Figure painting query

[lankytank]

OK, Chaps & Chapettes

Another question .....

I may be in the wrong place to ask this, but..... in the dim & the distant past I recall some one, on a forum, painting 'mini people' & using a black primer/undercoat, then sort of dry brushing colour over this base coat. It was very effective in introducing 'shadows' into the folds of clothing.

Now, I've tried all sorts of searches on here, to no avail (which makes me think I'm in the wrong place), can anyone throw a crumb of seasonal comfort & help out on old duffer.

Cheers, people, my complements of the season to you all

Baz

 

[DavidB]

Different coloured base coats, black, white or grey, do affect the paint you use to overlay them. My experience with figures such as those from Modelu is that you do not need to paint in any shadows as the figures themselves create sufficient. Painting 'extra' shadow rather overdoes and spoils the effect. I think along the lines of 'less is more'.

The best course to pursue is to experiment with different base coats, that is, if you use one at all.

 

[Paul_H]

You might like to have a look at this thread on the Garden Railway Forum about figure painting;

Figure Painting - a cheater’s guide - Garden Railway Forum

I've recently tried some of these clever paints that wash into shadows. It can work, but it can also end up looking like glazed china which I'm not convinced by.
As DavidB says too much can look wrong and there are some real shadows anyway on models.

 

[lankytank]

You might like to have a look at this thread on the Garden Railway Forum about figure painting;
Figure Painting - a cheater’s guide - Garden Railway Forum

Wow....! Yep, that's the sort of thing I remember. Lots going on there, will take some careful rereading. Yes, I also recall that 'less is more' & there's a thin line that it's easy to overstep. Thanks

 

[Marc Dobson]

I've just started painting figures for my narrow gauge layout. So having never painted figures I went on to YouTube and watched a whole lot of military modelling videos. They tend to us a black primer as the base coat. Then some give their figures a dusting of a white or very light grey from the top at a slight angle as this makes the shadows stand out more. Then, they start painting from the inside out. Ie visible skin first, shirts, etc finishing off with equipment or anything else they might be holding.
I couldn't get hold of any black primer so I used red oxide and then followed the same process.

There is a hint of the primer coming through making him look slightly weathered.
Marc