Painting Figures

Painting Figures is a skill.

Now I know I haven't painted figure for some years now, oh wait some 34 years to be a matter of fact, but I want to share what I do know and you will be able to see my work as we go along. Much like any skill if you don"t use it you loss it.

First off I washed my figures with a mild detergent to remove any and all mold releasing agents, this is a must there is no getting around it if you want your paints to stick to the figure. Once done let dry.

Next I primed my figure with a Primer paint, what Primer you use is up to you, there is a lot of debate as to which one to use. I use the cheap off the shelf stuff at most any hardware place Rustoleum Primer. One could use the more expensive one from you local hobby shop for painting figures.

Now I mount my figure on something that will become a handle which make handling them easier as I paint and I don't have to directly handle the figures with my fingers, now you can use wine bottle corks or wood dowels, I use wood dowels mount the figures with blue poster putty.

I made a stand for the wood dowels out of a section of 1"x 4" then bored hole in it it sore of looks like a test tube holder. The wood dowels I cut down to 4 1/2 inches to hold comfortable in my hand as I paint.

Now I have always painted my figures as I would dress myself, starting with any and all skin areas, then hair, working with the 15mm range you don't really need to paint the eyes, a simple very thin black lines will do reasonable well (--) being is in daylight we squint our eyes and therefor you don't really see the color or the details of ones eyes at a long distance.

Paint the skin in a deep skin tone then use a lighter tone for the high areas of the face and hands then use a lighter tone for the high lights for the face and hands bridge of the nose, chin, cheek bones.

Same approach for the hair as well.

Next we pant the cloth areas starting with the inner clothes if the figure is wearing a tee shirt and jacket you start with the tee shirt then the jacket and so forth with the pants or skirts.

Shoes and boots are last.

Now for the details weapons or any other hand held objects.

Last is the finer details, those little things you want to pick out on your figure buckles, buttons, and any other details you wish to high light for this I like to use toothpicks soaking in water.


Working with toothpicks
I can sharpen them to a sharper point as I wish to have, using my hobby knife. Soaking the tooth pick in water as you work prevents the paint from soaking into the wood before you have a chance to put it to the figure, second the water in the toothpick helps keep the paint wet just long enough until you put it to the figure, you may have to apply the paint more then once, but the results are worth the effort.

Next step is to do a wash of the figure, this can be a paint wash or an ink wash.

The last step is to seal your work, this can be done with Future Floor Wax (Not really a wax) a clear varnish or other sealers from gaming stores,. A sealing oat helps save your great paint job, protects the paint from oily fingers or from chipping of as well. I'm using a water base polyurethane it's water thin and it dries as a very thin hard shell I have to do a few coats. Once they are dry to knock down the shine you will have use a can of dull coat from most any brand. Again I'm using cheap off the shelf stuff from the hardware store.

So here is a set of my figures so what do you think.

I started with zombies again I haven't done this in over some time so if I screwed them up, who cares there Zombies, now this set still needs to be sealed and matted but I think the came out pretty good.

in the photo above you can see my basing technique with the wood glue and the paint finish, you find your eye looking at the figures and not the ground effects drawing your eye away from the figures.

Now I know this is my first batch and with practice I will get better, like I said that's why I'm doing my zombies first.

I do need to get some more shades of paint, but hey I paint these guys with craft paint that I picked up some time ago and posted that find on here.

Basing Part #2

Mounting the figures is just a basic mounting in an earlier post, Super Glue and washers, as to why I like the looks, now to add more to the base to build it up as to cover the molded figure's base and to give it a more level looking platform.

Where to go from here?

I'm using Milliput this is some really great stuff, it's a two part epoxy putty that air drys and no heating it to harden needed.

Tools needed Hobby knife and spatula tool.

So mix up two equal parts together until it has a uniform color and now your ready to work.

I take a little of it and roll it in to a little rope/worm.

Then wrap it around the base and cut away the extra.

I then press it all in and around the base with my fingers, don't worry about finger prints we will make them go away.

Next using a flat edge tool I cut the extra away from the base.

Then with very little water I use my spatula tool to smooth everything out.

As you smooth the base out you may have to cut some extra putty so just use you hobby knife and have it handy as you go.

Now I'm a little out of practice but with time and practice they will become much smoother.

Now set it aside and let the putty harden.

Once dried you can sand the base a little smoother 

Now they are ready for a base coat of paint and painting.

I like the looks of a just plain old base without anything like ground cover or clumps of grass, Being that I don't like the looks of clumps of grass on the base when gaming in an urban areas or any build up area in general for most part and what little gaming I do in the open fields or woods is somewhat limited and still has a nice look to them.

This is not saying that if you like the look of ground cover and clumps of grass on your bases then I say go for it, the idea here is to help those who wish to make better looking bases for just that.

When finished the bases will be painted with a medium gray color, which works very well for me and I really like the looks and it allows your finished painted figure to stand out a little more.

The extra putty not used at this time is not going to go to waste, plan ahead you can make sandbags and other things with the extra putty.

I know this may seem very basic or that is something that every body already knows but, not everyone dose know and there is not many tutorials out there showing the next generation of gamers as to how.

Basing Figures

I have seen a lot of folks out there basing their figures on coins, pennies here in the U.S. and the equivalent to such in many other countries, I myself had thought of doing such until I had seen someone basing their figures on washers, seeing the size of the washer and the size of the penny side by side with a figure mounted on each I knew then I needed to use washers.

The washer being smaller then the penny had a better look to them the base was much smaller and look better proportional to the figure. basically it just looked right to me. I know pennies are cheaper and washers cost more for a box of 100 they cost about $4 dollars for 1/4 inch size that's the hole diameter.

A bonus is that you can line the bottom of your storage box with magnetic strips to keep your figures in place while move such boxes around with very little to no harm to your figures.

Be sure to wash your figures first to remove all the mold release agents before you do any work with your figures.

Size wise the washer looks like the right size.

I like to use wax paper when mounting the figures to the base, I lay the wax paper down layout my washers the add Super Glue Gel to the washer then place my figure in place. the wax paper works well to prevent the washer and glue from sticking to any surface that you really don't want it to be glued too.

figures are from different suppliers but all look good mounted on washers

Now I can build up the base for it to look right. I like a smoother look to my bases just seems right to have a nice looking smooth base other then rocks and plants on the base when you have your figures running around an spaceship or building and the have plants all around their feet. where as when they are on open ground is not as noticeable.