Post by swampdaddy on Sept 8, 2008 3:37:49 GMT 1
Hi all: I am getting ready to paint many 100s of HO scale people. To do each one individually would take too much time so I am going to use a production line method I've used before.
1) leave them on the sprues for handling ease and getting at both sides. I stick the sprues in foamed plastic packing stuff to let them dry rather than laying the sprues on the table. Any small spot where you clip them off can be retouched.
2) mostly use "flat" paints, or matte spray them later on. Nothing worse than everyone being shiny and looking toy like.
3) Avoid thick gooey paint, thin it out.
4) use more than one color for flesh tones.
Ok, basically line out a hundred people or so. Pick a color, say dark blue. Paint a pair of pants here, using the same color do a blouse or shirt a few people away on the sprue and so on.
go to the next color and do the same.
This way you get a lot of people done quickly; but, they don't all look the same. You'll get, with a little care, hundreds of unique but normal looking people.
I'll get some pictures this time around to show you what I mean.
A trick suggested by a girl friend years ago produces some rare colors and high lights. Mostly for the women's clothes to produce the effect of shimmery (made up word?) fabrics. After the base color was on, a wash of brushed on nail polish with metallic glitter was applied. Over a red skirt you can brush hot pink nail polish which will collect in some of the details on the figure and produce very good results.
I also used this technique on my men's Jazz Band outfits; but, otherwise I rarely apply this technique to the men's clothes.
When done be sure and return the nail polish to your wife/girlfriend's makeup box before they become suspicious of you.
Now, if your hands are steady you can go back and give some of the men beards and mustaches. And, if you are super steady (which I no longer am) you can give 'em eyes. A friend used a brush he had trimmed down to one or two hairs for this. I found better results using a 'straight pin' stuck in a piece of foam painted with the eye color and then stuck into the people.
However, the pin technique (for me) was harder to do than to think up; and, some early results had people with 6" eyes which had to be repainted.
Still, I am planning on a super magnifying glass this time, the kind with the light around it for this work.
have fun, Harry
1) leave them on the sprues for handling ease and getting at both sides. I stick the sprues in foamed plastic packing stuff to let them dry rather than laying the sprues on the table. Any small spot where you clip them off can be retouched.
2) mostly use "flat" paints, or matte spray them later on. Nothing worse than everyone being shiny and looking toy like.
3) Avoid thick gooey paint, thin it out.
4) use more than one color for flesh tones.
Ok, basically line out a hundred people or so. Pick a color, say dark blue. Paint a pair of pants here, using the same color do a blouse or shirt a few people away on the sprue and so on.
go to the next color and do the same.
This way you get a lot of people done quickly; but, they don't all look the same. You'll get, with a little care, hundreds of unique but normal looking people.
I'll get some pictures this time around to show you what I mean.
A trick suggested by a girl friend years ago produces some rare colors and high lights. Mostly for the women's clothes to produce the effect of shimmery (made up word?) fabrics. After the base color was on, a wash of brushed on nail polish with metallic glitter was applied. Over a red skirt you can brush hot pink nail polish which will collect in some of the details on the figure and produce very good results.
I also used this technique on my men's Jazz Band outfits; but, otherwise I rarely apply this technique to the men's clothes.
When done be sure and return the nail polish to your wife/girlfriend's makeup box before they become suspicious of you.
Now, if your hands are steady you can go back and give some of the men beards and mustaches. And, if you are super steady (which I no longer am) you can give 'em eyes. A friend used a brush he had trimmed down to one or two hairs for this. I found better results using a 'straight pin' stuck in a piece of foam painted with the eye color and then stuck into the people.
However, the pin technique (for me) was harder to do than to think up; and, some early results had people with 6" eyes which had to be repainted.
Still, I am planning on a super magnifying glass this time, the kind with the light around it for this work.
have fun, Harry