discussion How to Paint Pilots

[tr1ckey66]

I promised a while back that I'd give a 'step-by-step' guide to how I paint figures (specifically pilots). And so, a little belatedly, I'm posting the 'How to...'.


This tutorial will not be quick as I'm doing several other things concurrently and I'm slotting this in as and when I can. Anyway, on to subject at hand...


Rather than just show how I paint 1 figure I thought it would be more useful to see the technique across a range of figures. I've therefore gone and prepared 8 figures from various sources and hope that this will be of interest.


So here's the line-up...


View attachment 118884



From left to right: Douglas Bader by 'Fine Molds'; 2 BoB pilots by 'Ultracast'; 1 Pilot, 1 Waaf by 'Wings', 2 Luftwaffe ground crew by Verlinden, 1 BoB scrambling pilot by Aerobonus. All figures are resin apart from the Bader figure which is injection plastic.


(The technique I use is the same whether your figure is plastic, resin or metal)


A couple of shots showing detail...


View attachment 118885



View attachment 118886



Personally, I think it's always worth while investing in a quality figure as it's harder to paint detail that isn't there. That said, we'll see what detail can be brought out of the Bader figure which is of course injection plastic and the details are softer as a result.


Preparation


I prepare all my figures in the same way. I always assemble the figures by glueing AND pinning limbs to torsos. I pin them with pieces of paper clip cut to suitable lengths. Most of the time I assemble the figure fully but occasionally I may leave a limb pinned but unglued for ease of painting. generally though it's a neater job if you can assemble fully. Once the assembly is finished I fill any gaps with filler (note only the scrambling pilot has had filler applied). I use a variety of fillers - milliput, humbrol down to Mr Surfacer depending on the gap.


Pinned limbs...


View attachment 118887



The head again is always pinned and is left loose for ease of painting. This has 3 advantages - 1. The join is strong later on, 2. You can position the head just where you want it (looking left, right, down, up), and 3. you can clamp the head by the pin in a pin vice for ease of painting.


View attachment 118888



That's it for the moment. I'm sorry if this is a bit slow but this will take time to complete.


Thanks for your patience.


Paul

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[eddiesolo]

Nice info and start Paul, some good tips there.

 

[Dave W]

This should be interesting as I'm looking to paint some figures soon.only 1/48 injection moulded ones though.

 

[john i am]

Great thread watching with interest

 

[monica]

This should be interesting,I,m always very interested to see how others do things,


great start so far Paul,with useful info,

 

[Guest]

Thanks for posting this, Paul. Figures have always been a weak point for me... especially faces.


Can't wait to see more.

 

[Guest]

I'm in Paul!!


Very interesting thread mate

 

[flyjoe180]

Great idea, looking forward to more. Figure painting isn't something I've tried. The Douglas Bader figure looks good, but the seams are a bit of a turn off.

 

[dave]

looking forward to this

 

[Guest]

This is going to be particularly interesting for a lot of us so many thanks for putting it together. I find it very interesting to compare the quality of the different figures and compare the levels of detail.


Could you please let us know what scale they are?

 

[tr1ckey66]

Thanks everyone for the interest in this thread.


Please be mindful that this thread will take a long while to complete as I'm finishing these figures real-time and I have other projects as well. But I will try and be as quick as I can.


Richard: these figures are all 1/32. The 'Wings' and 'Ultracast' resin figures are of great quality with the Fine Molds injection-plastic Bader figure needing some seam removal and obviously lacking the finesse of it's neighbours. The Verlinden figures are also showing their age but it will be interesting to see how all these paint up.


Thanks everyone


P

 

[Guest]

Looking good so far

 

[papa 695]

I'm in watching Paul even if it's slow ( just like me )

 

[colin m]

Splendid. I've been waiting for this.

 

[Snowman]

I've scootched up and am watching......

 

[Robert1968]

I promised a while back that I'd give a 'step-by-step' guide to how I paint figures (specifically pilots). And so, a little belatedly, I'm posting the 'How to...'.
This tutorial will not be quick as I'm doing several other things concurrently and I'm slotting this in as and when I can. Anyway, on to subject at hand...


Rather than just show how I paint 1 figure I thought it would be more useful to see the technique across a range of figures. I've therefore gone and prepared 8 figures from various sources and hope that this will be of interest.


So here's the line-up...


View attachment 130564


From left to right: Douglas Bader by 'Fine Molds'; 2 BoB pilots by 'Ultracast'; 1 Pilot, 1 Waaf by 'Wings', 2 Luftwaffe ground crew by Verlinden, 1 BoB scrambling pilot by Aerobonus. All figures are resin apart from the Bader figure which is injection plastic.


(The technique I use is the same whether your figure is plastic, resin or metal)


A couple of shots showing detail...


View attachment 130565


View attachment 130566


Personally, I think it's always worth while investing in a quality figure as it's harder to paint detail that isn't there. That said, we'll see what detail can be brought out of the Bader figure which is of course injection plastic and the details are softer as a result.


Preparation


I prepare all my figures in the same way. I always assemble the figures by glueing AND pinning limbs to torsos. I pin them with pieces of paper clip cut to suitable lengths. Most of the time I assemble the figure fully but occasionally I may leave a limb pinned but unglued for ease of painting. generally though it's a neater job if you can assemble fully. Once the assembly is finished I fill any gaps with filler (note only the scrambling pilot has had filler applied). I use a variety of fillers - milliput, humbrol down to Mr Surfacer depending on the gap.


Pinned limbs...


View attachment 130567


The head again is always pinned and is left loose for ease of painting. This has 3 advantages - 1. The join is strong later on, 2. You can position the head just where you want it (looking left, right, down, up), and 3. you can clamp the head by the pin in a pin vice for ease of painting.


View attachment 130568


That's it for the moment. I'm sorry if this is a bit slow but this will take time to complete.


Thanks for your patience.


Paul

I'm in on this as I have a tin full of figs I want to paint and am blooming awful especially with the faces so yes I got my cuppa and I'm watching and taking written notes too


Robert

 

[Guest]

Count me in


Roger

 

[ojays]

I definitely need to watch this.


Never been any good with figures, but can't seem to stop using them on my builds.

 

[stona]

I definitely need to watch this.
Never been any good with figures, but can't seem to stop using them on my builds.

I know how you feel!


Steve

 

[Guest]

I promised a while back that I'd give a 'step-by-step' guide to how I paint figures (specifically pilots). And so, a little belatedly, I'm posting the 'How to...'.
This tutorial will not be quick as I'm doing several other things concurrently and I'm slotting this in as and when I can. Anyway, on to subject at hand...


Rather than just show how I paint 1 figure I thought it would be more useful to see the technique across a range of figures. I've therefore gone and prepared 8 figures from various sources and hope that this will be of interest.


So here's the line-up...


View attachment 130564


From left to right: Douglas Bader by 'Fine Molds'; 2 BoB pilots by 'Ultracast'; 1 Pilot, 1 Waaf by 'Wings', 2 Luftwaffe ground crew by Verlinden, 1 BoB scrambling pilot by Aerobonus. All figures are resin apart from the Bader figure which is injection plastic.


(The technique I use is the same whether your figure is plastic, resin or metal)


A couple of shots showing detail...


View attachment 130565


View attachment 130566


Personally, I think it's always worth while investing in a quality figure as it's harder to paint detail that isn't there. That said, we'll see what detail can be brought out of the Bader figure which is of course injection plastic and the details are softer as a result.


Preparation


I prepare all my figures in the same way. I always assemble the figures by glueing AND pinning limbs to torsos. I pin them with pieces of paper clip cut to suitable lengths. Most of the time I assemble the figure fully but occasionally I may leave a limb pinned but unglued for ease of painting. generally though it's a neater job if you can assemble fully. Once the assembly is finished I fill any gaps with filler (note only the scrambling pilot has had filler applied). I use a variety of fillers - milliput, humbrol down to Mr Surfacer depending on the gap.


Pinned limbs...


View attachment 130567


The head again is always pinned and is left loose for ease of painting. This has 3 advantages - 1. The join is strong later on, 2. You can position the head just where you want it (looking left, right, down, up), and 3. you can clamp the head by the pin in a pin vice for ease of painting.


View attachment 130568


That's it for the moment. I'm sorry if this is a bit slow but this will take time to complete.


Thanks for your patience.


Paul

That is great information Paul. Always have trouble with limbs especially angles of arms when seated as driver etc. the paper clip is a perfect answer.


You mention good quality figures. Where do you get yours as I have found it difficult to locate ?


Laurie