Figure painting

[Roy]

It uses the track ties to set Mickey in motion, but that ain't the only way to do it.

[healey36]

Sarge - I was looking at the Woodland Scenics site...are all of the O-gauge figures pre-painted? Have you seen them offered unpainted?

Healey

[E7]

It uses the track ties to set Mickey in motion, but that ain't the only way to do it.

Makes perfect sense that it would be mechanically driven. No fancy shmancy electronics! Probably a good thing, that.

Rich

[E7]

Here is a nice discussion of figures from NK:

http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/wood ... 4811996051

Rich

[sarge]

...I was looking at the Woodland Scenics site...are all of the O-gauge figures pre-painted?

Healey

Yep, and in pre-arranged sets for the buy-n-plunk guys. That however is not a disadvantage because you get some marvelous detail bits to mingle elsewhere, the castings and proportions need not apologise mingled with Arttista, and one can just consider the paint to be primer.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Model Power also has some pre-painted sets as well. No idea of how well they mingle with others, or not.

[Roy]

It uses the track ties to set Mickey in motion, but that ain't the only way to do it.

Makes perfect sense that it would be mechanically driven. No fancy shmancy electronics! Probably a good thing, that.

I hadn't thought of that. I was just thinking of a crank on a tender axle.

[healey36]

Well, mixed results with the "dip" method at 1/48 scale. When painting 15mm wargame figures I subscribe to the two foot rule (if it looks good from a distance of two feet, it's acceptable). Not sure the two foot rule works with O-gauge.

I usually glue the figure to a piece of dowel rod or a popsicle stick:

Not much sculpt detail here.

Next step. block painted the figure:

Usually work as if dressing the figure, i.e. face, hair, shirt, pants, jacket, shoes, in that order. This guy has a tie, but I left that the same color as his shirt just to see what would happen when shaded.

Okay, next comes the "dip". I use Quickshade from Army Painter, but I've used Minwax in the past...works about the same:

I'm not sure the results will be "spectacular"...

The method is to dip the figure in the shade, totally immerse it, then give it a good flick to remove the excess (best done outside or in a box where the excess doesn't land on the wife's curtains). I usually just brush it on:

I ran into a problem with this guy...the green was Testors enamel, and the shade started dissolving the enamel. The other colors were Tamiya acrylics, which were unaffected. He looks a bit like he fell into a grease-pit...

Next, a shot of Testors Dull-Cote:


I don't know, what do you think. Looks a lot better from a distance:

He looks like he'd beat the crap out of you...yikes...

Healey

[Roy]

You make the painting look easy. Was the shader lifted off the shirt and tie area by the Dullcote?

[healey36]

You're right...it looks like there was a bit of crazing of the acrylic paint on the shirt...hadn't noticed that before. The camera close-up really gives a good view...I can't see it with the naked eye when looking at the figure directly. I think I'll try a primer on the next one before painting...maybe that will help keep the paint from lifting.

Healey

[Roy]

I just noticed something that said Testor's Dullcote is lacquer. I seem to remember something about not using lacquers on top of non-lacquers. There are non-lacquer flat clearcoats.

[sarge]

The lacquer clear coat will work just fine, but you have to ensure the colour coats (no matter the type) are fully cured, not just dry. Some enamels will take weeks to cure.

I don't know the new acrylic stuff well enough to feel comfortable with it at all, so can't comment on how long it might take to cure, but have had awful luck with acrylic and solvent-base used on the same project; so bad in fact I gave away all my Polly-S bottles to a friend of mine in return for all his Floquil. I absolutely loathe acrylics for model work, but that is just personal experience forming strong opinion.

Lately I've been using Tru-Color paint, a pretty new range that shoots nicely and brushes well too. Huge array of colours, weathers, and clear finishes engineered for the range so no surprises mixing manufacture and type of paints. So far, I like it.

[E7]

He looks like he'd beat the crap out of you...yikes...
Healey

No reflection whatsoever on your paint job, but he looks like all he needs is bolts coming out of the sides of his neck (as in Mary Shelley).

Rich

[healey36]

haha, I'm with you on that, Rich. Not the best sculpt...

Healey

[healey36]

I'm going to try one more of these plastic figures before moving onto something a bit better.

Next up, the old codger:


I'll take Sarge's advice this time and give the paint (all acrylic this time) longer to cure.

Healey