DETAILING
Eyes: When you see the eyes done on a good paintjob it can boggle your mind! Don’t let this discourage you. Its 70% technique. This will be where you want to break out those really small brushes. For realistic eyes you will want to start with a burgundy/rose color. You will want to fill the inside of the entire eye with this color. (Fig.2) (For anime type models you will want to use black.) After that has dried you will want to get out your ivory color. Fill in the eye without completely covering the first coat with your ivory.. (Fig.3) Now make a black circle where you want your model to be looking. (Fig. 4) (Center, left or right.) Now after you have chosen your eye color, fill in the black, again without covering the black completely. (Fig. 5) (Getting the idea?) Now to give your eyes some style! Take your original eye color and lighten it with some white. Using your extra small brush, make a criss cross across the colored part of the inner eye. (Fig. 6) Keep doing that till you are satisfied with your look. (Fig. 7) Keep in mind it doesn’t have to be perfect because the pupil will mostly cover it. Do another black circle for your pupil. (Fig. 8) If you want you can put a small dot of white on the pupil to give it a light source. (Fig. 9) Finally, take a very thin red wash and slightly redden the ivory part of the eye. You can do it heavier for monsters or victims. (Fig. 10)
Metals
For metal there are a couple of techniques. I haven’t found a metallic paint that I am completely happy with yet. I find that Testors oil based metallics work best so far. This means you will need paint thinner to clean up. The first thing you will want to do is base coat your surface black. For newer looking swords, shields, etc., you don’t need a base coat. Just apply your metallic. For older looking items you will want to drybrush the metallic over your black base coat. The thicker your drybrushing, the newer your metal item will look. This is the same technique you will want to use on zippers and buttons.
Teeth
and Nails
With teeth I use a light caramel color for a base coat.
Then depending on how fine the teeth on your model are, I either drybrush ivory
over them or brush it on without covering the crevices. With claws I just use
ivory with out a base coat. To age or dirty them up I trace the part of the nail
that touches the flesh with a black/brown and then immediately
Use my water /alcohol to thin it and drag it over the rest of the nail. I must stress that you must do this quickly before the black/brown dries. You should have a dark ring at the top of the nail that blends into the rest of the nail.
If
you feel you have completely screwed up and want to start over.
If you have screwed up (F.U.B.A.R.) and want to strip your model and try again. (Or if you can get a model on the cheap because someone else has screwed up.) The best way to strip your model is (don’t laugh it works) get a zip-lock baggie that your model will fit inside and spray in Easy Off oven cleaner on it. Let it set at least over night. Then remove it from the bag (use gloves) and take an old toothbrush and clean out the nooks and crannies being careful to not get it in your eyes or on a surface you don’t want to ruin. Then wash, rinse. (No need to repeat.). This will not work if some poor, unfortunate slob used standard car model oil based paints. Try not to use oil-based paint thinner as this will severely limit the shelf life of your model.
Finishing.
Now that your painting is done its time to put the finishing touches that will really bring your model to life. The first thing you will want to do is coat your model with a flat lacquer. I can’t stress flat enough here. You don’t want a glossy figure unless it is supposed to look wet. (Creature from the Black Lagoon for example.) Keep in mind this is a necessary process to protect your paint from peeling easily. You don’t want to put it on too thick and have it start running and ruining all your hard work thus far. Be careful, sometimes the lacquer will come out very heavy and fast! When you first spray your model try not to scream when it looks really glossy. It will dry flat. (Trust me here.) Let it dry and again if you didn’t cover everything, wait for it to dry (around a ½ hour.) and then re-spray it. Your model is almost done! This is where you use a couple of magic tricks that will really floor you. Get out your small bottle of high gloss lacquer. Keep in mind you will have to use oil based thinner to clean your brush. For eyes use a small pointed brush and you will want to gloss the eyes, teeth, claws, fingernails, leather, metallics, lips on females, etc… You definitely want to do this after you have sprayed your flat lacquer because it will flatten your gloss. (Again, not good!) Now finally, if you need to add blood (my favorite part! Hee hee!!) . There are a couple of techniques you can use here. You can put it on thick and let it drip. You can smear it down with your brush. And the most fun, you take your brush dip it in your “blood” and using an airbrush (without paint in it) or a can of computer duster and blow spurts on the brush holding it in front of your model. This will give you a splatter effect. Before you try this on your model, practice on a piece of paper to make sure you get the desired effect. The cool thing about the Tamiya clear red is it acts very much like blood. If it is pooled up it is dark. If it is light it looks like they were smeared against blood. (Such as if a knuckle punched an already bloody nose.) For the lighter smeared effect you will just drybrush your “blood” on to the knuckle or what have you.
That’s
it!
I hope this helps you. I have spent a lot of time and money learning to do this. I’ve bought entire magazines just because it has had a hint or technique that I could use. This hobby has served me well. It takes a lot of time and patience to do these models but the end result is well worth it. I have seen really crappy paint jobs on models that were selling for $300.00 TO $400.00. when you paint them yourself you will get exactly what you want. (Even though you may not know what you want! Hee hee…).