Tell us how you're doing the figures,always interested. I painted mine black, then painted over that, heard it was a fast and dirty way to get some good shading. It seemed to work, but would like to better on the Gato crew. Also very interested in your kitbashing for the torp loading!
Hi Wink, to answer your questions, the technique I use for 1:72 figure painting is an old one from the late 70's called "stain Painting" a short discription follows:
1) I paint the head and body of figures seperately if possible.
2) Using and airbrush, prime with a light color (generally I use vallejo light grey). This brings out any imperfections that can then be corrected.
3) Again, using and airbrush spray a flat black base coat, I use Lifecolor paints, they have a very fine pigmentation that is important when painting 1:72 scale. Let dry overnight. Vallejo paints also work well.
4) Using flat white, drybrush the entire figure. When finished with this step the raised surfaces will be colored white, while the recesses will still be black.
5) Using acrylics of the chosen color, thinned to the consistency of milk "stain" the figure. Do this until satisfied with the effect, usually no more then two passes. This technique causes a nice blending effect between highlights and shadows.
6) Use a very thin 1:9 wash of medium brown laid in to the recesses using a 000 brush to take a bit of the "harshness" out of the contrast.
7) Finally, drybrush light highlights onto raised surfaces.
Seal by airbrushing a matt varnish. (I use Vallejo Matt)
I use a different technique for the faces.
a. Airbrush a flesh colored base coat. This gives a smooth surface to work with. (I use Vallejo flesh)
b. Paint eyebrows, beards if wanted, using an acrylic color of your choice. Let everything dry overnight.
c. Use an oil based wash of Burnt Umber to lay in the deep shadows and eyes. At 1:72 scale you can't see the "whites of the eyes" or iris color so this is as far as one needs to go for the eyes.
d. Using artists oils, Yellow Ochre and Raw Umber mix light and very light highlights and dark shadows. Using a drybrush technique lay these onto the correct locations, a tiny bit is all that is needed for this. Next take a soft brush and working from top to bottom lightly stroke the bruch a few times. This will blend the paint nicely.
e. Finally, after everything is dry and again using a airbrush, spray a tiny bit of semi-gloss coat from directly above the head. This will give the upper surfaces of the face a bit of sheen and add "life" to it.
It all sounds more complex than it is and the results are quite nice.
The kitbashing/scratchbuilding of the torpedo loading equipment is nearly complete and was pretty straightforward. I used several of the parts from the CMK torpedo loading set, a "block" made out of resin, and some small parts to scratch built a block and tackle arrangment (still waiting for the blocks to arrive).
I have three photos of type IIs loading torpedos. The vertical post and block and tackle appear to be the same as those used in other uboot types. The loading tray and its supports look much different. In fact, they look slightly different in each of the three photos. This leads me to believe that crews may have used what was on hand to give the tray the proper angle. In two of the photos, the loading tray appears to be supported on a piece of knee height wood.
I will post a couple of photos tonight when I get home. Again, it is pretty straightforward.
Ernest
