Post by nigel on May 13, 2005 8:37:57 GMT -5
Painting
Materials for painting:
Primer: Any type. White is usually best although sometimes hard to find. Some people swear by Floquil brand. (Available at most model shops.)
Paint: A water-based acrylic. I mainly use Ceramcoat by Delta. (Available at most craft stores) This paint comes in many colors and is fairly inexpensive, and comes in hundreds of different colors. ($1.00 to $2.00 a bottle)
Lacquer: A small bottle of high gloss clear lacquer. (For glossing eyes, teeth, claws etc….) (I use Testors) You will need some paint thinner to clean your brushes.
Spray can of flat lacquer. (I use Testors flat or dull coat.)
Thinner: You will want a squeeze bottle. (Like the type dish soap is in.) Mix a 50/50 solution of alcohol and water. The alcohol will make drying faster.)
(Here is a big trade secret that I am going to give you) For blood use: Tamiya brand clear red water based. (Available at model shops.) It looks so much like blood; people get squeamish when they see the stuff!
Brushes: Don’t get cheap when you are buying brushes! You are only as good as your tools. I use Sable hair brushes. They will be between $3.00 to $5.00 a piece. This will be your biggest expense but once you buy them you will only have to replace one or two at a time.
Nice to have but very costly: Airbrush. If you decide to get an airbrush get a good one. The brush alone will set you back at least $125.00 and up. Compressors will be more than that. A cheap one will give you more heartache and frustration than it is worth.
Researching your subject
You will want to do some research to get your model just right. There are many ways to do this depending on what you are painting. For example I have done a Pinhead model from the movie Hellraiser.
Primer
Before you primer your model make you’re your putty and seams are sanded smooth. Lay down some newspaper and set your model down usually lying flat. (Not standing up.) You want to keep your primer coat as thin as possible or you will start filling in your details. Spray from about 12 inches away from your model making sure it spray at different angles. You want to get primer everywhere. Primer is what holds the paint on the model. If you don’t get it everywhere let it dry before you try again. You don’t want your paint to run! Primer dries in about five minutes at a warm temperature. Flip and repeat. After it dries look it over. Many times you won’t see a part that needs to be sanded more until after you primer it. Sand it smooth and lightly re-primer your spot.
Painting.
Now I will try to explain a couple of techniques. This is the part where your model really starts coming to life.
Base coat: This will be your initial coat of paint.
Drybrushing: This is a process of dipping your brush in paint and running your brush over a piece of paper to only leave very little paint on the brush so you will not lay heavy paint on the surface. Drybrushing is a process of dark color (basecoat) to light color (drybrush coat). You will lightly run your brush across the surface of your model so you only add color to the raised part of the surface leaving the lower crevasses untouched.
Mixing colors: This is one part that you are on your own. Keep in mind you want to use the same colors when using paint for your basecoat and drybrush coat. You just want to darken or lighten them. This is why I will suggest buying the bigger bottles of white, black and brown. Take a flesh color for instance. What I do is take the final lighter flesh color and add brown to darken it for the basecoat. Some colors you will want to use black to darken it. For instance if I am doing fur or hair that will end up being brown, I will take the brown and darken it with black for the base coat. (I hope your not scratching your head wondering what the heck I’m talking about.) On the other hand, for wounds or the inside of mouths I use a wine colored red for the basecoat and then lighten it with white (making it pinkish) for my drybrush coat. (With wounds think of them as internal organs without the blood, and then lay the blood on top.) (See finishing.) If you find yourself scratching your head trying to figure out how to get a certain color, consider buying an artists color wheel (available at art or craft stores) to help you out.
A wash: A wash is when you take a dark color and your 50/50 mix making more water than paint. Colored water if you will. What you do on flesh for instance is take a black/brown mix added with a touch of your fleshtone and slop it on your flesh areas so the wash will lightly pool up in the crevices making them stand out more.
Now that you are armed with some terminology you are ready to slap the paint on. Keep in mind that it is very hard to cover up dark colors with a lighter color. For instance, when painting Devilman who is (sometimes) flesh colored with dark fur on his legs, I will do the flesh first and then do the fur being careful to not get dark color anywhere on the flesh that I don’t want to. If you happen to get your darker colors somewhere you don’t want to you can go over it with the lighter color. It will just take a few coats to cover it up setting you back in nothing but time.
The first thing you will do is put your base coat on. You will want to cut your paint with your 50/50 mix. For brushing you will want to use about 1/6 to 1/3 of your 50/50 mix to your paint. (For airbrush it will be ½ water to ½ paint.) Be sure to fill in everything on your basecoat. Before you call your basecoat done, turn your model at different angles (especially upside down) looking to make sure your basecoat area is completely covered. You don’t want to see white dots on your finished product. When doing your bigger areas of your model, you should save any mixed colors in a baby jar or some other type of small container so you can do touch ups later. Trying to mix a color the same exact shade as before is very hard if not impossible.
After your basecoat is done, you will be ready to drybrush your model. I usually completely finish the flesh (basecoat and drybrushing) (or whatever I chose to start with) before I start on another part. (Fur or clothing.) I stick with and finish one color before moving on to another color. Keep in mind that you will want to drybrush the entire model (unless you are using an airbrush) When you use black you will want to very lightly use a medium to light gray color, (Or for a worn out leather look, use brown.) drybrushed over your black.
When you are done with the bigger sections of your model (everything but detailing) you will want to look your model over and see where you will need to touch up your model usually just using your drybrush color anywhere you may have gotten unwanted colors on a surface where you don’t want them.
Airbrushing
When airbrushing your model it will be the opposite of your drybrushing in that it will be a light to dark process. First you will want to lay on your lighter color. After that darken your initial color and brush in your crevices. This can look a little heavy so what I do is lightly fog over this with my initial color By fogging I mean spray it very lightly over the entire surface from about 12 inches away.
Materials for painting:
Primer: Any type. White is usually best although sometimes hard to find. Some people swear by Floquil brand. (Available at most model shops.)
Paint: A water-based acrylic. I mainly use Ceramcoat by Delta. (Available at most craft stores) This paint comes in many colors and is fairly inexpensive, and comes in hundreds of different colors. ($1.00 to $2.00 a bottle)
Lacquer: A small bottle of high gloss clear lacquer. (For glossing eyes, teeth, claws etc….) (I use Testors) You will need some paint thinner to clean your brushes.
Spray can of flat lacquer. (I use Testors flat or dull coat.)
Thinner: You will want a squeeze bottle. (Like the type dish soap is in.) Mix a 50/50 solution of alcohol and water. The alcohol will make drying faster.)
(Here is a big trade secret that I am going to give you) For blood use: Tamiya brand clear red water based. (Available at model shops.) It looks so much like blood; people get squeamish when they see the stuff!
Brushes: Don’t get cheap when you are buying brushes! You are only as good as your tools. I use Sable hair brushes. They will be between $3.00 to $5.00 a piece. This will be your biggest expense but once you buy them you will only have to replace one or two at a time.
Nice to have but very costly: Airbrush. If you decide to get an airbrush get a good one. The brush alone will set you back at least $125.00 and up. Compressors will be more than that. A cheap one will give you more heartache and frustration than it is worth.
Researching your subject
You will want to do some research to get your model just right. There are many ways to do this depending on what you are painting. For example I have done a Pinhead model from the movie Hellraiser.
Primer
Before you primer your model make you’re your putty and seams are sanded smooth. Lay down some newspaper and set your model down usually lying flat. (Not standing up.) You want to keep your primer coat as thin as possible or you will start filling in your details. Spray from about 12 inches away from your model making sure it spray at different angles. You want to get primer everywhere. Primer is what holds the paint on the model. If you don’t get it everywhere let it dry before you try again. You don’t want your paint to run! Primer dries in about five minutes at a warm temperature. Flip and repeat. After it dries look it over. Many times you won’t see a part that needs to be sanded more until after you primer it. Sand it smooth and lightly re-primer your spot.
Painting.
Now I will try to explain a couple of techniques. This is the part where your model really starts coming to life.
Base coat: This will be your initial coat of paint.
Drybrushing: This is a process of dipping your brush in paint and running your brush over a piece of paper to only leave very little paint on the brush so you will not lay heavy paint on the surface. Drybrushing is a process of dark color (basecoat) to light color (drybrush coat). You will lightly run your brush across the surface of your model so you only add color to the raised part of the surface leaving the lower crevasses untouched.
Mixing colors: This is one part that you are on your own. Keep in mind you want to use the same colors when using paint for your basecoat and drybrush coat. You just want to darken or lighten them. This is why I will suggest buying the bigger bottles of white, black and brown. Take a flesh color for instance. What I do is take the final lighter flesh color and add brown to darken it for the basecoat. Some colors you will want to use black to darken it. For instance if I am doing fur or hair that will end up being brown, I will take the brown and darken it with black for the base coat. (I hope your not scratching your head wondering what the heck I’m talking about.) On the other hand, for wounds or the inside of mouths I use a wine colored red for the basecoat and then lighten it with white (making it pinkish) for my drybrush coat. (With wounds think of them as internal organs without the blood, and then lay the blood on top.) (See finishing.) If you find yourself scratching your head trying to figure out how to get a certain color, consider buying an artists color wheel (available at art or craft stores) to help you out.
A wash: A wash is when you take a dark color and your 50/50 mix making more water than paint. Colored water if you will. What you do on flesh for instance is take a black/brown mix added with a touch of your fleshtone and slop it on your flesh areas so the wash will lightly pool up in the crevices making them stand out more.
Now that you are armed with some terminology you are ready to slap the paint on. Keep in mind that it is very hard to cover up dark colors with a lighter color. For instance, when painting Devilman who is (sometimes) flesh colored with dark fur on his legs, I will do the flesh first and then do the fur being careful to not get dark color anywhere on the flesh that I don’t want to. If you happen to get your darker colors somewhere you don’t want to you can go over it with the lighter color. It will just take a few coats to cover it up setting you back in nothing but time.
The first thing you will do is put your base coat on. You will want to cut your paint with your 50/50 mix. For brushing you will want to use about 1/6 to 1/3 of your 50/50 mix to your paint. (For airbrush it will be ½ water to ½ paint.) Be sure to fill in everything on your basecoat. Before you call your basecoat done, turn your model at different angles (especially upside down) looking to make sure your basecoat area is completely covered. You don’t want to see white dots on your finished product. When doing your bigger areas of your model, you should save any mixed colors in a baby jar or some other type of small container so you can do touch ups later. Trying to mix a color the same exact shade as before is very hard if not impossible.
After your basecoat is done, you will be ready to drybrush your model. I usually completely finish the flesh (basecoat and drybrushing) (or whatever I chose to start with) before I start on another part. (Fur or clothing.) I stick with and finish one color before moving on to another color. Keep in mind that you will want to drybrush the entire model (unless you are using an airbrush) When you use black you will want to very lightly use a medium to light gray color, (Or for a worn out leather look, use brown.) drybrushed over your black.
When you are done with the bigger sections of your model (everything but detailing) you will want to look your model over and see where you will need to touch up your model usually just using your drybrush color anywhere you may have gotten unwanted colors on a surface where you don’t want them.
Airbrushing
When airbrushing your model it will be the opposite of your drybrushing in that it will be a light to dark process. First you will want to lay on your lighter color. After that darken your initial color and brush in your crevices. This can look a little heavy so what I do is lightly fog over this with my initial color By fogging I mean spray it very lightly over the entire surface from about 12 inches away.