Small scale figure Step by step (SBS). A 1/48 freebie Paul Hicks sculpt is the victim.

[Tim Marlow]

OK then, less prattling….more painting……
Haven’t had much bench time over the last few day because we’ve had visitors. Got a bit done this morning though….

Black outlining done on the boots and socks……

I do this to get a transition between the socks, boots, and skin. They are quite close in tone so this helps them “pop”. I just used 950 black with a little water to help it flow.

Once I did this, I painted the socks. First they got a coat of medium grey Mixed with a spot of black to darken it.

I tried to keep the black line between the socks and the skin, and between the socks and the boots….. Then he looked like this…..


After that, he got highlights of straight medium grey…..forgot the picture, sorry. Then the highlights were put on using light grey.

Followed by a final highlight of light grey with a spot of ivory to lighten it….final socks were like this….

As you can see, I also did his boots. These were done at the same time as his hair. Basically a coat of chocolate brown highlighted with beige brown.

When that was dry a wash of umber to bring out the texture and detail.

Hair was done at the same time…

Last job was to pick out the laces on the boots using Iraqi sand, though any light tan would work…..

Next job is the shorts……grey obviously……..

As always, ask if this is unclear, I got ahead and forgot to take some of the pictures so it may be a bit muddled.

[PaulinKendal]

Good stuff, as always, Tim.

I'm looking forward to emptying my pots of Citadel washes and graduating to proper, grown-up washes in dropper bottles!

[adt70hk]

Coming on nicely Tim!

[Tim Marlow]

Good stuff, as always, Tim.

I'm looking forward to emptying my pots of Citadel washes and graduating to proper, grown-up washes in dropper bottles!

Cheers mate. The washes are pretty much the same thing I think Paul. Army painter make them as well.

[Tim Marlow]

Coming on nicely Tim!

Cheers Andrew. Takes far longer to get pictures and write it up than it does to paint though

[langy71]

Christ on a bike Tim, you've done this on a 1/48 scale figure !!!, you're mad, mad I tells ya !!!!! (Matron will be keeping an eye on you mate).The last time attempted this was on the pilot figure for my 1/48 Sea Harrier, and I nearly went blind..

Cracking work though dude, a brilliant SBS that's proving to be quite inspirational and informative...

[Mini Me]

Soaking it all up like a sponges.........keep it coming Tim. :thumb2:

[Tim Marlow]

Christ on a bike Tim, you've done this on a 1/48 scale figure !!!, you're mad, mad I tells ya !!!!! (Matron will be keeping an eye on you mate).The last time attempted this was on the pilot figure for my 1/48 Sea Harrier, and I nearly went blind..

Cracking work though dude, a brilliant SBS that's proving to be quite inspirational and informative...

Mad is definitely in there somewhere :thumb2:. Remember he’s a 1/48 scale ten year old, so is about two thirds the size of an adult……saying that, apart from the eyes, there is nothing particularly hard here. I try to ensure I’m painting up to edges, rather than painting thin lines, because it is much easier.
Glad you like the SBS as well.

[Tim Marlow]

Soaking it all up like a sponges.........keep it coming Tim. :thumb2:

Cheers Rick, glad you are getting something from it…..

[Tim Marlow]

Bit more done…..


Trousers used 836 London grey. Initially darkened with a touch of black, then used straight, then lightened with a touch of ivory. Started with an over all coat of the dark shade, then painted most with London grey, leaving the darkest in the deep creases, then painted the high parts and edges with the lightened shade.

The white shirt was done next. I used these….

The dark blue coats best, so was used as an underpaint. Sky grey was used to bring out the shape and texture, then successive coats of ivory then pure white for the highest highlights. Doesn’t show that well in the pictures, but this gives it a 3D effect. It looks like a lot of colours, but trust me, if you just used white without the underlying colours it would take at least six coats to get the high highlights to show as white, and it would still look pretty flat. This way you get both a better effect and better coverage. It’s also quicker!

The tie used these…

Reds are almost always semi transparent and so are a nightmare to get good coverage with. Cavalry brown, on the other hand, covers very well, so is a great underpaint for red. One coat of cavalry brown followed by a single coat of flat red was all I used here.

Last thing I did was the knitted cardigan……I used this colour because I thought it would pop against the tie and the maroon that I plan to use for the blazer and cap….

I didn’t use a dark shade here as there isn’t a lot of texture to bring out. First colour was therefore the base green. I then used a shade lightened with sky grey to desaturated the colour a little. Last stage was the buttons, painted black to separate them from the cardi, then flat brown.

Hope this is of help.

[PaulinKendal]

That's so clever, Tim. Love the colour combination for his shirt, the subtle colour shifts are worth the effort. And his cardigan just looks brilliant, and the red tie sets it off a treat. The figure is already looking extremely impressive!

[Tim Marlow]

That's so clever, Tim. Love the colour combination for his shirt, the subtle colour shifts are worth the effort. And his cardigan just looks brilliant, and the red tie sets it off a treat. The figure is already looking extremely impressive!

Cheers Paul. Very kind of you. Most of that has been gleaned from other painters over the years. The colour choices are just colour wheel stuff….opposites work well against each other…using the black and ivory to creates lows and highs was just because they are already on the palette, same using the grey to desaturate.

[Lee Drennen]

I regularly change the small ones when painting, and leave the large one with fresh water at the end of every session…..

Yeah Tim my Cat loves drinking my Decal water I use if I leave it out.

[Lee Drennen]

Hi Rick. 1/87 is getting a bit small for eyes. At that scale I’d probably just leave the eye sockets in shadow unless the figure had dark skin colouration.

Sometimes well most of the times that’s best Tim to shadow in small scale that’s what I do in 1/72 works every time for me very convincing

[Lee Drennen]

I know I’m very late but a great job on him Tim.