I have been one of the fortunate people — even though I may not always think it — who has been able to work safely from home during the UK COVID-19 lockdown, albeit everything seems to take at least 50 percent longer and my working day is invariably lengthened! Given that I now need to make time for exercise that I would normally get during the daily commute to work, I don’t actually have any additional time to myself during the week. Even weekends seem to have filled up with Zoom sessions and the like!Nevertheless, I was determined to attempt at least one rainy-day project, and thought that the Modelu figures that I reviewed back in March 2017 might be something achievable in small doses. I would use the same painting technique that I mentioned in January 2015 that worked well on cast metal figures. Would I be satisfied with the results on plastic 3D-printed figures?
The first step was to take each figure and carefully wash it with warm water and inexpensive shower gel, using an old soft-bristled craft paint brush. Once all the figures had been washed, they were left in a warm dust-free environment for at least 24 hours to dry. I was then able to use double-sided tape (3M) to carefully attach (without handling) each of the figures to an old scrap of softwood, in preparation for the matt black base coat.
My favoured way of applying the black paint layer is to use acrylic matt black from an aerosol can, as is usually found in car accessory shops and similar. It is important that this is done outside on a still, fine day, or else in a shed where the vapour can be directed outside! The trick is to go for two or three light applications of paint, allowing ten minutes between each coat.
The figures in their black paint undercoats can then be returned to their warm, dust-free environment for at least another 24 hours to allow the base coats to harden. (I found that an inverted 0.3 litre Really Useful Storage box and lid made an ideal drying area.)
The next stage required each figure to be carefully removed from the block of wood and attached to an individual base for brush-painting. I found that old orange juice carton caps and milk container caps worked well as a source of bases. The double-sided tape still had enough tack to fix the bases of the figures to the caps. I used more double-sided tape to attach a couple of coins inside the milk cap to give more stability to the 0 gauge figure.
Now I could start on the hand-painting. I began with Daler-Rowney Warm Grey System 3 acrylic paint, dry-brushed on to each figure in turn using a Pro Arte Acrylix Series 204 flat brush — 1/8” for the 4 mm scale figures, and 1/4” for the 7 mm figure. Strokes were always vertically downward, attempting to recreate the shadows of strong light from above. Allowing at least 24 hours for the grey to harden, I repeated the process more sparingly with Daler-Rowney Titanium White in order to depict the high-lights on the upper surfaces of each figure.
Tune in another time to see progress on the glazes, and hopefully the finished articles...
