International Flat Figure Society - British Flat Figure Society
Flat Figures Painters Forum => Techniques => Topic started by: Glen on January 22, 2014, 11:37:39 AM
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Part 1.
I am starting a new project!. This is Andreas Trost's 75mm Dark Mistress, a Conan-ish barbarian warrior babe. I'm not sure about her name; Dark Mistress would seem to be a great name for a Goth Dominatrix, but I'm not making the connection to a battle-axe wielding hottie...
In light of recent threads on aiding those new to painting miniatures (and flats in particular), I'm going to be a bit more detailed in my descriptions of what I'm doing, the tools I'm using, etc. This will be old hat to most of you, but bear with me. Additionally, everyone should understand that my methods are not the end-all, do-all, last word on the subject. Everyone develops their own comfortable methodology over time. There may be better (cheaper, faster, more accurate) methods, but unless it involves fire or blood, there's generally no hard right or wrong.
The figure is scantily-clad (but not nude), helmeted, and armed to the teeth; a worthy standard for any warrior babe. The figure's actually size is 90mm, or 3.5 inches, from the ground to the top of the helmet spike. It seems the 75mm point is actually around the eye line. The piece was well-cast with no short shots (incomplete casting) and only the usual amount of flash and stray bits to be removed. There was some minor pitting along the ground line, but it doesn't affect the actual figure.
The figure is well designed and engraved in that she has a pretty face and all of her features are where they're supposed to be. Her arms and legs are well formed and there is a visible elbow bone and kneecaps. She is wearing a corset-like garment over her chest, a fur loin cloth fastened at the sides with a small chain, and a large belt. Her boots are fur topped and have a wrapping around the lower calf. Her weapons consist of a curved scimitar-like sword and a large battle axe. The axe handle has a nice wood grain effect engraved into it. There was one minor glitch; the skull's eyes seem a bit off - the right eye (as viewed) being noticeably lower than the left eye.
The pic shows the piece as cast/packaged before any cleanup was done. The image was scanned.
Questions and comments are welcomed.
Cheers,
Glen
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Ahhh! Babes in armor! I love this figure.
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they are not part of my world too,
these nice modern pinup girls with their
unsightly cosmetic instrument set.
Here stimulators some imagination ....
Heavy Metal Warrior Woman - Heavy Metal Painting[attach=1][attach=2]
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Well, the first one (in red) is a bit scary. The second one, however... red hair, leathers, shiny sword blade... woof! ;)
Glen
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Part 2.
Here is a pic of the cleaned up figure. I used a basic hobby knife, padded sanding sticks and twigs (long, narrow sanding sticks, ideal for tight spaces), and some needle files (ideal for even tighter spaces). All of these tools are standard items for any modeler's tool kit, whether you build models or figures, plastic, resin, or metal. I did attention to squaring corners and rounding edges or scallops where appropriate. I went around the entire perimeter of the figure - including the inside areas - removing all of the stray bits of metal and flash in addition to dressing the edges. It is sometimes difficult to tell where detail ends and flash begins, so some degree of magnification is very helpful. I use a pair of 3.25X reading glasses.
I used a pair of sprue nippers to remove the front part of the base so I could lay piece on a scanner. A razor saw will also work. Both items are also fairly standard in the modeler's tool kit - especially if you do any kind of conversion or scratch-building.
I also reworked the eye sockets on the skull by sanding off the raised ring and sanding down the surrounding area. I then used a ball cutter in a motor-tool to create shallow depressions in the skull. Nothing fancy. Paint should accomplish the rest. A sharply curved knife blade will also work for scooping out the depressions, but it will take longer. Apart from the skull, I didn't feel any great need for additional embellishments (although I think a small dagger hanging off her right hip might be appropriate).
Priming next.
Questions and comments are welcomed.
Cheers,
Glen
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Good stuff Glen.
I would vote for the trusty knife tucked into the boot to deal with too ardent suitors.
mark 8)
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I'd thought of that Mark, but I thought it might be too small. You'd only see the hilt, grip, and maybe a small pommel. I was wanting something a bit more substantial to provide additional color and detail. It would be suspended from her belt at a slight angle, but still be entirely within the confines of her thigh. It would serve to break up the expanse of flesh tones on the thigh. There is method to my madness, but I'm trying not overthink it, so I'll just let it go. My intent on this project was to stay with out-of-box nature of the piece and not get wrapped up in various modifications. Must resist...
Glen
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Part 3
Being a metal figure, priming is virtually mandatory. The same is true for resin figures. Before priming, I took a couple of minutes to wash the figure in dish soap and warm water. It was rinsed with clean water and allowed to air dry. You never know if a manufacturer has used a mold release agent which can interfere with primer/paint adhesion. Additionally, you are getting skin oils on the piece as you handle it during cleanup.I used Floquil Model Railroad Gray Primer which was brushed on using an old brush. [size=78%][/size]
True primers will etch themselves into the metal and provide a strong chip and wear resistant base for the paint. Most of the hobby paint makers have a brushed and/or spray primer in their product line and, for the most part, these are perfectly acceptable. Automotive primers in a spray can are also widely used, but you want to use the fine primers, not the high-build types which are thicker and used to fill pinholes. These can obscure fine detail on figures. Gray is the most common primer color - mainly, I think, because it provides a neutral base for the colors. Black and white primers are also used. White seems to be especially useful under Caucasian female flesh tones.
Painting next.
Questions and comments are welcomed.
Cheers,
Glen
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Thanks for taking the time to give a detailed sbs Glen I enjoy reading and following along with this kind of thread.
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Aw, shucks... T'warn't nuthin'.
Glad you like it!
Glen
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Aw, shucks... T'warn't nuthin'.
Glad you like it!
Glen
Yeah, okay.... where's part 4? ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Workin' it. Good weather today (mid 60s F); went to automotive swap meet. Better weather Sunday. Taking MGs out for a workout. 8)
Glen
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Part 4 – Painting the Eyes.
Before I begin, a short note about brushes. I use a combination of Reaper, Vallejo, and W&N Series 7 Sable brushes in sizes #1, #0, and #00 for over 90% of my painting. All of these are long lasting, have good points and have sufficient bulk in the bristles to hold paint. I also have ‘special effects’ brushes; brushes that are used for dotting pupils and catch-lights, broad coverage, groundwork, dry-brushing, etc. The brushes are rinsed in water continuously during use to prevent buildup in the bristles and ferrule. They are washed with a brush soap/conditioner after a painting session. I use old brushes for mixing the paint/water on the palette. Less wear and tear on the good brushes that way.
When painting eyes, lips, and other fine details, I use a pair of 3.25X reading glasses to magnify things. It’s just so much easier. Getting’ older, y’know…
The eyes start with the whites, in this case an eyeball (ha!) mix of Reaper MSP Acrylics’ http://www.reapermini.com/Paints/corecolors (http://www.reapermini.com/Paints/corecolors) Fair Skin Highlight and Pure White. The idea is to get a warm, off-white color. This is followed by a Misty Gray strip across the upper quarter of the eye. The gray represents the shadow cast on the cornea by the upper eyelid. It’s okay to go outside of the lines, since any stray paint will be cleaned up as we go.
The iris consists of a dot of Leaf Green followed by a small dot of Jade Green in the lower half of the iris, but still leaving the darker edge of the Leaf Green around the outer iris. Look for eyes on an image search engine and you’ll see what I mean. Again, going outside the lines is okay.
The lashes are next. I used a 1:2 mix of Blackened Brown and Intense Brown for the lashes. The piece is going to have red hair, and this mix provides a medium brown with red overtones for the lashes. I started in the inner corner of the lower eyelid and painted a thin, semi-transparent line that became increasingly opaque as it reached the outer corner. The line on the upper lid also started in the inner corner, but was thin and opaque to start with and became gradually thicker as it neared the outer corner. Again, see the image search… The lines only have to perfect (or as near as you can make them in this scale) on the inside where they border the cornea and iris. The lashes will be continued after the face has been shaded and highlighted and any makeup applied. Yes, I add makeup; that’s the babe part of ‘Warrior Babe’.
Once done, the pupils and catch-lights are added. I use Walnut Brown for pupils. It’s a very dark brown and less stark than basic black. The catch-light was placed on the upper right side of the iris (as viewed), since that is where my light source is coming from.
The lips were given a base coat of Pure White and Rust Brown in 2:1 ratio. This gives the lips a pink-brown tone which the interweb tells me is a good lip color (among others) for redheads. Research, research, research…
The pics show the overall piece at slightly less than twice normal size and an enlargement of if the head so you can see the warts. It looks like crap now :o , but it all comes together later.
Comments and questions are welcomed.
Glen
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Great work, Glen. Love watching your progress here.
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Thanks, PJ. Gettng my interwebbing done this morning; hopefully a painting session this afternoon and an update tonight.
Glen
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Part 6 - Fleshtones
I've started painting the fleshtones. I started with a base 1:1 mix of Reaper's Tanned Skin and Rosy Skin; the same as the basic face. I allowed it to cure for a few hours (at least) because I didn't want subsequent layers possibly peeling up the first layer. The next step was to apply the first and second shadows.
The first shadow is a 1:1 mix of Reaper's Tanned Shadow and Rosy Shadow applied around the back and lower half of the legs, torso, and arms. This was blended into the base skin tone with a glaze of Tanned Skin and Rosy Skin drawn from the shadow to the base color thereby softening the transition from base color to shadow. Next, the second shadow was added using the first shadow plus a bit of Burgundy Wine - a deep dark violet. I add just enough to darken the first shadow and slightly gray it, but not so much that turns the color a light gray violet. Once dry, a glaze of the first shadow is drawn from the second shadow to the first shadow. This softens the division between the two shadows. There's more blending later, but it'll wait until after the highlights are added.
Truth be told, this is the point where things look the worst to me. It's all components, but not yet at the point where everything is coming together as a unit. In a word - crap... It happens with every figure I paint. I've reached a point now where I just sort of power through it.
First and second highlights next!
Questions and comments welcomed.
Cheers,
Glen
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Part 7 - More Fleshtones: The Highlights.
Here's the first and second highlights using a 1:1 mix Reaper's Rosy Highlight and Tanned Highlight for the first light and the same mix with some Pure White added for the second light. The first light was laid down followed by a glaze of the base flesh (Rosy Skin and Tanned Skin in a 1:1 ratio) to blend the light back into the base. Pretty much a repeat of using a base glaze to blend the shadow back into the base fleshtone. The first pic shows a 'before' and 'after' view. The second pic shows the application of the second light and the subsequent blending by using a glaze of the first light and stroking from the second light back to the first. If this isn't clear, let me know - I can illustrate it.
I've also added the first strokes that define the muscles of the lower thigh and the muscles/tendons that define the side of the knee. The idea is to give some definition, but not make her thighs look like they could crush your head like a walnut (yes, I have an anatomy book). The arms are a bit problematic; the forearm guard and the upper armlet are obscuring the areas of the arm that might show any definition in this pose. I'll look at it some more and see what I can come up with.
These operations took about an hour, including the scanning and sizing in between the painting.
Final shading and highlighting come later.
Questions and comments are welcomed.
Cheers,
Glen
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Looks fine to me
Grtx Jan
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Interesting to watch you paint flesh in acrylics, Glen. Never got the hang of that (either!). My flesh comes out all stripey when I use acrylics.
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Thanks GW.
PJ, the trick is to not blend along the line (if that's what you're doing), but across it. When blending (perhaps a misnomer because we're not really blending so much as simply covering the dry color division with a thin glaze - about 20% paint to 80% water -of pain), I make a glaze of the darker color, start the stroke in the lighter color, and draw the brush back to the darker color. I will put a couple(ish) of strokes on, then shorten the strokes as I go back to the darker color (think uneven stepped pyramid). Since the darker glaze is the same color as the initial color (just more transparent), it doesn't effect the darker color. It does, however, start to subtley darken the lighter color at the border and reduce the contrast between the two colors.
Here's a pic showing the the darker base color and lighter highlight color with a pair of long and short glazing strokes over the top.
Cheers,
Glen
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Part 8 – Fur
I haven’t painted fur on a flat before, so this was a bit of a test. I didn’t want anything that represented any specific animal, so I opted for generic brownish -gray color. I started with Reaper’s Blackened Brown as a base coat, then went to a Walnut Brown wash. The wash was heavier around the back edges and the rear loincloth where it wrapped around her rear end. Like-wise, it was heavier under the rolled upper edge of the boot trim, the lower edge, and the back third or so of the boot.
The wash was followed by a 1:1 mix of Blackened Brown and Intense Brown applied in short strokes to represent the tufts of fur. It was applied a bit heavier at the front of her loin cloth the forward portion of the rear loincloth, the front half and upper edge of the boot trim. This was followed by straight Intense Brown, a 1:1 mix of Intense Brown and Stone Grey, then Intense Brown and Weathered Stone (also 1:1). The idea was to progressively lighten the fur as it came to the front and was hit by more light. In all cases I used a finely pointed brush and started at the tip of fur tufts and stroked back to the root.
The final light will be Weathered Stone applied towards the very end of the painting. I like to look at the entire painted piece before adding the last lights and shades.
And yes, I realize I forgot to paint the narrow band of fur above her belt… ::)
Cheers,
Glen
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And yes, I realize I forgot to paint the narrow band of fur above her belt…
I'ts no great problem, you have to do enough other things. just don't forget it at the end. :D
Great flesh tone, i like it.
Grtx Jan
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Thanks, GW. I won't forget it; I've already pulled the paints out!
Cheers,
Glen
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Part 9 – Boots
Since the fur boot tops were done, I went ahead and painted the wrappings around her lower calf. I went with Reaper’s Terran Khaki Triad darkened with Pure Black for the deeper shadows and Linen White for the higher lights. The base was applied first, then a thin glaze of the shadow was added in progressively shorter strokes. This made the glaze more opaque as it went back to the rear over other the other layers. The same technique was used for the highlights.
The shoes were painted with the Earth Brown Triad; again with a bit of Black and Linen White for the dark shadows and higher lights. Pretty much standard, really.
Cheers,
Glen
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Part 10
Since I was down around her feet, I decided to just go ahead and finish off the skull. The skull is very basic; just the upper section containing the (uneven) eye sockets and an inverted V for the nose opening. The skull ends just under the nose, so there’s no upper jaw or lower mandible. The actual planes of the skull were not reproduced either, these all change around the eye sockets, the nose, the temples, etc. I looked at some skull pics on the web to get a basic of idea of where to put some shadows and highlights. I wasn’t aiming for precision; just enough to get a better impression of the skull itself. I used Reaper’s Bone triad with some added Linen White for the higher lights and Walnut Brown for the deeper shadows. Walnut Brown was also used for the interior eye sockets.
The sword and scabbard were next. Reaper Old Bronze, Clockwork Brass (a one-off color given out at ReaperCon last year), and Tarnished Brass were used for the metal trim. Reaper does have two yellow metal and two white metal triads in the line which are just as effective. I went away from the usual brown leather scabbard and went with the Olive Green triad with added Black or Linen White for the shadows and highlights. The sword hardware used the same colors as above, while the grip is the Oiled Leather triad (which leans mainly towards the darker side). I added a Black glaze to the grip to give it soiled-from-sweaty-hands appearance. I will eventually have a vertical shadow cast from the axe handle applied to the grip.
The belt is a combination of the above yellow metals and the Harvest Brown triad – the latter again leaning towards the darker side. Much of the belt is in shadow, either cast by the arms or losing light due to it wrapping around her lower back. This effected the metal and leather parts. The convex disks were painted Old Bronze first, then a small patch of Clockwork Brass added to where my light source (or at least some it) might hit them. A smaller patch of Tarnished Brass was added next. I kept it simple. The studs in shadow were dotted with the Old Bronze, while the studs in the light were dotted with Clockwork Brass. I used a short, pointed brush in a basic dip, dot, dip, dot sequence. Again, simple…
I have to admit, I think the top could have been a bit better than it is. It looks like a simple, unembellished peasant blouse or crop top bandeau shirt – nary a wrinkle or decoration. I successfully resisted the temptation to make her topless. Seriously, topless warrior babes …what’s not to like? I went with the Leaf Green triad with some basic shading and highlighting.
Cheers,
Glen
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Part 11
A bit of a shotgun approach here – I’ve finished off the helmet, axe grip and blade, arm guard and armlet, and her hair.
The helmet and axe use the same white metallic base (Vallejo Gun Metal), but the axe blade had a dark brown added to the mix. Reaper’s Adamantium Black was used to darken both, while Vallejo Natural Steel and Silver were used to lighten them. The idea was to use non-metallic metal techniques using metallic paints. It’s a bit of an experiment…. In addition to the above, the helmet also had Reaper Bronze added for the trim. The horns are the Reaper Bone triad with some added Blackened Brown for the deeper shadows.
The axe grip appears to be a wrapping of some sort; and not a very tight one at that. I used a 1:1 mix of Stone Gray and Driftwood Brown for the base color, adding a bit of Shadowed Stone and Pure White to darken and lighten the colors where needed.
The lower guard is the Russet Brown triad, while the upper armlet is the Dark Skin triad with Old Bronze and Tarnished Brass details (basically emulating her belt). On a side note, I try to use a variety of different brown to depict fur and leather; one for shoes, another for a sword belt, etc. If there’s not enough browns to go around (it happens), I’ll lighten or darken the base color or alter it with another color. The idea is avoid uniformity. The way I see it, many medieval and fantasy pieces might have different parts of their clothing and equipment made by different people using different leathers and dyes. Consequently, many of the pieces will have slight differences in the coloration. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…
The hair is Reaper’s Chestnut Brown triad with added Orange Brown, Burnt Orange, and Linen White for the upper lights.
Make-up is next.
Questions and comments are welcome.
Cheers,
Glen
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looks great to me,i like the choice of the colors
Grtx Jan
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Thanks Jan. The color wheel is my friend. I always use it to set up color matches on fantasy figures and pin-up style figures.
Cheers,
Glen
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Part 12
Well, here it is - the final(ish) version along with a warts-and-all enlargement of the face. I've added the make-up - a glaze of Chestnut Brown for the cheeks and a 1:1 glaze of Chestnut Brown and Rust Brown for the upper eyelids. In both cases, the glaze is allowing the underlying skin tones to remain visible. The lips are Rust Brown and Pure White; more Rust on the upper lip and more White on the lower lip, followed by even more white in the lower center. The eyelashes are dark brown colored pencil. You can see in the enlargement that the lashes are more of a set of uneven and variable pressure strokes than a set of precise lines.
So, this is the point where I set it aside for a few days and clear my head. Then I go back to it and do all of the final shading and highlighting along with looking for things that need fixing - sloppy paint lines, visible primer, misapplied shadows and highlights, etc. I already know I'm going to add a highlight to the top of each kneecap, the elbow bump, knuckles (there is no definition to the hand, so I'll have to paint in the folds of the fingers), nose tip, and perhaps some lighter patches on her upper thigh, forearm, and chin. A dark line will also further define the area between her arm and torso.
All that said, take a hard look at it. Tell me what I missed, what I did wrong, or what I could do better. This is my learning curve everyone. Don't disappoint me! ;)
Cheers,
Glen
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Crickets. Nuthin' but crickets... Ok, I've either bored you to tears or it's better than I thought. :-\
Moving on now. Final version later.
Glen
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Tumble weed just rolled past ;)
It is very good Glen, once the "clean up" is done can this SBS be edited and made a sticky so as not to loss it as this has been a great help to new and experienced painters, over to you Glen and Mark ;)
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If Glen will allow it very simple to pull together a single post. A link to the Knowledge Base in the Painting section also would make sense.
Seems to be a quiet spell on the site - this weekend I noticed there was very little traffic and no chatter. Given our small number of contributors we seem to hit these periodically.
Regardless, nicely done figure Glen and thanks for the clear and detailed SBS.
Mark 8)
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Nicely done, Glen. I agree this would be a great addition to the knowledge base.
On the east coast of the US, we are busy shoveling snow - so no time to post here. Convertible weather seems like it will never come. Cabin fever blues!! :(
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Brian/Mark, whatever you want to do is fine with me. Is that pamphlet idea for show distribution still on the burner?
PJ, here it is convertible weather! Solid high 60s and 70s with little or no precip for the next week. Not wasting the opportunity; haven't touched brushes in a week. Will get back to the Dark Mistress soon.
Oh, and a big hot rod and custom car show tomorrow... :)
Glen
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OK, this is the end of the road... I've done a few touch-ups and massaged the shading and highlighting a bit; shading behind and under the arm, the back of the leg, and a cast shadow on the sword grip and highlights on the horns, the top of the arm, hand and knuckles, the axe grip, thighs, upper kneecaps, shins, and the wrapping around her ankles. Also added a highlight to the upper section of the axe blade. Also fixed a few worn areas where my fat, hammy fingers were getting in the way and rubbing off the paint (thankfully only a couple of spots, but it happens...).
I'm going to take a break now, but Qs and Cs are still welcome.
Cheers,
Glen