I started the day with “I don’t like painting figures”

However the Garratt won’t drive and fire itself and I wanted to do something better than I had previously. The starting point were some 3D printed figures that are OK but the facial features are a bit indistinct. I have been watching a couple of military modellers channels on You Tube and their figures make anything we have on our railway models look pretty rubbish. Then, they’ll spend a week painting one figure.

Without the luxury of a week something faster was required. Firstly they were sprayed with black aimed at them feet to head and into all the folds of their clothes. Next was a light spray of white from above aiming to get paint on the high spots where the most like would fall. With those dry the clothing was sprayed with the only blue I had which was a bit too sky blue.

Now it was brush work with flesh picked out with base flesh tone and later highlighted on the upward facing surfaces. Boots, Hat and other Clothes were picked out in colours mixed on a plastic tray starting with a coat of dark and then lightened on the high spots.

When that was dry darker washes were brushed onto the folds in the clothing and allowed to run in to folds and crevices. Up to this point it had all been done in pretty quick drying acrylic paints but the washes are deliberately slow to dry to give you time to work them. You sort of end up flooding it and then dry brushing it off the tops and blending it in.

The last colours were some filters of grime and dust that moderate extreme edges in the colours. These are oil based and take time to dry. Once dry the chaps got a shower in acrylic matt varnish.

My thoughts now? Intrigued, I’d guess. I certainly enjoyed putting into practice what I had watched in the videos. In self critical mode they could be a lot better, starting with better quality figures and more practice. I almost want to do them again to put what I have learnt into play.

In more rational mode I remind myself they’re only about 35mm tall and are going to spend their life driving and firing a Garratt from tomorrow where they will hardly be seen.

Its taken me much of a day to do these two chaps whilst doing other things in the “drying” interludes and at the end of it what was a clear table looks like this mess. Would I do more? Yes, but I’d do more figures at the same time and I need to expand my acrylic paint colours to be a bit more peoply as palette is all a bit too “train” at the moment.