

For we folks who like TOTC / First Decade C&S modeling, they have a line of "Edwardian" figures:

https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/?s=Edwardian&post_type=product&type_aws=true





The printed figures are still attached to their rafts, so looks to be a bit of work with my loops tonight.

The figures are beautifully sculpted. But, as Geoff has commented, they tend to talk with a funny accent.

I'm pleased with the seated female figures with hats for my 1909 coach interior, although straw boater hats didn't seem to be popular in the UK in those days. I'm likely to need a lot more:

[Keith Hayes]

Accent aside, there ar a number of good figures here. The are available in a  number of scales,  often from N to G. There are some great groups, and with some careful painting and minor tweaking their overseas heritage will disappear. I am most happy to see the variety of hats, along with workman's clothes appropriate for the 30s.

[Keith Hayes]

My Modelu figures came tonight and they look fantastic!
Okay, you can't see much here, but I am excited to clean a couple up and get them painted.

Terrific and speedy service on the order, too!

[Keith Hayes]

Here are two of the Modelu figures with the black Primer and the white highlights.

The one on the left could be Andy Anderson!