MODELU FIGURE PAINTING GUIDE
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Time to read 4 min
DAN EVASON, of Tunnel Lane Model Railways, shares his figure painting guide, describing his techniques and tips for painting Modelu figurines.
Figure painting has always been a bit of a mystery to some, almost a dark art! It really is easy to get yourself in twist with the amount of painting products on offer, and techniques on how to go about attempting it.
Table of contents
GETTING STARTED WITH FIGURE PAINTING
Brushes
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to figure painting, I think the biggest tips I can offer is keep it neat, and use the right paint brush for the job.
My brushes are not expensive nor are they super fine. What you are looking for in a brush is a nice fine point with a medium sized body, something that can hold a bit of moisture in the bristles so your not having to keep dipping.
Paints
When it comes to what paint to us for figure painting, I use acrylics. My personal choice of paints is either Vallejo or Mig Ammo. In this feature I’ve used both, as these are both true water based acrylic paints.
There is a great debate on if you should use primer, and if you do, what is the best colour black, white or grey to use. I don’t use any primer as I find the figures paint perfect straight out of the packet.
Figure Painting Environment
Have yourself a nice bright light to work under, it so important that you can see clearly what your doing.
LED Daylight lamps are a great solution and are available in a variety of sizes, some including magnifiers.
Don’t be tempted to rush the job, relax, make yourself comfortable, give yourself space to work in and enjoy bringing this little person to life!
Products Used
| Product | Manufacturer | Cat.Number |
| Flat White | Vallejo | 70.951 |
| Flat Black | Vallejo | 70.950 |
| Basic Skin Tone | Vallejo | 70.815 |
| Burnt Red | Vallejo | 70.814 |
| Bronze Green | Vallejo | 70.897 |
| Pastel Blue | Vallejo | 70.901 |
| Burnt Sand | Vallejo | F-551 |
| Buff Titanium | Daler Rowney | 024 |
FIGURE PAINTING STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
Step 1 - Support Structures
My preferred way of painting Modelu figures is by leaving their feet attached to the base.
Using a fine pair of tweezers, or flat-sided cutters, I carefully break away any supporting scaffold supports making sure that once they are removed that the surfaces are nice smooth and ready.
Step 2 - Painting the Face
So where to start? I always start with the figures face as I feel this the most important place to get right.
I start off with a nice damp brush and using Vallejo Basic Skin Tone as the foundation this is applied. Don’t forget to paint any other visible flesh areas e.g. legs, hands, arms at same time.
Step 3 - Flesh Wash 1
Once the paint has dried (I use a small hair drier to speed up drying times), it’s now time to apply the second wash of flesh colour.
This time you want to go a little darker - here I have used Mig Ammo Burnt Sand. Make sure there is a lot more emphasis of it being awash and not a solid colour
Step 4 - Flesh Wash 2
The third stage is to follow up with another wash of paint, this time you will need to use Vallejo Burnt Red.
This needs to be almost biggest part water, and let this flow in and around the facial features, hands, etc. Some people use a black wash at this point, but in my opinion, it makes the figure look like they have dirty faces and looks unrealistic.
Step 5 - Painting Trousers
Next, I would start on painting either the lower half, or shirts. But of course, you may find you have to do things a little different depending on the figures clothing.
For this chap, I’ve chosen Vallejo Bronze Green for his trousers. This is applied in two to three washes steadily building up the depth and colour.
Step 6 - Painting the Shirt
Next its time to turn our attention to this figures shirt, which in this case is Vallejo Flat White. Again this is applied in thin wash layers, not neat white paint as you would run the risk of loosing the shirt detail.
Be careful when painting around the neck line that you keep the brush under control and don’t end up going half way up his neck with white paint.
Step 7 - Painting the Jacket
With his shirt now painted white, it's now time to turnour attention to his jacket.
I have decided to paint in Vallejo Burnt Red, again this is applied in thin layers, building up a natural light and dark areas with each coat.
Step 8 - Picking out Details
Now we are starting to get down the finer details with Vallejo Black and damp brush I picked out his shoes, camera and camera bag.
At this point I also picked out his hair with the black again, just being super careful with the edge of the hairline. Going that one step further with the detail I used a pencil and very carefully picked out the lens of the camera.
Step 9 - Adding Stripes!
The final steps of detailing with this little chap was to give him a striped jumper.
Using a fine paint brush anda steady hand I applied Vallejo Pastel blue.
Step 10 - Light Dry Brushing
Once dry, the last thing I like to do is using Dawler Rowley Titanium Buff, and lightly dry brush all over the figure, face, tops of shoulders, hands, knuckles, boots etc.
This for me is the stage that bring the little person to life.
FIGURE PAINTING VIDEO GUIDE
Dan's painting skills featured on Charlie Bishop's Chadwick Model Railway. In Part 1, Dan explained in detail the steps he takes to paint figures, demonstrating the steps in this guide.
In Part 2, Charlie himself has a go. Both videos are well worth a watch and are full of techniques, advice and tips from the best figure painter in the hobby!
FIGURE PAINTING SERVICES
Tunnel Lane Model Railways are the official Modelu figure painters, and offer a bespoke figure and animal painting services in any gauge or scale.
Prices start from £6.50, please contact Dan Evanson at tunnellanemodelrailways@hotmail.com for quotes and lead times .
