"As with all model work, painting believable figures is not about using the correct colours, but using the colours that actually look correct."

Having painted white metal military figures for many years, I feel I could write volumes on this topic. I will however, try to keep to the point. Which is that; To a railway modeller figures are just another background accessory, something many want to finish with quickly and move on from. Yet we are torn by the fact that if done well they can really add life and give a sense of scale to a model or layout, done badly they can spoil it, as such we tend to be looking for the impossible; really quick techniques that give really impressive results. I can't promise the impossible, but I can offer advice on quick techniques for painting believable miniature figures.

Believable Miniatures.

Many excellent articles have appeared in military modelling magazines, offering advice on painting single figures. However, when dealing with just one figure which has taken many hours to sculpt, or cost a great deal to buy, it is important to draw attention to this single model and make it stand out by painting the livery of the uniform with careful blending and shading, paying attention to all the fine detail. A time consuming and challenging process but one which military modellers enjoy. On a model railway it is doubtful that the couple of commuters stood at the end of your platform are supposed to be the sole focus of anyone's attention. Our figures are used in numbers to add a sense of life to the background. We need to paint our figures accordingly so that they remain a part of the background and do not stand out too much. Furthermore, we are rarely willing to pay the prices necessary to obtain figures as well sculpted or detailed as those of military modellers, and would rather not spend upward of twelve hours painting each figure. Consequently the techniques described in the military modelling press are of little more than passing interest.

I don't intend to dwell on techniques for painting really detailed figures suitable for little cameos, or close up photographs for magazine publication. More detailed and time consuming methods can be found in any military modelling magazine. What I do propose to do is to discuss the ethos behind the techniques I use to quickly produce figures which, in my opinion at least, form part of a subtle backdrop. These are not stand alone masterpieces for the display cabinet but can look very effective in-situ on the layout when viewed from a distance of three or four feet away. Sadly the enlarged close up photographs displayed on this web site can't really do justice to this approach, or fairly represent the full effect of viewing from a distance, with many of my customers at shows commenting on how much better the actual figures look than their photgraphs in my catalogue pages of this web site. Whilst these pictures do show the methods of painting and how little detail or precision is needed, when greatly magnified in this manner the brush work, particularly on 4mm figures, can look a little untidy, some of the colour choices can appear a little unusual, whilst the painted shadows can often appear over done. All I can say is that the quick painting techniques described here do work, and that I hope the photographs of the figures in-situ on layouts go some way to illustrating this. If you want to see further proof then come speak to me at one of the many exhibitions I regularly attend, or better still give the methods a try yourself.

Colour and Paint.

The debate about scale colour has been well trod by many others, and by myself elsewhere on this website. Suffice to say, that at a distance things all look smaller and their colours become muted, faded and blured by atmospheric haze. Since our models already look small we need to fade our colours for them to appear believable. The smaller the scale the more we need to do so. This is before we even take into account any effects of weathering and ageing which also tend to fade colours, and the effects of changing lighting conditions. Points I feel that are lost upon those modellers who will debate for hours the exact colour of a particular blend of paint used by a particular company on a particular date for a particular locomotive, coach or wagon. Even if they do get the correct colour, it will only look correct on the full size thing, when brand new, and when viewed under their perceived ideal lighting conditions. We have to 'scale down' the colour just as we scale down the dimensions, it's just that scaling down colour to give a believable representation on our models is a subjective artistic decision rather than a mathematical process.

I exclusively use acrylics for all my figure painting (and most other model work too). These are what I know, these are what I like. Some military modellers may tell you oil based paints are the best to use because they dry more slowly, giving you a better chance at blending. They may be right but what they do in oils I do in acrylic. Some people even use enamels but I've yet to find anything I can do well with them. If you have a preference stick with what you know and like.

I don't have any preferred paint manufacturer, I routinely use Humbrol, Tamyia, and Games Workshop along with occassional pots of paint from the many specialist military figure manufacturers found on the Continent. I've also used Windsor and Newton and Rowney paints to good effect, along with other acrylics supplied by fine art shops. Sample pots from your DIY store are also good value paint for model work and offer a reasonable selection of colours from which to mix your own. What I will say is that you can rarely buy a suitable selection of colours for painting miniature figures and so mixing your own paint is usually necessary.

So how do we keep our little figures comfortably in the background? Well in part it's back to that old bugbear; scale colour. We have to overplay the idea of scale colour and heavily subdue our choice of colours. Avoid using gloss paints, wherever possible use matt finishes, at times a slight satin sheen can be effective. Also avoid strong primary colours, along with black and white, all of which are too prominent. So where does that leave us?

With a slightly grubby selection of mainly creams, browns and greys. I never use paint straight from the tin. As I said earlier it's rarely possible to buy a good enough selection of useful colours. Years ago I started mixing and decanting my own paint from a basic selection of colours. I keep all my own mixes in unlabeled glass vials obtained from a chemical laboratory supplier. My selection of paints does include one vivid example of each of the primary colours, along with silver, gold, black and white, all as bought, but the majority of those which see regular use I have blended myself. Usually by adding cream or beige paint to a manufacturers blend of colour, just to 'knock it back' a bit, the smaller the scale of the model, the more cream I add. Though I occasionally mix a particular colour for a specific project, I keep a stock selection of pre-mixed paints in complimentary groups which can be used for shadowing or highlighting each other. These include almost a dozen different browns, a range of greys and a good selection of flesh colours. These ranging from a pasty white through to a deep pink brown colour suitable for lips and also adding a little colour to the cheeks of certain figures.

On the subject of a suitable tone for painting flesh, almost everything sold for such purposes is far too pink. Human skin may appear fairly pink from up close but not from a distance. Though a mix for a good flesh tone will include white and a little red the predominant colours are straw yellows and beige browns. If you intend mixing your own flesh colours, which more than any other colour is a necessity keep in mind the distance from which your models will be viewed. Then equate this to a real full size distance and judge the colour accordingly. The finished mix will be far paler than you might expect, almost ivory in most cases.

The paint swatches above are taken straight from my paint box and are contrasted against the vibrant colours from which they were originaly blended. Obviously the exact colours perceived will depend upon your computer monitor, but they do show the extent to which I fade my colours when working with small miniatures such as model railway figures. Shown over the larger areas displayed here they do look very faded, but appear more vibrant and believable when on small figures. Of course you can take things too far and end up with a whole model which just looks a washed out greyish brown, the extent to which you scale down your colours is entirely up to you. I normally try to introduce just the smallest splash of a more vibrant colour on a figure just to stop everything looking too drab, a bright red tie being a common favourite.

So now we have a heavily subdued colour palette to choose from, the next step is to decide on the colour scheme for our particular figure. This may be dictated by the uniforms of a particular company or may be governed by fashions in the period modelled. If possible try to restrict the number of different colours you use on a single figure. Achieve your contrast through using lighter or darker variations of one colour rather than using too many different colours. If it's not possible to restrict the number of colours used, then try give the different colours similar tonal values. When darkening or lightening paint never use black or white. Use creams or yellows to lighten colours and browns and greys to darken them. This again adds to the whole feel of achieving a subdued, softened and faded finished result.

We instinctively recognise human beings by their facial features. We are also naturally drawn towards light and away from dark. If we can paint a figure in such a way that its legs are dark, it's torso lighter and the face the lightest part of the figure, we feel comfortably directed up towards the face. For many this is subconsciously far more pleasing than a figure where the clothes are lighter than the face. At the risk of being accused of some sort of racial prejudice, this can make producing a pleasing finish when painting certain ethnic minorities an interesting, though not impossible, challenge.

A last point I will make when thinking about the use of colour is this. Don't be afraid to experiment and try things that seem counter intuitive. As an example; I was painting a figure of a workman stripped down to the waist. He was wearing high visibility overalls which were understandably proving difficult to make look low key. They stood out far too much, as I suppose the colour is meant to. The figure wasn't working as there was a clash between the vibrant bold trousers and the pale subdued chest. The trousers were clearly the focus of attention. After failing to subdue the orange through the addition of copious amounts of brown I thought what the heck and added bright orange to the flesh tone. The skin tone is now somewhat dodgy, and although the whole figure is slightly brighter than I would otherwise have liked, that clash of colours, or perhaps I should say clash of tonal values, has gone and so it doesn't actually look wrong. The figure works as a whole and nobody has noticed or commented upon it's unhealthy skin colour. As with all model work it's not about using the correct colours as measured scientifically, it's about using the colours that actually look correct on the model, under what ever lighting, artificial or otherwise that the model will be displayed.

So far you will notice I've only really discussed thinking about colour, not how you actually put the paint onto a figure. If you adopt the principle of using a subdued palette of colours and try to harmonise all the colours used on a single figure, group of figures, or even whole diorama or layout you can't go far wrong. With painting figures for model railways the important thing is relative use of colour and controlling the contrast, not the fine detail.

General Painting techniques.

Let me start by recommending preparing all miniatures for painting by cleaning off any existing flashing and part lines with needle files or scalpel and washing in vinegar and warm water to remove any traces of release agent from the casting process. This can be followed by gluing parts together and filling any visible gaps or holes with epoxy putty if needed.

There isn't a magic brand of paintbrush that makes this easy, simply buy good quality brushes that hold a sharp point. The standard brush numbering system relates not to the fineness of the tip of a brush, but the size of the metal ferrule. Whilst a brush's ability to shape a precise point depends not upon the quantity of hairs in the ferrule, but upon the quality and length of those hairs. Very small brushes with very few hairs tend to have very short hairs, this is an immediate disadvantage to shaping a good point as they are far more likely to get paint trapped in the ferrule splaying the hairs out of shape. So whilst you can buy size 'OOOO' and smaller they rarely keep a point as well as a size '5', '2' or 'O', they also hold less paint, consequently I find them of little use. If you do have a good brush that holds a really sharp point, look after it, treasure it, only use it for those occasions when you really need a sharp point as it won't last that long. Keep the paint out of the ferrule, always clean your brushes thoroughly when you finish work, and protect the hairs when not in use. My preference, although difficult to find and often costing four or five times more than the sort of cheap brushes usually sold in model shops, is for good quality size 2 and size 5 signs writers riggers. These brushes with extra long hairs hold a precise point better than any other type of brush, what is more because the hairs are so long you need only ever paint with the tip, keeping the ferrule completely clear of paint, making them easier to keep clean and in good order. It's also worth looking after your paint. Keep it well stirred and thinned so that it is free flowing. Never clean your brush against the side of the tin, this dries to form a crust which adds lumps to the paint and stops the lid from fitting correctly. Soon all the paint inside dries up. Clean your brush on an old rag, tissue, or the back of your hand. In the long run it wastes far less paint than throwing away half a tin once it's become one solid lump.

Undercoating figures is supposed to be a good thing but I never bother when working quickly, matt acrylics cover well enough on their own and by the time you've done a little blending or shading of paint there's always enough on the model to cover it. A first coat of paint to try out the colour scheme serves as my only undercoat. Besides when painting quickly we rarely achieve the thin uniform coats of paint we should ideally be looking for, and too many coats of paint can begin to obscure any finely sculpted detail on a small scale miniature. If you do prefer to undercoat and prime your figures, choose a pale sky blue colour, as this will allow overlying colours to reflect back light in the most natural manner. Undercoating with black or dark greys risks 'killing' any painted finish by making everything look too dark.

Shadows & Highlights.

Shadows are the key thing that can make or break a small model figure. At a distance it is these that give shape and form to a three dimensional object. Even with detailed sculpting and strong lighting these won't look natural. Light refracts around the edges of tiny objects. Since we can't scale down the wavelength of visible light we can't create natural looking shadows on small models. We have no choice but to paint them.

Trompe-l'oeil painting; Five identical 1/43rd scale blank figures without sculpted faces or clothes. By painting in the missing shadows we can simulate all the detail we would expect to see.

Shadows are black aren't they? WRONG! Never use black white or primary colours on miniatures, they look too prominent. Shadows occur where the light falling on a surface is restricted, the surface therefore reflects back less light. It looks a darker version of whatever colour the surface is, shadows only appear black if no light is reaching them at all. Since we usually deal with multiple light sources reflecting of a multitude of surfaces, some light will usually reach everywhere. What's more even a pure black object will only look black from close up, viewed from a distance it will start to look more grey. If we are scaling down the colours we use to paint a model, we need to scale down the colours we use to paint the shadows. I've painted shadows in pale blue before now. If you must paint a shirt white then blue is the best colour for the shadows, it keeps the white looking fresh. However, pale cream is a far superior choice of colour for the shirt since this can be shadowed with a slightly darker brown which looks more subdued.

Painted shadows on a model serve two purposes;
(1)They give depth to creases and folds in the clothes. These can be painted by blending a little darker paint into the still wet paint of the main colour. Blending isn't a difficult technique, yet for some reason many people shy away from it. If the base coat of paint is still wet you will almost automatically get some natural smudging of colours into one another, this can be further encouraged by brushing the added colour outwards with a fairly clean brush. You can with patience achieve a completely gradual change of colour, which is, of course what military modellers aim for. With figures for our railway we just need to soften the edges between the different colours so as to reduce the contrast. What's more it's really only worth bothering with blended shadows if you have a large uniform expanse of colour as this can add interest to an otherwise flat area such as a long overcoat.
(2)More importantly shadows define the edges of features. Black-lining is a technique which is still worryingly advocated by many people. It is not inherently a bad technique, just one which is usually misunderstood and badly applied. Many people will tell you that it involves outlining every feature with a strong black shadow; Often by applying a wash of black ink over the finished model. or by dry brushing over a black undercoat. Sadly this just produces a dark, dirty looking model. Black-lining itself isn't the problem, but as I've already said very few shadows are black, use dark browns for a much softer appearance, use pale browns, greys or even creams for your shadows. Match the colour of your shadows to the colours of the edges they are separating.

I've discussed the importance of shadows as painting these can give a dramatic improvement in the appearance of a model figure. Highlighting raised areas gives much less of an impact and for those in a hurry is not really necessary. Certainly not when it comes to carefully blending in paler colours to highlight the raised parts of folds in clothes. However, for the sake of what is literaly in most cases just a few seconds extra work I would advise experimenting with dry brushing highlights along the edges of collars, fronts of jackets or seams of trousers. For those that aren't familiar with this technique, it involves loading the brush with thick paint, then wiping most of it off until the brush is virtually dry. This brush can then be lightly flicked across the surface of the model where it will catch on raised surfaces leaving tiny traces of paint. This is one of the few occasions I will actually use white, although if you are still practising the technique of dry-brushing and are a little heavy handed stick wth a pale cream which will be less stark. The reason I would advise adding these highlights is that the affects of scaling down colour can occasionally give a a slightly drab finish which can be brought back to life by a little light. However it has to be said that the smaller the scale the more effective this is, and that it is also more of a technique or trick for the camera, looking more effective in close up photographs than when viewed in-situ on a layout.

A-Typical shop bought pre-painted finish with gloss vivid colours.
B-Subdued finish, achieved by adding a little brown or cream to each colour.
C-Heavy black-lining giving a dark and dirty appearance.
D-Restrained 'black' lining using dark browns and greys.
E-Full blending and shading of each shadow or highlight, with a detailed face.
..........Is it worth all the extra effort involved for the minor gain in appearance?

When it comes to outlining features, it is something I feel is beneficial but only if done subtly. The shadows need to be fine and in most cases only just a little darker than the edges they are running along. I like to paint my shadows in afterwards with a fine brush while the base coat of paint is still wet. This achieves a slight blending effect and a softening of the shadow. In places of deep shadow such as under the arms, the same technique can be used blending in a much darker shade to exaggerate the effect. Nine times out of ten delicate outlining is all that is needed for background figures on a model railway, full blending and shading of each feature is rarely worth the extra effort.

Painting Faces.

This seems to be the bit that people really want to know about so I'll make this a little more of a step by step guide. Whilst your flesh colour is still wet run a fine line of a medium dark brown around the hair line, under the chin and around the collar such that it smudges in and blends roughly with the flesh colour. Next repaint the eye sockets with more flesh colour and work a tiny amount of a dark brown into the centre of this wet paint, smudging this outwards so that the shadow fades. Use what ever murky paint is still left on the brush to add a little smudge beneath the nose and similarly below the bottom lip. Paint the hair what ever colour you have chosen. Finally dry brush a little more of a pale flesh colour over the raised parts of the face to highlight cheekbones, eye lids or lips.

You can keep working at the face aiming for finer and smoother blending adding paler shadows along side the nose and beneath the cheeks. You can also add a touch of colour to the cheeks or lips but you have to ask how many people are actually going to notice the slight difference it will make.

There's not a lot to it really. The painting of faces can be very crude as from a distance it's just the general effect of shadows that count. The blending doesn't have to be precise. Human beings seem genetically programmed to instinctively recognise faces, we can even see them in the shapes of clouds or damp patches on walls. A few vague soft smudges in the right place is all it takes for your subconscious to fill in the details and tell you that you are looking at a face. It can only go wrong if the colours aren't smudged into one another enough and the contrasts become too sharply defined. If it works the general effect should be one of the whole figure appearing slightly blotchy and out of focus when studied up close. Think about Impressionist paintings; The individual brush marks are quite untidy but by controlling the colours used the overall effect is convincing from a distance .

If that all sounds complicated and time consuming it isn't. The most time consuming part is applying the first coat of base colour to test the colour scheme and effectively undercoat the model. From then on speed is important because you are mainly working wet on wet to achieve the crude blending; The finish doesn't need to be neat, smudging of one colour into the next is what we are aiming for. I rarely clean my paint brush between changing colours, a quick wipe across the back of my hand to remove any excess and straight in to the next colour. With several colours of paint on the brush at the same time it usually leads to a natural blending and muddying of colours giving a subdued paint finish. Most mixing of colours I do on the model, just 'splodge' the different colours on top of one another and brush them outwards, a technique which often gives the appearance of effective and detailed shadowing when viewed from a distance. Though I wouldn't choose to work so quickly, I can, at a push, finish an 'O'gauge figure for a model railway start to finish in under quarter of an hour, much less for a smaller figure. Of course the finer the finish you require the longer it will take.

So what about eyes and facial hair, buttons, buckles and all that sort of fine detail? These things are important on a single stand alone miniature, that's why military modellers spend hours painting them. On a figure for a model railway it's probably much more than is needed. However, should you want to, it is all perfectly attainable in figures sculpted to 1/43rd scale and smaller. It just takes time and patience working with a brush that holds a really sharp point. Which isn't necessarily a really fine paint brush. Too fine and there aren't enough hairs to shape a good point.

If you intend painting the whites of the eyes and the pupils, these need to be as tiny as you can make them. In 7mm scale the visible part of an eye should be about 0.6mm long by about 0.2mm high. In 4mm scale much smaller still. Since most of this will be the iris and pupil in a dark shadowy eye socket it will be barely visible, even from up close. Look at somebody across an exhibition hall or at the other end of a station platform, how close do you have to get to see the whites of their eyes? Do they even look white or are they more of a creamy beige colour when viewed from a distance? People often like to paint in "detailed" eyes as they seem to feel it's some measure of skill on their behalf. What they've actually painted is something proportionally the size of a tennis ball stuck to the face, which stares back at you quite alarmingly, even from several feet away. You can get away with eyes slightly over scale if you want to make a feature of a face but beware of creating something too much like a comic charicature.

In brief then...

So, in short, the painting of a figure for a model railway can be broken into the following successive stages, as illustrated by this '4mm' example of a Labourer.


A-bare casting cleaned of any traces of flashing using a scalpel or needle files.
B-Basic colours quickly blocked in so as to effectively under-coat the figure.
C-The most prominent creases exaggerated with slightly darker paint.
D-Delicate 'black-lining' applied around the edges of the features and along major creases.
E-Delicate white highlights dry-brushed over the raised edges.
F-Lastly the face is painted as explained above.

So there you have it a fairly rapid process taking only a little more than five minutes: Perhaps a little longer than some may chose to spend but well worth the minimal time spent for the improvement in appearance over shop bought pre-painted figures. So, how does that time break down over the individual steps? Cleaning a good quality casting should take little more than a few seconds, applying the first coat of paint is the most time consuming part, usually taking about three minutes to do neatly. Of course it can be done far quicker than this if rushed. Step 'C' is optional but really only takes a few seconds as we only need one or two quick brush strokes applied before the first coat of paint drys. The delicate 'black-lining' is worth taking care with, so this may take a couple of minutes. Step 'E' the highlighting is again optional but dry brushing doesn' take long and I feel is well worth the thirty or so seconds it will take. Painting the face is now something I can do very quickly, usually no more than a minute. However, I have found beginners seem to labour this aspect of figure painting, largely becuase they haven't the confidence to believe that a few vague smudges will really look effective. The tendency is to look at your work up close, feel it looks a bit messy and to then spend ages trying to clarify everything. As you can see then, this shouldn't take long, in fact if just painting one figure a significant amount of the time spent can go on simply opening and closing your paint tins and stirring your paint. For this reason I normally prepare all my paints and brushes before starting to paint a large batch of figures in one go.

Conclusion

It is invariably the case that you end up working to a higher level of detail than that which is needed, since it can be very rewarding to see just how much you can achieve. Particularly if you wish to start creating little cameo scenes designed to attract attention. Once your confidence starts to grow you'll develop a style of your own and techniques to achieve the things you desire. Beware though, the more detailed and more refined the painting, the more the figures tend to draw attention to themselves as models in their own right. It may seem an odd thing to say, but a model railway can be spoiled by one single item of a significantly higher standard than the majority, just as easily as a single item below this standard.The more detailed your figures, the more they tend to compete with and potentially detract from the other buildings and railway locomotives and rolling stock.

To be truly believable the whole layout needs finishing to a uniform standard with a controlled colour balance though out. Which is perhaps one of the hardest things to achieve, both for club projects being worked upon by several members, and equally individual projects, where a single persons skills are rarely of uniform standard across all the disciplines needed by the railway modeller. Remember figures are but one small part of a bigger picture. If you find yourself getting carried away with these, think about military modelling as another hobby altogether.

So there you have it. I have written predominantly about 7mm 'O' gauge models since this is the scale which I have chosen to model railways in, but all of the ideas discussed are equally applicable in the smaller scales. Indeed the images shown here are a mixture of 4mm and 7mm figures, The military figures are slightly larger being 1/32nd scale which is roughly the equivalent size of Gauge 1 (10mm:ft). Painting figures for model railways isn't difficult largely because we don't need to produce anything too detailed. If you can get to grips with sub-duing your colours, you are on a winner and one step ahead of some who produce and sell these things in the trade. However, I neither claim my methods are perfect, nor any better than anyone else's and if you don't like my style then you're probably not alone. Yet in my own arrogant little way I at least believe I'm heading down the right track, and, if the comments made to me at exhibition, by you the public are to be believed, then there are plenty of you out there that agree with me. Scaling down colour so that our figures blend into the background is the way to go.