Figure painting

[rogruth]

I did not know the wings were folded.

[healey36]

Still mucking around with wargame figures...here's a German command stand in 1/300 scale:


Major Von Schtupp and staff.

While I'm at it, I'm continuing to work on finding a satisfactory method of mass-painting 1/48 figures. A while back Sarge dropped off a couple boxes of old Plasticville and K-line figures to practice on. Here's a block-painted/dipped Plasticville schoolboy:





From two feet away he looks pretty good...up close he looks like he's gone ten rounds in a prize-fight, lol.

Healey

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Good stuff!

I have 1/6 and 1/35 models of the German Schwimmwagen. Germany came up with some unusual equipment 80 years ago.

The school boy looks Danish, ought to have skates on his feet!

[healey36]

I've got a 1/35 Schwimmwagen around here somewhere too...started the kit twenty years ago and never finished it. Good project to dig out on a snowy day like today.

I've been impressed by this guy's work for a long time:



The scale is 1/1200. I've run onto him a few times at Historicon where he fills a table with this type of work. I would cringe watching folks handle his stuff during games. His skills speak for themselves.

Healey

[chuck]

I would cringe watching folks handle his stuff during games.

I'd be afraid to look at it too hard. Man that's a lot of detail for something so tiny!

[healey36]

While at York I got a few Arttista hobo's to work on. I looked up the word hobo and found the following differentiation: (1) a hobo is considered to be a migratory worker, (2) a tramp is considered to be a migrant that will only occasionally work, and only if he/she has to, and (3) a bum has no intention of working, lol...

In the meantime I've been working on a few bits unrelated to trains. Here's a 1/6000 scale merchant ship painted and based for wargames:



Just about done with these for awhile.

Healey

[healey36]

One of the model ship makers I buy from is transitioning to 3-D printing their stuff. Having seen some rudimentary demos of 3-D printing I was a bit skeptical so I sent off an order to see what the ships look like...blew me away. Here's a 1/2400 Royal Sovereign-class battleship (1891).

As delivered:


After a rinse and a base-coat of Model Master FS36118 Gunship Gray:




Pretty sharp and will only get better.

Healey

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Hey...What kind of pipe is that sailor smoking on the main deck???

Looks good. I want to learn how to design parts for 3D printing but I don't think I have enough time left on this planet

[E7]

Looks good. I want to learn how to design parts for 3D printing but I don't think I have enough time left on this planet

A malady that afflicts many of us!

Healy......where do you find those huge coins???

[E7]

From two feet away he looks pretty good...up close he looks like he's gone ten rounds in a prize-fight, lol. Healey

I don't think you can blame that on your painting!!! I find many of the small figures I see look like trolls! Of what I see out there, Preiser and Arttista (opinion) seem the most realistic. I buy mostly Arttista (pick 'em up at shows) and find that they are not all created equal.....some of the "same" figure have better features than others. Guessing that it is attributable to the method of production.

From what you show of your boats, computer printing will probably bring forth much more realistic little people.

Rich

[healey36]

These 3-D printed ships are very sharp...first time I've seen it done where it doesn't look like a block of styrofoam at the back-end. Hopefully this is a good indication of what's possible and coming for 1/48 scale. I suspect a lot of the tired figure-molds that have been used for the last thirty-forty years are going to fall by the wayside quickly once folks transition over.

As far as painting goes I live by the two-foot rule now. If it looks okay from two feet away than it's good enough and we're moving on. My days of painting 1/54 and 1/35 military miniatures are done. I still appreciate looking at good work but I'm not interested in painting tartans, tunic buttons and leopard skins anymore. Unfortunately I have stacks of figure kits that would lead one to believe that I am.

I have a few tramp figures by Arttista in the lead pile...I'll work on getting those done this summer. Sarge showed me how one can solder them so I might try to re-pose them a bit. I have an MTH yard office I want to use them on.

I'm with you guys though...the actuarial tables clearly indicate there's not enough time left to get all of this done, lol...I'm just puttering now.

Healey

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Every time I see Michael Lonsdale in RONIN I want to paint some 1/35 figures:

The attachment Michael_Lonsdale.jpg is no longer available

Or you can go bigger (1/6) and forego the painting:

Michael_Lonsdale.jpg (50.38 KiB) Viewed 8340 times

But these are running at $200 and up these days.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Great stuff!

My eyes are getting worse and my hands are less steady than every when it gets down to fine details, so painting figures is something I'll probably do less and less of and just settle for Arttista, etc.

[rogruth]

Alright, Rufus. Who the heck are you now?
I will never try to guess who or what you may become in the future but I can't always figure what you are in the NOW.
I figure that's the way you like it.

[Seaboard Air Line Fan]

Alright, Rufus. Who the heck are you now?
I will never try to guess who or what you may become in the future but I can't always figure what you are in the NOW.
I figure that's the way you like it.

I looked the quote up...Harlan Ellison, fairly prolific writer from the brief blurb I read about him.

When I was five we went to England to see my grandparents. While there I spent two weeks with my aunt and uncle in London. Their neighbor had a house full of medieval figures and even some medieval weaponery. Not sure if the weapons were old or not but they sure looked cool and since then I have always wanted a suit of armor. Since the queen doesn't see fit to send me one the 1/6 armor will have to do