The objective of this tutorial is rather simple. The aim is to help anyone who is in the early stages of this wonderful hobby to improve his techniques and abilities. By means of numerous photos we will go through this journey together, from the preparation of the figure itself to the actual painting. I will not tackle the groundwork at this stage because the subject will be a part of a 7-figure diorama and, hopefully we will dedicate a chapter solely for that. Due to the fact that the painting tutorial will include 1 mounted figure and 6 foot figures I will try to give more importance to one particular subject at a time. In Part 1, I will handle the painting of the horse in more detail. The only drawback with this particular horse is the colour since it will be hard to show certain steps with such a dark colour.
PREPARATION
A quick wash with warm water and soap will help remove any impurities left from the casting process. At this stage all the parts of the figure are examined for mold lines, air bubbles etc. No matter how good the casting is, the mold lines will always be present even though on some figures they are extremely hard to find. For this job you will definitely need some needle files, x-acto blade, fine sandpaper and fine steel wool.
Photo 1
Clean the mold lines using the needle files and blade and when done give the figure a polish with the sandpaper and steel wool. Any other imperfections might need to be filled and sanded.
THE HORSE
This horse is rearing so I needed to strengthen the hind legs for better support. The locating lugs at the bottom of the hind legs were sawn off and holes drilled through (photo 2). Long, protruding pins were glued in with two-part epoxy. I find this a better solution because it produces a stronger bond than superglue. The two horse halves were sanded and scribed on the inside for better grip. On one side, I drilled two holes and inserted two pieces of brass wire. On the other side I drilled two corresponding holes, slightly larger in diameter (photo 3).
|
Photo 2 |
Photo 3 |
Even here, two-part epoxy was used for a better bond. The two sides were held in place by clamps till the glue set (photo 4). Neck area was glued next and the resulting gap filled and sanded. At this stage the tail and mane were attached (photo 5). After a quick check the horse was ready for priming. For this I use skull white by Citadel in spray can (photo 6 ).
PAINTING
As I said, this horse had to be a very dark bay, nearly black. This leaves little room for highlights and shadows. The base mix needed here (as with other colours) had to be somewhere in between the highs and lows of the actual colour. I thin the paint for the basecoat at the ratio of 1:1. This gives enough covering power but is not so thick as to fill minute details. You would probably need between 3 or 4 coats for a good cover. The mix for this step was achieved by mixing 5 prts. AC26 + 1 prt. AC16 + 1 prt. AV 940 (photo 7 ).
Photo 7
This is very dark but can still receive shadows in pure black. Highlights were achieved by adding AC16 to the base mix. With dark colours I usually do one step of highlights. This because dark colours absorb less light.
The dilution rate here is between 4 or 5 parts water to 1 part paint. Any hard edges are softened with diluted base colour (photos 8 and 9 ).
|
Photo 8 |
Photo 9 |
The shadows are pure black but very diluted. Ideally, the ratio would be 8 or 9 to 1. Make sure to always remove the excess paint from the brush before applying it to the surface. If not it will run all over. The hooves were painted with a mix AV921 + AC26 and then detailed of variations of same mix (photo 10). Hooves tend to be darker on dark coated animals. Brown and black were used to paint the eyes with only a hint of white visible (which is actually light grey) ( photo 11 ).
|
Photo 10 |
Photo 11 |
A word of caution here. The whites in horses’ eyes are rarely visible except when the animal is in extreme poses or afraid. Since this one is rearing I suggested the tiniest hint. The lip area, nostrils and eyes were given a coat of gloss varnish. Instead, the entire horse coat was given a coat of diluted satin varnish to reproduce the natural sheen of the animal. This was done because it was painted in acrylics. If it was in oils the natural sheen of the oils would have been sufficient. The mane and tail were painted with the same mix but left to dry matt.
THE FIGURE
As for the figure I will, firstly, take you through the preparation process and then give you a description for the photos along with the relevant paint mixes. The preparation is common for the other figures too so I will not repeat it with other figures so as not to render this boring. The same procedure used on the horse was repeated on the figure regarding the removal of mold lines and imperfections.
|
Photo 12 |
Photo 13 |
On the saddle of the horse I drilled a hole (photos 12 and 13) which would later receive the pin inserted at the bottom of the figure (photo 14), under the tunic since the legs are moulded with the horse. Holes were drilled at the shoulders and the neck attachment points and pins glued to the corresponding parts i.e. neck and arms (photo 15).
|
Photo 14 |
Photo 15 |
Photo 16
With this done, I made another quick check for fit and the parts primed (except the sword). At this stage the figure was held temporarily in place so I could measure the exact length of the reins that needed to be cut from lead foil (photo 16).
NEXT
