How To: painting figurines the right way
It's time for a new How To! In parts 1 to 4 I showed you how to paint our vehicles. Now I'll show you how it works with our figurines. As an example I'm using a few NVA figurines in N scale (1:160) from the GDR, but the same method works for all our figurines, whether animals, civilian figurines or military figurines.
In this guide I show you how the figurines arrive on their frame and how to use that frame to paint even the tiniest figurines as well as possible. The method of course applies to all our scales, 1:160 (N scale), 1:120 (TT), 1:220 (Z) and 1:87 (H0), since they are all produced the same way.
How the figurines arrive
You receive the figurines on a frame! This is a flat plate with small supports connected to the figurines. These supports are needed during production, but they also protect the figurines very well during shipping and especially while painting! Below you can see a picture of how they arrive. The model shown is made of transparent material, but we mostly produce in black, because that material is easier to cut and paint.
Preparing the frame
With a small hobby knife, first cut away the supports at the arms and equipment. You can remove almost all supports, only the connection to the feet of the figurine stays. This creates a frame on which the figurines stand as if on a handy painting stand. You can hold the base plate while having free access to every side of the tiny models. Finally, no more ruining your fine work with your big fingers in the wrong place.
It gets even easier if you cut the whole base plate into separate pieces along the pressed lines. The plate then splits neatly into small blocks, little "feet" on which the figurines stand comfortably while you paint them at your own pace.
Primer
For primer I always use a grey colour myself. Vallejo 70601 works very well. If you don't have an airbrush or simply don't feel like cleaning it afterwards, you can also use Vallejo 28011, a handy spray can that gives a very fine mist similar to an airbrush.
Mixing colours
After that it gets easier. You need your favourite paints (enamel or water-based acrylic both work well, also for the primer), fine brushes, toothpicks and above all a lot of patience. I always look for reference pictures of the figurines I want to paint and then mix the colours by hand.
For civilian figurines, blue, grey, white, black, red, yellow and skin colour are usually enough to mix jeans, shirts, coats and skin perfectly. For military figurines you should focus more on browns, greens, black, grey and white. Animals are also mostly brown, black, grey and white. Vehicles often have clear RAL colours, but with clothing this is much harder, because it rarely looks new and fades quickly. That is why mixing by eye is simply the best solution here.
Painting
Use a normal brush for the basics of the figurine and a very fine brush for the details. I like to use a toothpick for very small details such as tools, hammers or the inside of a barbecue and similar small things.
But whatever you do, enjoy it, because this is the best part! Spending an evening painting your favourite figurines, which through your work truly become your own, exactly the way you imagined them, is pure joy for anyone who really wants to live this hobby! Have fun and don't forget to send me your photos!
Kind regards,
Kevin Boogaard
Founder of Panzer-ShopNL
