Hi everyone

I have a passion for the second world war (German soldiers in particular) and I have decided to start completing and painting kits.

I have an artistic/creative nature and an awful lot of patience, and I have decided to enter into the larger figures between 90-200mm,but I am finding it hard to find kits at such size for my chosen era.

Any pointers to the right sites for purchasing the kits would be much appreciated.

I would also like some direction for paints (acrylic), brushes and other helpful modelling tools which are considered a must to produce an excellent finish.

I am looking at the youngs busts which look outstanding but which is the best place to go, i have found this site and was wondering if it was ok to use http://www.skminiatures.co.uk/#/young-miniatures/4532750624

Thank you for spending the time reading aswell as your recommendations and I look forward to updating you all as i progress.

Dave

Hello Dave:

Welcome to PlanetFigure. Hope you find this a good place to be. One thing I
would suggest is that you read most of the forum posts, where our members
show pictures of their work and explain how they go about it.

I will mention something about brushes. With the painting of figures most
use water colour brushes that will make a perfect point. And generally the
brushes are on the small side, like a Number One size, or Single or double
zero size. I don't recommend synthetic brushes for painting figures. Yes,
Kolinsky Pure Red Sable is expensive but I see the brushes as the most
important part. So I buy the very best, and in my view, that is Winsor
Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Pure Red Sable water colour brushes. I take very
good care of them, and wash them in the palm of my hand with mild hand
soap either cake or liquid. Then I form the bristles back into a sharp point
with my finger tips. Of course, you always store your brushes with the
bristles pointing toward the ceiling. I never put a brush down into a bottle
of liquid and let it rest on the point. That will bend the bristles
permanently and the brush becomes useless.

A certain degree of discipline and good habits is required, in my opinion,
to gain skill and improve as a figure modeler. Reminds me of the true
saying" The things of great value will not be easily accomplished" .

You may know all this, but it isn't easy to tell what you know and do not
know from your note. But no matter, welcome to PF. I wish you well in this
wonderful hobby.

Rick Brownlee
a.k.a. The Miami Jayhawk in the American Heartland

You're in Leicester????

Oh Dave:

I just now noticed that you reside in Leicester. My good friend and excellent
sculptor Steve Readdie, a regular member on this site, lives in Leicester.
You would want to get in touch with him, for sure. His member name is
"1969". A very nice gentleman who is eager to help.

Kansas kid

Hi Guys

Many thanks for your speedy and helpful response.

Great advice on brushes and i'll make sure no exspense is spared

I have decided to start with this large bust:-
http://www.frontiermodels.co.uk/Waffen-SS-1943-Bust-p-18524.html

I reckon I can make a pretty good job of it and it is a decent size to not be too fiddly for my first project.

Any idea's with the paint fella's, i am definately going to use acrylics and was wondering what are the best paints

Yup i do live in Leicester so i will attempt to make contact with 1969

Thanks for your support

If I understand you correctly, you are also wondering if SK Miniatures website is o.k. to use. You won't find any problems with SK Miniatures. Steve Kirtley is a regular on this website (Look for threads by Kirtles) and the products he sells are completely above board. I have purchased from him in the past and intend to do so again. My experience purchasing from him was friendly and delivery was fast.

Gary Daugherty

Many thanks Gary

I've ordered the Bust above and will get the winsor & Newton series 7 watercolour brushes...............................any idea's in respect of acrylic paints???

Dave,
Lately i do only business with SK miniatures. Great service, and i always have my package within a week.
Highly recommended.

Marc

Thanks for your feedback marc

Ill definately be using them in the future

Hi again Dave. When it comes to acrylics, I tend to use Vallejo. As I am focussed on painting figures with oils, I base coat with acrylics and then use oils to highlight and shadow. Use the Search button at the top of the page and you will find tons of paint mixes in both acrylics and oils.

Best of luck!!

Gary Daugherty

Thank you Gary

You guys are all very helpful which is much appreciated when you are complete noob like medoing all the research is part of the fun so I'll pay particular attention to all the variable hints and tips available

Dave

Dave:

Since my original two posts here, I've read each member's comments and
have thought of some more things. And a couple of them may seem
blasphemous to certain members. I don't intend any disrepect. But if you're
just starting out, my feeling is that you need a lot of practice. High quality
figure are expensive. Especially in the larger sizes. Yes, you can start with
those expensive figure you purchase, and then remove acrylic paint with a
tooth brush and Mr. Clean or oven cleaner if the results are too bad;
and just start over. But I suggest that you start with large
scale less expensive styrene plastic figures.

Larger figures like 90mm and 1:16th scale are easier to paint as far as
painting lines and painting divisions of subject matter correctly, etc.

However, it takes longer to paint a large figure skillfully,
because since the detail is larger, it requires more attention to that detail.
I suggest you get on line and order from some provider that sells Tamiya
1:16th styrene figures. They are not expensive. And you'll get
some good experience dealing with seam and putty work. A very important
part of figure modeling. No seam should show that wasn't on the original
person/uniform/etc.

Now on to a rather blasphemous statement. I don't use the expensive
Vallejo and Andrea acrylics in the plastic bottles. I go to Craft Stores and
buy AppleBarrel and Anita Brand paints for less than a US dollar a piece.
Yes, they are not as finely ground as Vallejo (By the way, since Vallejo is
Spanish it is pronounced Vee Hay Oh, not Vee Lay oh) and Andrea, but
just starting out, I suggest you try the less expensive acrylics paints. Great
shelf life with Anita and Apple Barrel acrylic paints, has been
my experience.

And the last blasphemous point: serious figure painter understand the
principal of the colour wheel, the primary colours, the secondary colours,
and the complimentary colours. So they mix they own paints. Think about
that for a moment. That means if you learn how to do this, you're not
held prisoner to the paint companies, and won't have to buy every pre-
mixed colours in certain ranges, such as Wehrmacht camouflage, that the
companies sell. For example to get really basic. You won't need to buy
the colour Pink, as you just mix red and white together to make the colour
pink. Most all shades of brown are basically made from the primary
colours, Blue, Red and Yellow. And for some brown you can add green,
et cetera.

You may be aware that with the three primary colours, plus black and
white, a painter can mix any colour they want. So I suggest that you
also, either go to the library and get books on mixing colours and the
colour wheel, or dig this information out of the internet.

Hope this helps,

Jayhawker

I would recommend getting a few books also. Military Modelling Masterclass by Bill Horan is IMO the bible! Danilo Cartacci's book is great if you can find it. It's out of print but I found one. I'll agree with KK on the kits though I would lean towards Verlinden. They make some nice resin kits, usually well casted with not much prep work and they have a huge variety of 120mm scale figures. I mean if you want to spend big bucks on a Andrea or Pegaso or XYZ model go for it but I'll agree with KK that you need to put time in on the bench painting, building experience and saving some $$$. Buy the more $$$$ kits and put them aside while you get more comfortable. As for acrylics I am with KK in that I get them at the local craft stor since I only use them for undercoating as I paint with oils. But good luck and remember, it's a hobby!!! It's supposed to be fun!!!

Great post Jay, I once again thank you for your valued input.

I'm a decent pencil artist and I can paint to an average level, but I do understand the concept of mixing colours and the colour wheel you so rightly describe.

I hope this will be a lifetime hobby so I want to make things as easy for myself at the start until I get the confidence to try other things like lesser known techniques and paints etc

I have scratch built RC warbirds in the past and have acheived an excellent finish with plenty of detail and although this is a completely different animal I beleive I have a better head start than someone that has not done any modelling or has not got an artistic nature

I'll stick with Vallejo for now but your comments are very well received.

Right now all I need is a good modelling reference book for 2nd world war figure modelling..................once again I call upon the experts to recommend me a book out of the multitude available

Dave

Thank you Jason

Ignore my previous post in respect of the book as you have kindly recommended one which I did not see when responding to KK.

Interesting that you also like to use acrylic as an undercoat and oils for everything else. What are the advantages of doing it this way and is it because oils are easier to paint with??

Dave

Oh Dave, here we go again. . .

Now, you obviously have been a model builder for some time, so you do
understand quite a bit about modeling in general. But you do raise a very
good point about whether it should be oils or acrylic. And that brings me to
one of the major point in life that I've started to understand now into my
70s. There will always be a plus and a minus, regardless of what particular
thing your dealing with. Whether you get married, or divorced, have children
or remain single, buy a car, or not. With each aspect of life there will be
something you like about it, and something that is a negative, or a minus
about it. That is just the way life is. And you say, wall. . . duh . . . what has
this got to do with figure painting.

There are advantages and also disadvantages to using both oils and to using
acrylics. Of all the mediums that artists use, oil are the most forgiving. Two
different colours can be blended quite easily with oils. But they have
disavantages too. And it is the same with acrylics. Altho with acrylics there
is no blending. It is all about layering. And that is something that altho it
is very fast, especially if you speed up the drying time with a el cheapo
hair dryer, is so difficult to learn and get a real feel for it. For several
years, I did figures in oils only. But I realized the champion figure painters
on this site are exclusively, for the most part, acrylic painters only. So I
decided to put in the time to try and become comfortable with acrylics. I
still do certain leather part in oils since they have that natural sheen that a
leather part would have in some cases.

Hopefully, my attempt to show you that both oils or acrylics can create
beautifully painted figures. The point is that which ever one you chose, you
will have to put in the time. We actually do learn by doing.

I would highly recommend the Osprey how to books done by the wonderful
figure painter in acrylics, Jaume Ortiz. He goes into Step By Step (SBS)
procedures, with excellent photos that show exactly how he does it. The
book of his that I learned so much about painting flesh tones, and
Wehrmacht Camouflage patterns was his "Modeling Fallschirmjager Figures"
soft cover book from Osprey. And I highly recommend it. I also highly
recommend, and I am repeating here, that you read all the forum posts
on this web site that you have time for.

Good luck

The Miami Jayhawk, Rick Brownlee

Hi

I have purchased both the recommended books which I will spend alot of time reading and understanding before even picking up a paint brush

So, thanks to all you kind people I have the bust on its way, books on the way, paints chosen, brushes chosen and a genuine excitement to get going

Now then peeps.................essential tools (for resin moulds) and do i need to buy it all seperately or could you recommend a kit of some sort

Looking for dry transfer decals of U.S. Army rank, patches, etc. New to this, not sure if I'm posting in the right forum.

Tools, tips, books, etc

On the oils vs acrylics question. KK is correct that oils are much more forgiving but the major drawback is drying time which can be shortened with drying agents and heat but they will never dry as fast as acrylics. If you want to see in my humble opinion one of the greatest oil figure painters, pick up Shepard Paines masterworks. Truly inspiring. Bill Horan uses enamels almost exclusivly and his work is truly astounding. I like oils because I just cant get down the whole layering thing plus I just think oils look better. Just my opinion. But as KK said, Jaume Ortiz has some fantastic books. You can go to Andrea Miniatures website and they have free downloadable books on acrylic painting which is great too. As for tools, sandpaper, xacto knife, diamond files, apoxie sculpt or duro putty, 2 part expoy glue, a good pair of optivisors, pin vise, more sandpaper, n obnoxious cat to kick when you totally screw up something you have spent hours working on so you can kick it. (no offense to cat lovers!!) One tip I will recommend is to find a good painter, preferably in your neck of the woods and strike up a friendship. I like to call them my mentors and I have a feww I talk to almost daily with issues and they are an invaluable help. Oh, a few other tools....a good dremel tool or the equiviant, a well lit work area is a must, and visit some model shows. There always seem to be a lot more shows in Europe, UK than here in the US. A great place to see some fantastic work and to network. And remember, it's supposed to be fun!

Thank you Jason

I think it is probably a good idea to have a look at various figures painted in all three mediums, this way i can see the overall finish which is most pleasing to my eye.

I have a cat......................................so that is a great start I just need to get a collection of tools as per your comprehensive list above.

Well here are my recomendations for looking at the three mediums painter wise. For oils it would be Shepard Paine. Long time world class painter and sculptor. For enamels it's Bill Horan. Astounding work! For acrylics it's Jaume Ortiz. I have seen a piece of his in person and it was amazing! Now I dont want to offend anyone but these are my three choices! Jason Green is another amazing acrylics painter though he does use oils for his flesh work. Danilo Cartacci is another mixed medium painter. Oils for flesh, acrylics for most everything else and I have his book and it's a great study! But whats great is you have access to forums like this one or timelinesforum or the basement that has just tons of painters with tons of tips and tricks!