Hi everyone,

I am trying my hand at acrylics, after always being an oil's painter, and thought I would use this old 120mm Verlinden figure for a bit of practice.

I know black is very hard to do, so thought that if I could get this looking colour looking half decent it would help a lot with other future colours.

I didn't want to be trying out any flesh tones just yet, mainly just want to try and get some experience with the blending process, so I painted his eye sockets black, then filled them in with clear resin, as I have pics of these guys with the dark tinted lenses on their masks.

This is still very much a WIP, so I still have to blend the shadows and highlights a bit more, and tone them down a bit, plus I will give the leg sections and boots a bit more filtering of straight black.

Anyway, all comments and critiques welcome, as this is a big learning curve for me.





Thanks for looking,
Jeff.

I like it so far,black can be tricky.

Thank you sdO324 and Krom1415!

Ok, a little bit more tweaking done to tone down the highlights and shadows, plus also added the handgun and magazine holster.I added a bit more of a satin sheen to the boots, and also gave the overalls a few more glazes of straight black, although in the pics they still look a lot greyer than in person.








All comments and critiques welcome!

Cheer's,
Jeff.

Great job, cant wait to see the end result,

Thanks a lot Jimmy!...much appreciated.

Cheer's,
Jeff.

Coming along nicely Jeff.
Watching with interest...
Cheers,
Keith

Hey Jeffro, looking great mate, cant wait to see this in the flesh, good catching up the other day, cheers.

Looks good. Youre getting hthe hang of the acrylics pretty quick and as said before, black is quite tricky to pull of.

Keith, Juddo and Gellso, thanks a lot for the comments guys!

Cheer's,
Jeff.

Always thought that this and the other two figures Vrlinden did like it would make a great vignette,either at the Kill House at Hereford or on top of the Iranian Embassy. I might look at picking these up if they are out there.

Hi Jeff,

Coming along very nicely mate. The major advantage that acrylics have over oils is they dry very quickly, which allows you to paint many thin coats of paint over each other to build up a very subtle layering technique, without building up the thickness of the paint so much that you obscure the surface details. It's also easier to clean up your brushes or fix any mistakes because you just need water.

The key to painting with acrylics is to keep your paint thinned by diluting it with distilled water. I use distilled water because the tap water in Perth contains lots of iron, which effects the purity of the paint colour.

I also use an eye dropper so I can precisely measure the ratio of paint to water and keep my paint mixes consistent.

For base coats I use a paint to water ratio of 1:1
For mid range highlights and shadows I use a ration of 5drops water to 1 drop of paint
For extreme highlights and shadows I use a ratio of 10 drops of water to each drop of paint.

By keeping the paint really thin, you can create subtle changes in tone and some very smooth transitions.

If you're using vallejo acrylics, I recommend you get yourself some Flat Medium, which you add to your paint mix to get rid of any glossy shine. Particularly useful with reds, blues and greens, which are notoriously shiny. Failing that, use a small drop of Flat Varnish or Tamiya Flat Base X21. Not too much or you'll end up with a chalky white crust on the surface of your model.

I hope that helps a bit mate. Good luck and keep going.

Thanks a lot for all of the advice Tony!...very much appreciated.

Yes, the one thing that has had me wanting to tackle acrylics is to not have as much trouble flattening down the finish as much as oils.It seems to be a lot easier with acrylics.

Thanks a lot for the feedback everyone, it is a great help!

Cheer's,
Jeff.

You picked a hard figure to try your first acrylics, with all the black, but it is looking nice. You seem to have the hang of it quickly!
In addition to Tony's great advice, If you want to keep things flat, avoid manipulating the paint too long. I used to mess about with the paint, trying to blend like with oils, and ended up with a glossy finish. Ugly. Apply it, and leave it alone until dry. A hairdrier will speed this up. Also note that some colours are more prone to shine than others. Here the Tamiya X21 will help.

Cheers,
Adrian

Jeff that looks very good for a first with acrylics I paint exclusively with oils and have tried the change over without success many times ,looks like you nailed it almost first go
and with black to boot.

that looks a great figure also.

Ron

nice job keep going better you than me!!
george

A real Blast from the Past. This was the very first 120mm resin figure I ever painted many many many years ago (still have it). Sad to say it was also my last as I decided 120mm is way too big. I really look forward to seein the finished thing. Really happy to see someone is giving this figure the attention it deserves.

Anthony

Really excellent work considering this is your first time with acylics. Personally I prefer oils and just can't get to grips with acrylics so I just use them for undercoating and detailing mainly. Picking black is really brave. Nice work.

Adrian, Ron, George, Anthony and Jazz, thanks a lot for the comments fellas!..much appreciated.



Ok, just about calling this one done...just have a couple of touch ups, and then will mount it to a base.









Thanks for looking!

Cheer's,
Jeff.

Nice work, especially for first steps in acrylics!