Painting pieces!

[LHoffman]

@Swedo:

I am in the process of painting now

well upload images here so we can see :) always fun to see what people do!

Here are a couple examples of my practice round. Granted these are the mostly finished examples of my small number of experiments. I am mostly having a tough time finding the right paints/methods. So far enamels have worked the best.

This is my third Yamato class battleship, as the first two paint choices were simply not working and I abandoned them. Settled with a darker grey + some highlights with a lighter grey.

This was my first carrier, which turned out surprisingly well. Tried to be exact to the picture’s paint scheme (1944 Zuikaku), but there simply is not enough room on the flight deck. Unfortunately you really cannot see the hull camoflage. It is pretty dark under the flight deck overhang.

The Zero was added on a whim to see what it would look like on the carrier. It too turned out well, though it is difficult to see in the picture I took. I was able to add canopy framing and the two nose cannons also.

The “sun” emblems turned out well considering I had to paint them. I am trying to get some decals from I-94 to use instead.

[LHoffman]

Here are a couple more.

Looking at these pictures I see that the camera really is pretty unforgiving. There are some sloppy areas which I will have to clean up, including proper sanding of mold lines prior to painting. Since these are trials I was not too picky.

[Tall Paul]

LHoffman,

I really like your paint jobs and I’m especially impressed by how “crisp” your edges are, and how straight the lines are on the carrier. And the cockpit frames on the Zero,…Wow, you’re talented! CRAZY talented,…haha. I’m just enough OCD to love the details such as these. Keep up the good work!

“Tall Paul”

[LHoffman]

@Tall:

LHoffman,

I really like your paint jobs and I’m especially impressed by how “crisp” your edges are, and how straight the lines are on the carrier. And the cockpit frames on the Zero,…Wow, you’re talented! CRAZY talented,…haha. I’m just enough OCD to love the details such as these. Keep up the good work!

“Tall Paul”

Thanks much Paul. It is for people like you (and myself) that I paint as precise as possible. Will show more when I have them ready.

[Viracocha]

I can’t help… I have to bring up a largely antiquated word… RAD.  These are really cool Hoff!!!

[LHoffman]

@Viracocha:

I can’t help… I have to bring up a largely antiquated word… RAD.  These are really cool Hoff!!!Â

Thanks V.

In the future I will probably start my own thread, so I don’t hijack Swedo’s. He’s been kind enough to give me the opportunity to do a preliminary reveal.

[Swedo]

Those are amazing! I like that you also put up compareable pictures of the real deal so we can see how good replicas you have done! Now my yamatos look like crap compared…  :x

btw… that carrier would fit my army…  :roll: GIVE IT TO ME!  :evil:

[LHoffman]

@Swedo:

Those are amazing! I like that you also put up compareable pictures of the real deal so we can see how good replicas you have done! Now my yamatos look like crap compared… � :x

Thanks Swedo. Yeah, I like to make them look as true-to-life as possible, while retaining something identifiable for recognition purposes. The Yamato was the one I had to do three versions of because I didn’t like the way the paint was looking on the first two. It turned out pretty well, but I am not sure if it will be the way I do them in the future. I still like to experiment. Subtle highlights are the trick; it’s not what you’ve got, but how you use it. Take a close look and you might be able to replicate the way they are painted.

@Swedo:

btw… that carrier would fit my army…� � :roll: GIVE IT TO ME!� � :evil:

You mean the carrier would fit in your navy I think… Might not be as effective on land. Glad you like it. And hey, if I end up not needing it or doing some extras I might be able to mail it to you or something.

[Swedo]

yeah… of course navy…  :roll:
(i will put tracks on it and sent it into the jungle as a mobile HQ/airfield which have 6 attack/defence and can take 10 hits MWAHAHAHHA  :evil:)

[Gargantua]

Mobile airfield… that’s a good idea…

Then you can LAND in territories you just conquered! :D

[toblerone77]

Swedo what do you do to prep your sculpts? All I hear is pime, prime, and prime.

Do you get any chipping? What do you use to seal?

[Swedo]

@toblerone77:

Swedo what do you do to prep your sculpts? All I hear is pime, prime, and prime.

Do you get any chipping? What do you use to seal?

Hello, my english is rather poor so i dont fully understand what you are asking for :/ But as crazy as it seems, i dont prep my pieces at all. I just take them out of the bag and paint them 8-)
I dont wash or prime… maybe im crazy, the future will tell!

No my pieces dont chip whatever that mean, nothing happens to them more then that they get paint on them :-D after i painted i just put a water-based matt varnish on them to protect the paint from greasy mcdonalds fingers :roll:

I have used Humbrol acrylic paints for 95% of the painting and other acryligs for the other 4% and humbrol enamel for about 1% of the figures. I hope this helps! if not, just ask!

[hkytown1]

Love it!

[toblerone77]

Thanks a lot Swedo! I appreciate the heads-up.

[Rorschach]

@toblerone77:

Swedo what do you do to prep your sculpts? All I hear is pime, prime, and prime.

Do you get any chipping? What do you use to seal?

My suggestions, for what it’s worth;

1. Wash them to get rid of any mould release agent still on them (or any greases/oils at all from handling)
   (This will allow the primer and paint to STICK properly, otherwise you may (or may not) find some peeling off)

2. Prime them - Black or white doesn’t matter, just use primer for a great painting surface.

3. Paint them - Acrylics or Enamels, the choice is yours.  I use cheap craft acrylics because they’re cheap, come in a multitude of colours, are easy to find, easy to use and dry quickly.

4. Seal them - Use a clear coat of some sort to seal them.  For A&A pieces I tend to use a “Satin” finish acrylic spray clear coat.  Do at least 2 light coats (heavy coats tend to make unsightly blobs).  This will add durability and protect your hard work from chipping or scratching off during use.

[Rorschach]

Very nice job Swedo!  I like how clean and crisp the lines look on them all.

[KjBush]

OK, so i am going to start painting my Japanese army soon and I am confused about one thing. I see almost all of the painters on this website painting their Japanese fighters (Zeros) white. I was under the impression that the Zero was green. Are the white ones some sort of variants of the green ones or were they just a different paint scheme. Were they deployed at different time periods?? Yeah I really need clarification on this. :D

Thanks

[toblerone77]

The white, black and red paint scheme was used on many Japanese aircraft mostly IJN aircraft.

[KjBush]

ok so i am basically asking what colors i should paint my Zeros. Should i paint both colors?

[Imperious Leader]

For aircraft, Japanese army is green, white is navy. Paint both probably 1/3 and 2/3 ratios for all air units