And the following from sand and a jar of nickles
Troy
Infantry Tutorial
Moderators: dnichols, GHQ, Mk 1
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Ritter
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Yes, I do use it as a temp base for the models - normally I use Bondo to base infantry figures in - but sculpy, like Fimo can also be used to model sandbags and dugouts and is very durable once baked. Check package for instructions. All the following are made from Fimo:
And the following from sand and a jar of nickles
Troy
And the following from sand and a jar of nickles
Troy
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Peter_Fitz
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Ritter
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Mk 1
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And now, as a public service, I offer this:
(The missing pic from Ritter's posting two spaces up.)
There, I can now truthfully say I have helped Troy in the latest works he has shown on the forum!
See, I too can be counted among the masters. Or at least, the masters' apprentices. Or help-mates. Maybe editor? Or some such.
(The missing pic from Ritter's posting two spaces up.)
There, I can now truthfully say I have helped Troy in the latest works he has shown on the forum!
See, I too can be counted among the masters. Or at least, the masters' apprentices. Or help-mates. Maybe editor? Or some such.-Mark 1
Difficile est, saturam non scribere.
"It is hard NOT to write satire." - Decimus Iunius Juvenalis, 1st Century AD
Difficile est, saturam non scribere.
"It is hard NOT to write satire." - Decimus Iunius Juvenalis, 1st Century AD
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Ritter
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Thanks Mark-uno!
Finally some time to post!
The attachments are fairly straightforward; I will be using the Schwere MG-34 and observers in G-145 Individual Heavy Weapons pack as well as the ammo carriers from the G525.
The Panzerfaust teams will come from G511, but the mortars are a bit tougher. The best mortar around is the 3" one from the UK N. Africa individual weapons in any of the following kits: UK-71, UK-74 or UK-76. Remove the 'Tommy' and add various German crew figures, I use the loader from the Panzerbüchse, the Panzerschreck and the standing rifleman from G525.
Priming
I always prime in white using the paint pictured above. Its available at Canadian Tire but any white enamel spray paint that is not an imperfection-covering or filling type is fine. Normally, I do not use an actual 'Primer' as most of these are too thick of pigment and are designed to be sanded. I find darker colors are just too dark and make your minis look bland.
I normally begin by choosing a specific pose and paint all of them at the same time. This helps when trying to complete a large project. For this section, I will concentrate on the prone LMG. I trim any extra base material and remove any casting lines and injection ports left from the casting process with nail-clippers and an x-acto.
I then mount the minis on the standard 2 or 3 inch roofing nail with crazy-glue. These are help in a cardboard bow for painting. Find a spot with no wind outside. I use a VERY light, misting coat, being very careful not to put it on too thick. Better two coats than one. Let this air dry outside for about 20 minutes outside.
I then move the minis to a wooden cutting board or a spare piece of plywood. I put them into the oven for 20 minutes 150-170 Fahrenheit for 20 minutes so that I can move onto the next step without having to wait for the primer to cure.
Troy
Finally some time to post!
The attachments are fairly straightforward; I will be using the Schwere MG-34 and observers in G-145 Individual Heavy Weapons pack as well as the ammo carriers from the G525.
The Panzerfaust teams will come from G511, but the mortars are a bit tougher. The best mortar around is the 3" one from the UK N. Africa individual weapons in any of the following kits: UK-71, UK-74 or UK-76. Remove the 'Tommy' and add various German crew figures, I use the loader from the Panzerbüchse, the Panzerschreck and the standing rifleman from G525.
Priming
I always prime in white using the paint pictured above. Its available at Canadian Tire but any white enamel spray paint that is not an imperfection-covering or filling type is fine. Normally, I do not use an actual 'Primer' as most of these are too thick of pigment and are designed to be sanded. I find darker colors are just too dark and make your minis look bland.
I normally begin by choosing a specific pose and paint all of them at the same time. This helps when trying to complete a large project. For this section, I will concentrate on the prone LMG. I trim any extra base material and remove any casting lines and injection ports left from the casting process with nail-clippers and an x-acto.
I then mount the minis on the standard 2 or 3 inch roofing nail with crazy-glue. These are help in a cardboard bow for painting. Find a spot with no wind outside. I use a VERY light, misting coat, being very careful not to put it on too thick. Better two coats than one. Let this air dry outside for about 20 minutes outside.
I then move the minis to a wooden cutting board or a spare piece of plywood. I put them into the oven for 20 minutes 150-170 Fahrenheit for 20 minutes so that I can move onto the next step without having to wait for the primer to cure.
Troy
Last edited by Ritter on Mon Mar 24, 2008 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ritter
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Basecoating
Moving on with the painting - finally - I now mix up my chosen color Humbrol 111 with Humbrol 90 added for scale. I wet the paint out with ample thinner (varsol or Turpintine) to get a slightly watery mixture. It should be thin enough to flow but not too thin to cover. I use a number 2 brush to apply the paint, drawing off any large accumulations.
I cover the entire mini with a thin coating, even the flesh parts. The idea is to have a very thin base coat when dry. The reason I stay with Humbrol enamels is that they have very fine pigment size, good coverage when thinned, are dead-flat and are PERMANENT when dry. Other enamels (read Testors) won't stand up to the wash procedure and do not thin as well due to the larger pigment size.
Once done all the minis, they should look something like this:
Into the oven or wait 2 days to cure!
Troy
Moving on with the painting - finally - I now mix up my chosen color Humbrol 111 with Humbrol 90 added for scale. I wet the paint out with ample thinner (varsol or Turpintine) to get a slightly watery mixture. It should be thin enough to flow but not too thin to cover. I use a number 2 brush to apply the paint, drawing off any large accumulations.
I cover the entire mini with a thin coating, even the flesh parts. The idea is to have a very thin base coat when dry. The reason I stay with Humbrol enamels is that they have very fine pigment size, good coverage when thinned, are dead-flat and are PERMANENT when dry. Other enamels (read Testors) won't stand up to the wash procedure and do not thin as well due to the larger pigment size.
Once done all the minis, they should look something like this:
Into the oven or wait 2 days to cure!
Troy
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Ritter
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WASH
The next step is to shade and shadow the minis. I work with a group of no more than 6 figures at a time as this step tends to work best when the wash does not have too much time to dry.
One point I would like to mention, is that if your figures are on the sprue and you don't want to modify them in any way, you can paint them on the sprue without any issues instead of mounting on nails. In fact, if you are painting an army of them, its far more efficient.
Begin by mixing up a wash of black paint and thinner. It should be watery but not too diluted to show the separated pigment. One of the best paints I have found is the cheap small glass bottle Testors type as they don't have much of a 'bite' and wear easily (something you want with this step!). Also, they are reasonably flat.
I use a small cheap round brush, covering the entire mini. Draw off any excess and set aside to dry a bit. Move on to the next figure and keep them in order, this allows them to dry the same amount of time.
Once you have completed 6 or so figures give the minis about 2 minutes or so to dry.
Get out some clean thinner, a rag, and a 1/2" square-cut soft brush. DIp the brush in the thinner and wipe of most of it on the rag. Have a look at your first figure. If it has lost most of the wet look (the thinner has evaporated) it is ready for the next step.
Begin by sweeping the brush across the figure in a flicking-type random motion. Done right, it should take most of the wash off the raised areas and leave it in the shadows. It also blends and feathers the wash at its edges. If your brush is too wet, or the wash isn't dry enough, this will take off all the wash. Do not overwork the figure as it will eventually remove the underlying basecoat! Practice makes perfect!
Clean and dry the brush every 2 figures. Complete the group and set aside to dry. Finish the rest of your figures in groups of 6 or so.
Next, final Shadows.
Troy
The next step is to shade and shadow the minis. I work with a group of no more than 6 figures at a time as this step tends to work best when the wash does not have too much time to dry.
One point I would like to mention, is that if your figures are on the sprue and you don't want to modify them in any way, you can paint them on the sprue without any issues instead of mounting on nails. In fact, if you are painting an army of them, its far more efficient.
Begin by mixing up a wash of black paint and thinner. It should be watery but not too diluted to show the separated pigment. One of the best paints I have found is the cheap small glass bottle Testors type as they don't have much of a 'bite' and wear easily (something you want with this step!). Also, they are reasonably flat.
I use a small cheap round brush, covering the entire mini. Draw off any excess and set aside to dry a bit. Move on to the next figure and keep them in order, this allows them to dry the same amount of time.
Once you have completed 6 or so figures give the minis about 2 minutes or so to dry.
Get out some clean thinner, a rag, and a 1/2" square-cut soft brush. DIp the brush in the thinner and wipe of most of it on the rag. Have a look at your first figure. If it has lost most of the wet look (the thinner has evaporated) it is ready for the next step.
Begin by sweeping the brush across the figure in a flicking-type random motion. Done right, it should take most of the wash off the raised areas and leave it in the shadows. It also blends and feathers the wash at its edges. If your brush is too wet, or the wash isn't dry enough, this will take off all the wash. Do not overwork the figure as it will eventually remove the underlying basecoat! Practice makes perfect!
Clean and dry the brush every 2 figures. Complete the group and set aside to dry. Finish the rest of your figures in groups of 6 or so.
Next, final Shadows.
Troy
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pmskaar
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Infantry Tutoral
Hi Troy
A really great tutoral that illustrates how you do your fantastic work. Like you, I also use Humbrols for my minis as well. I find that they have excellent adherance and coverage so that when I do my turpentine blackwash the paint doesn't come off - most of the time at least.
One question I have: Do you do the detail work such as flesh tones, boots, equipment etc. prior to the blackwash? From the pictures it is difficult to see this clearly and I may have overlooked the fact that you did the detail work. Thanks for sharing your fine technigues with us.
Pete - Binpicker, Out!
A really great tutoral that illustrates how you do your fantastic work. Like you, I also use Humbrols for my minis as well. I find that they have excellent adherance and coverage so that when I do my turpentine blackwash the paint doesn't come off - most of the time at least.
One question I have: Do you do the detail work such as flesh tones, boots, equipment etc. prior to the blackwash? From the pictures it is difficult to see this clearly and I may have overlooked the fact that you did the detail work. Thanks for sharing your fine technigues with us.
Pete - Binpicker, Out!
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Ritter
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Ritter
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- Location: BC, Canada
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Final Shadows
After completing all of the figures with your wash, there may be some ares that you wish to darken. When doing the wash right, it will leave more of a haze than a dark, shadowed area. These areas may have lost some of the shading when you used the blending with the 1/2 inch brush or may be areas that just need to be darker.
For the LMG, this would include the separation between the tunic and pants, the underside of the MG34, the shadow on the straps etc. I also shade the base of prone figures.
Begin by taking your flat black and mixing in enough thinner to get a watery mix. I use a 3/0 brush for this work. Add shadow with the brush to the areas that need it and blend any areas that are too wide or mistakenly painted with a bit of clean thinner and a 1/0 brush.
Take care not to overdo the amout of paint. In the picture, you can see that I have done the boots and gun with the same mixture. I do this because I do not want the layers to obscure the detail. ALL of my painting uses the same thinned down paint.
You can also see the extreme minute detailed highlights that appear without any drybrushing with this technique (circled in red on the picture below).
Next, Flesh.
Troy
After completing all of the figures with your wash, there may be some ares that you wish to darken. When doing the wash right, it will leave more of a haze than a dark, shadowed area. These areas may have lost some of the shading when you used the blending with the 1/2 inch brush or may be areas that just need to be darker.
For the LMG, this would include the separation between the tunic and pants, the underside of the MG34, the shadow on the straps etc. I also shade the base of prone figures.
Begin by taking your flat black and mixing in enough thinner to get a watery mix. I use a 3/0 brush for this work. Add shadow with the brush to the areas that need it and blend any areas that are too wide or mistakenly painted with a bit of clean thinner and a 1/0 brush.
Take care not to overdo the amout of paint. In the picture, you can see that I have done the boots and gun with the same mixture. I do this because I do not want the layers to obscure the detail. ALL of my painting uses the same thinned down paint.
You can also see the extreme minute detailed highlights that appear without any drybrushing with this technique (circled in red on the picture below).
Next, Flesh.
Troy
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Ritter
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Boots, Belts, Straps
If you have the patience and magnification, you can paint the straps and belts. This step isn't always necessary for gaming figures but really does set them off. Some of the web gear detail is missing on the earlier German Infantry casts and the German LMG is one of these as is the German Grenadier. These can be painted in by using reference photos to locate them on the figures. Again I use the 3/0 brush and thinned black. I also pick out the boots, belts, and metal weapons, priming them black for the later drybrush.
Flesh
I now mix up a lightened flesh color (add white to any flesh color). I pick out the hands and fingers if possible. Sometimes there is a hint of a finger around a handle or trigger.
Keep the paint somewhat thicker here as you don't want to get it all over your earlier work. Just load up your brush and lightly touch off where you want it to go.
Faces deserve special attention. I load up a size 1 brush and wipe most of the paint off on a rag. Earlier, I covered the entire figure in the base coat. Now this helps to shade the face when you drybrush (the green/grey is not a recomended face shadow color but it works!)
I drybrush the face, toward the helmet, keeping the shading adound the eyes, nose, and edge of the helmet. Any flesh colored paint can be touched-up with Feldgrau later.
Next, gas mask, strap water bottle and Helmet.
Troy
If you have the patience and magnification, you can paint the straps and belts. This step isn't always necessary for gaming figures but really does set them off. Some of the web gear detail is missing on the earlier German Infantry casts and the German LMG is one of these as is the German Grenadier. These can be painted in by using reference photos to locate them on the figures. Again I use the 3/0 brush and thinned black. I also pick out the boots, belts, and metal weapons, priming them black for the later drybrush.
Flesh
I now mix up a lightened flesh color (add white to any flesh color). I pick out the hands and fingers if possible. Sometimes there is a hint of a finger around a handle or trigger.
Keep the paint somewhat thicker here as you don't want to get it all over your earlier work. Just load up your brush and lightly touch off where you want it to go.
Faces deserve special attention. I load up a size 1 brush and wipe most of the paint off on a rag. Earlier, I covered the entire figure in the base coat. Now this helps to shade the face when you drybrush (the green/grey is not a recomended face shadow color but it works!)
I drybrush the face, toward the helmet, keeping the shading adound the eyes, nose, and edge of the helmet. Any flesh colored paint can be touched-up with Feldgrau later.
Next, gas mask, strap water bottle and Helmet.
Troy
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intobattle
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I appreciate all your work on this thread Troy! Infantry is something I don't paint very often because it never seems to turn out very good. I will definitely be using your tips and techniques here soon and I look forward to your next steps.
I do have a question for you... have you ever tried basing your infantry and then priming and painting? I've never tried it, but I know others have. If you have tried it, I'm curious to see how it worked for you.
Thanks again!
Tanner
I do have a question for you... have you ever tried basing your infantry and then priming and painting? I've never tried it, but I know others have. If you have tried it, I'm curious to see how it worked for you.
Thanks again!
Tanner
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Ritter
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I have tried basing before painting but I find the detail painting is more difficult.
DETAILS
Now is the time to finish up the smaller details.
For the Helmet, I use Humbrol 91 mixed with black as a basecoat. Once this is dry, I paint the top of the helmet untinted Humbrol 91. Gasmask and mess kit are also painted untinted Humbrol 91. The Gasmask can strap is Humbrol 83, the ammo cans and mines are Humbrol 79. Water bottle is untinted Testors rust. Rifle is either Humbrol 100 or Testors Rust with a bit of black .
Minis are then Dulcoted with Testors brand.
Troy
DETAILS
Now is the time to finish up the smaller details.
For the Helmet, I use Humbrol 91 mixed with black as a basecoat. Once this is dry, I paint the top of the helmet untinted Humbrol 91. Gasmask and mess kit are also painted untinted Humbrol 91. The Gasmask can strap is Humbrol 83, the ammo cans and mines are Humbrol 79. Water bottle is untinted Testors rust. Rifle is either Humbrol 100 or Testors Rust with a bit of black .
Minis are then Dulcoted with Testors brand.
Troy