I guess figure painting is "superdetailing".  This is one of the Knuckleduster figures, which are really well sculpted, even if they're slightly oversized. 

First step:  Prime black 

Then I paint from the inside out.  Flesh:

The white shirt.  For this I tried the Ammo White paint I got at Springfield last year.  It worked OK, but I had to go over the shirt area twice to get coverage.

Then the apron.  I wanted a slightly contrasting color, this is called "Tapioca", but it's almost unbleached muslim

Then I did the hair, chocolate brown with a little white mixed in.  This guy has a great mustache, and an expanse of forehead.  I had to go back and repaint the forehead using a little white mixed into the flesh color.


to be continued...     dave

For the blue jeans, I used an appropriate craft paint blue.  This paint is kinda old, but it worked OK.

Then back to the brown.  I did his shoes and painted the broom, painting over some white from the apron.

The broom handle was done with a light yellow, with a bit of that chocolate brown mixed in.

Finally, the broom itself was done with a different yellow.  This color happened to be Model Air, which is a bit thin.  I didn't want a lot of thick coverage, I wanted the brown undercoat to stay.  But I added a bit of white to give the airbrush paint a bit more body.


Tomorrow, I'll do some washes and then a matte varnish.  

All-in-all about 2 hours of work, but with some time in between to let the primer, flesh and white shirt paint dry.

dave

Dave, for the wire support, what size wire and pin drill number are you suing to mount the figurine before painting?

Quote from: Dave Buchholz on November 07, 2025, 04:53:16 PMDave, for the wire support, what size wire and pin drill number are you suing to mount the figurine before painting?

#75/ .020 wire

dave

By the way, if you're doing a bunch of figures at a time, this goes pretty quickly.  Each time I change color I have to stop and clean the brushes.  An assembly line for figure painting is the way to go.

dave

Excellent tutorial. 👍
Just wish you had a "macro" lense.
I didn't see what scale it is.

MJinTN

Thanks for the excellent step by step! 

Am I correct in thinking that the intent of the wire has a second purpose?

To mount the figure more easily on the layout by drilling another hole and putting the wired pin into the hole drilled into the scene base?

Quote from: labdad on November 07, 2025, 05:41:13 PMExcellent tutorial. 👍
Just wish you had a "macro" lense.
I didn't see what scale it is.

MJinTN

HO

dave

Quote from: Dave Buchholz on November 07, 2025, 06:16:25 PMAm I correct in thinking that the intent of the wire has a second purpose?

To mount the figure more easily on the layout by drilling another hole and putting the wired pin into the hole drilled into the scene base?

Mebbe.   But for the machine shop, I just sand their feet flat and glue the figures into position.

dave

Dave you did a fine job on the LP!!

Jerry

Quote from: deemery on November 07, 2025, 11:57:35 PM

Quote from: Dave Buchholz on November 07, 2025, 06:16:25 PMAm I correct in thinking that the intent of the wire has a second purpose?

To mount the figure more easily on the layout by drilling another hole and putting the wired pin into the hole drilled into the scene base?

Mebbe.   But for the machine shop, I just sand their feet flat and glue the figures into position.

dave

I'd have to admit at times my hands will shake just enough to knock the figure over several times before the glue dries

(Growing old is not for sissies. And least I'm not trying to cut the red wire on a time bomb)

Fifth Dave to the right.

Howdy Dave, thanks for the tutorial for painting those tiny HO figures. I assume you used an Optivisor.  Have fun, mike

No Optivisor, but sometimes I have to take my glasses off and hold the figure close to my nearsighted eyes.  I did look through my magnifying light a couple times to make sure I saw the detail correctly.  

Bracing my hands to do the fine painting is more important...

dave

Well done.  I've seen that done by one of the original crew at RR-L in "the day"  I use the color over flat black painting vehicles as well.

Nice job, cool figure. 

KS