This is Warriors 120mm U.S. Infantryman, Eurpoe, 1944. I painted in enamels and acrylics. The base is celluclay with Woodland Scenics snow sprinkled on top. The stone wall was carved from Balsa Foam and also painted in acrylics. I hope I did it justice. As always, comments and constructive criticism welcome. Regards

my tip for this one would be to look at people when it next snows(if it does near you) and notice how the skin tone looks much colder in Colour, think of the Ice Queen in Narnia to get an idea on this.
Also check out works by the top boys and girls in this field. Bill Horans Military Modelling book is worth the price and helped me alot.
how about giving him some black gloves to add a bit of contrast and make them stand out? just a thought!
i admire the fact that you are so prolific but as some one once said to me; "perhaps you should slow down, its not a race " concentrate maybe on one piece and take time and pleasure in slowly achieving the end result. never be afraid to make major corrections either Mate; i have stripped many a figure thats nearly done and the next effort was better. hope i am giving you some suport and encouragement here.

all the best --- tim

I'm impressed. The eyes need work though.

Hi Michael,

I love this figure and I'm impressed with what you've done with it.

As I mentioned on your 82nd airborne figure, I think you should concentrate on getting the eyes right- they are in many respects the most important feature of any figure, the windows to the soul.

Another tip for painting realitsic eyes is to paint a very thin line of black paint under the lip of the upper eyelid. This will immediately improve the shape and definition of the eye but will also help to make the eyes look better.

Some people also add a black line from the inside corner of the bottom of the eye to the middle of the pupil, but this can often make the eyes look a bit "theatrical". You don't want your figures looking like they're wearing mascara and eye liner.

I agree with Tim that your skin tones look a bit warm for someone in the snow. If I may suggest, add a very small touch of blue to your skin tone shadow mix. This will help take some of the "warmth" out of the colours.

Having said all this, please don't take any of these comments as negative criticism. All of us look for constructive criticism in the hope that we may improve and gain more satisfaction from our hobby. I have no doubt that with a few small changes and improvements in your panting technique (especially with the eyes) you'll see spectacular improvements in the coming months. Good luck.

Thank you all for the comments, tips and observations. i take no offense to any of this, in fact, I am pleased to have such accomplished Planeteers take an interest in my personal improvement. I have a hard time with eyes, I usually paint them last as they intimidate me (this from a guy who parachuted 36 times!!!). My hands shake, like nowhere else when I am painting the figures. But, no excuses,keep the feedback coming and I will keep posting and hopefully keep improving. thanks again for this forum to share my love for this hobby!!!

Mike

Hi

I really like this figure the uniform and helmet looks great.
Nice work

Ryally

Hey Mike
Nice colours and application, but as mentioned the skin needs rectifying and the eyes. You mentioned your hand shaking. One method is to make sure wrist is leaning on your workdesk or even your other forearm for example, so that only your fingers move with the brush. This will help to minimise excessive movement. Keep us posted on your results!
Brad

The Eyes.....0.0

I like the figure so far but i have to agree that your eyes look a little bit too... err big. You also have you have to remember that the eyes of this infantry man probably looked tired due to the lack of sleep that alot of these people got. Im just suggesting on not making the eyes a 100% pure white. Use a slightly cream colour even for normal eyes. From there i still need to work out how to get a tiredness look but 1st i have to finish this figure.

The other thing I would have to agree with is that the skin tone is just a bit to warm looking. The cold would have defienently made him look paler aswell.

Even though i am basically just telling you whats already been said, I picked those things up aswell. I hope that everybodys critasim will eventually help with your painting.

I will never say im an expert since im still learning the ropes myself

Daniel

Daniel

You are racing against the clock??? Slow down, and concentrate on one figure.

Now for the eye's this is how i do it, and it is not te law to do it this way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First: You have to mix your skintone with the white for the eyeball. Then it looks more natural.
Second. The white of the eye is less then 50 % of the totall of the eyeball, so your next step is a black dot in the eyes that is more then 50 % off the total.
Third: Avoid that the black dot's are in the middle. Let them look aside but not crosseyed.
Fourt: After the black is dry, put a color dot in the black, maybe a blue, green or some lifelike eyecolor.
Fift: When that is dry, i repaint the uppereyelid with burnt umber and the lower eyelid with burnt sienna. A kind of offlining the whiteeyball.
Tip: i paint the black and blue of the eye with a needle....

O, everything is painted with oilpaint....

I hope you can do something with it.
Marc