Painting teeny tiny people

[Guest]

My kit includes three little men - that are optional - to stand close to the Apollo Saturn V moon rocket on the launch pad. I am tempted to leave them out, but they serve a very useful purpose in giving a sense of scale, without them the sheer size of the rocket is lost. This means I really do have to use them and so I need to paint them. I intend to leave them on the sprue for painting but still unclear how to keep a steady hand for such detailed work. Each figure is 12mm high.

So, what tips can you guys give me please?

[dave]

At 12mm, detail will be limited. It depends to a certain extent on the quality of the sculpt.

I am going to presume they are in a normal NASA boilersuit type outfit, in which case paint that lighter than you want and then use a darker shade to wash. This will darken the colour overall and leave a deeper shadow in creases etc. If hands and face are bare a similar approach can be tried for the flesh, this can work well but it depends on the sculpt. Your hand does not need to be rock steady and at that size it can look effective.

For a steadier hand, try resting your brush hand on a surface the desk or if you need a bit of height a book or similar.

[Guest]

Thanks Dave, seems good advice to me so will give it my best shot. Yes, they do appear to be wearing the same garment, a boilersuit. Thanks.

[Guest]

I remember the figures well in this kit and all I did when I made mine was to glue them to the base to give the model the size impression that makes it such a remarkable model. If I was to do it again I might try to find a much better example of a 12mm (1/144 scale) figure and put it on the base standing up. There are actually plenty of 1/144 scale figures available out there so you could buy what ever you wanted. As for painting the better quality the figure is the easier it is to paint but a basic colour with a suitable wash would make the most of it with perhaps a flesh tone for the face and hands with again a simple wash to bring out the detail.

The thing that put me off the kit item was the fact that the three were all moulded together and, if I remember correctly, were actually supposed to go inside the command module but I also wanted to use them to give a sense of proportion.

[Guest]

You might find this interesting:

http://www.internetmodeler.com/2002/november/space/Spaceflight.htm

or these:

http://www.shapeways.com/product/XXQ2WEXNC/generic-astronauts-set-1-144

[Guest]

Okay Richard thanks for that. My kit is a little different in that my figures are all standing and are designed for the launch pad, the CSM will not have a crew showing in it. Could either you or Dave please explain to me what a wash is and how to use it. I can only guess it is the same paint but thinned?

Thanks for the links, just love those 1/144 astronauts, only wish I could use them, but afraid I can't on this particular model. However, maybe on model no. 2, or 3 or 4 ............

Cheers.

[dave]

Keith, there are several washes available and what to use can depend on the intended use.

There are commercial washes available, you can also make your own using artists oil paints, inks or model paints (acrylic or enamels).

For your purposes the easiest is to use the same paint but heavily thinned using the appropriate thinner for your paint type. For acrylics I normally use water with the addition of 1% flow enhancer. I make up 200mL at a time in a large dropper bottle which I use for all paint thinning. The flow enhancer can be bought from art supply shops and is used to reduce the surface tension of the water to allow it to flow more smoothly.

[Guest]

Thanks for the info Dave, I am going to try using the same paint heavily thinned as you suggested. It should turn out fine, after all they are so small you could get away with quite a bit when painting them, but I do not want to make a bad job of it and spoil the overall effect. Pun intended.

[stona]

Human figures are a great way of showing the scale of a model, I often include them with my aircraft for precisely that reason.

Your figures are of course small, mainly because the Saturn V was so huge! I wouldn't worry too much about detail painting. If you were standing far enough away from a real 1:1 Saturn V that a human figure would appear at the size of your model figures just how much detail would you see on those people? Not much. You certainly don't need to worry about painting eyes or anything like that. I would be tempted to dry brush a lighter colour on the painted figures to give a little variation and provide some highlights, rather than applying washes or anything like that.

Just use a fine brush, some kind of magnification and take your time.

Cheers

Steve

[takeslousyphotos]

At 12mm, detail will be limited. It depends to a certain extent on the quality of the sculpt.I am going to presume they are in a normal NASA boilersuit type outfit, in which case paint that lighter than you want and then use a darker shade to wash. This will darken the colour overall and leave a deeper shadow in creases etc. If hands and face are bare a similar approach can be tried for the flesh, this can work well but it depends on the sculpt. Your hand does not need to be rock steady and at that size it can look effective.

For a steadier hand, try resting your brush hand on a surface the desk or if you need a bit of height a book or similar.

Hi Keith,

Nasa personell ......... blue boiler suit (not sure on the exact colour but it is something close to the attachment) ........ and white safety hat. Have them facing the rocket then you don't need to worry about faces.

Peter

[ATTACH]99102.IPB[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

Thanks Peter and Steve, good advice. Thanks also for the colour and the tip about having them face the rocket. Still building the rocket at the moment, just starting on stage 3. I am surprised how much filing down I find myself doing and I am sure more lumps and bumps will appear after a coat of primer.

[dave]

Steve, it is a personal preference to get the variation, slop a wash over everything to get shadows or dry rush to get highlights. I'd certainly not bother with any detail on the face possibly bar a wash or drybrush to enhance a bit of detail.

Peter, I had a feeling it was blue overalls and a white helmet, but I wasn't certain.

[Guest]

All I can say is don't smoke and don't drink coffee I do both to excess and it don't help with a steady hand lol

[takeslousyphotos]

Steve, it is a personal preference to get the variation, slop a wash over everything to get shadows or dry rush to get highlights. I'd certainly not bother with any detail on the face possibly bar a wash or drybrush to enhance a bit of detail.
Peter, I had a feeling it was blue overalls and a white helmet, but I wasn't certain.

I went to the Kennedy Space Centre a few years back ......... and there were loads of them in blue overalls and white hats. Like clones....and they all seemed to look like "Steve Austin" (The Six Million Dollar Man).