Painting a Head in 1/35 scale

Here is a short animation documenting the process of painting a head in 1/35 scale using AK Gen 3 acrylic paints.

Cheers,

Calvin

Faux Wood Figure Base

I just thought I'd share something a little different this weekend as I try to create a faux wood finish on a figure base made of balsa wood laminated with sheet styrene.

Several layers of Red Brown thinned down with AK airbrush thinner are applied until the desired effect is achieved. To enrich the saturation and give the final result a transparent reddish hue, some Clear Orange and Clear Red are added to the Red Brown. Numerous DIY videos on YouTube can easily be used to reference the application method..

A generous spray of satin varnish is applied and allowed to set for 24 hours.

The surface is smoothened with a grit 800 sanding sponge.

 

The bottom piece ogee is spray painted with black. 

The finished result.

Cheers,

Calvin

DIY Title Plates

Here is an economical and efficient way of making title plates for your model displays using the Canon Selphy printer. 

The designs are create in Photoshop with the various unit insignia taken from the internet and printed in reverse.

Proceed to cut out and attach the printed side onto the adhesive portion of the reflective foil. 

Give it a good hard press with a steel plate or a flat object to expel any air pockets that may be trapped.

Overlay additional layers of foil for added thickness.

Trim the edges and soak it water for at least 8 hours. The water will dissolve the adhesive  and release the plastic film from the paper backing.

Finally, seal the transfer with some clear varnish of your preference and attached it to the pedestal with double-sided tape.  

Cheers,

Calvin

Alpine Miniatures - 28th Jäger Division, East Prussia, 1945

I am very privileged to close the year 2020 by painting the box art of this 1/16 scale upcoming release from Alpine Miniatures sculpted by the acclaimed artist John Rosengrant. It has been a while since I painted a sculpture from John Rosengrant and this has been an absolutely delightful experience. Despite a couple of false starts for the Sumpfmunster 44 pattern, I managed to gradually get  the gist of recreating this elusive camouflage pattern using Vallejo acrylics. Evidently the trick is to meticulously stipple the hard edges of the shapes with very thin paint to achieve the diffused look - trademark to this pattern. 

Posing another challenge to this assignment are the markings on the Panzerfaust. My solution was to create my own decals on Photoshop and printing them from my trusty Canon Selphy photo/postcard printer.  Do check out this link for a full run down on my process of creating your very own DIY decals. 

Well, that is all for the year 2020. Despite the pandemic situation with all major scale modelling events called off, it was still a bountiful year with a couple of shelve queens cleared off. Here's looking forward to a better year ahead for everyone.

Cheers,

Calvin

Blockade Runner, Bandai 1/1000 scale - Part 3

In this segment, I will delve into the finishing techniques employed on this project. After overcoming my initial scepticism, I decided to try out the weathering pencils from AK Interactive. I must admit that they are quite convenient and particularly good to use. They are essentially watercolour pencils - but endowed with richer pigments. They do not have that wax like appearance and boasts a deep and flat finish like acrylic paint. They are easy to manage and produce very subtle effects. Though not permanent, they can be sealed with fixative or varnish.  I highly recommend them for beginners or anyone who hates the odour of paint thinner and spirits as they dissolve readily in water. 

The deluxe 37 piece box set of weathering pencils courtesy of the good people at AK Interactive and MWorkshop.    

After some fumbling around to use them like conventional pencils, I settled to use them like paint, broke the lead and placed it into my blister pack palette. Light blue was used to enhance the vibrancy of the intermediate shadow of an otherwise dull medium grey Underpainting.

I proceeded to dissolve the lead into a solution comprising of 1 part retarder to three parts water. The purpose of the retarder is to increase the working time as well as to enhance the flow of the paint so that it spreads evenly. As you can see, the lead dissolves readily in the solution. 

As a rule of thumb, I always test out the consistency of the paint - as with the application of the glaze before applying onto the model. 

The light blue is applied to the mid tone areas for a subtle hint of vibrancy in the same fashion as one would do for a glaze.

Tighter corners are applied with a round brush.

Larger flat areas with a flibert brush.

The result from the subtle glaze of light blue in the mid tones. 

Perhaps one of the best thing about this kit is that it provides stickers, meaning that the "frames" can serve as masking films. 

Cut, peel and attach.

A firm rubber tipped clayshaper is used to press the sticker mask into the model's surface.

A light thin coat of paint and peel of the sticker mask. 

Painting the grey panels.

Painting the red stripes on the thrusters with masking tape.

Some light drybrushing on the edges with Grimy Grey over the red areas.

A light wash of scarlet Red over the dry brushed area to enhance the highlight. 

The completed result at this stage of the painting.

Too be continued......

Calvin

Blockade Runner, Bandai 1/1000 scale - Part 2

In this installment of my build journal of the Blockade Runner, I will demonstrate the smoothing of the dry brushing effects using the glaze technique. I choosed to use Pale Grey and Grimy Grey - thinned with one part water to two parts paint and applied it with a round Kolinsky-sable brush from Nevkaya-Palitra. I like this brushes because a)it is inexpensive b) it as a long body that draws a lot more paint c) it has a nice "spring" to it as I sweep the paint across the model.

The colors are glazed over the brighter areas on the model. If you are not sure where to apply, the dry brushing phase will identify those areas for you. I used the sides of the brush to "sweep" the paint towards those bright spots and in the process smoothed out the grainy effects of dry brushing. 

The first step is to always to test out the paint consistency - not too thick and opaque but also not too thin and watery. 

They are applied to the high points of the model as determined by the effects from the dry brushing. Be mindful always that less is always more whenever highlighting is concerned.

With the coarse areas smoothed out by the glazing, I will next move on to enhancing the mid tones as well as the weathering of the model.

To be continued.....

Cheers,

Calvin