Degree of difficulty in painting n scale figures

I've seen that Walthers has a set of 125 Preiser unpainted figures on sale. I previously had only used pre-painted ones from Preiser, Woodland Scenics and Model Power but they tend to get expensive very quickly. Can n scale unpainted figures be nicely painted without causing one to go completely crazy?

I've seen the bargain ones on the auction site and will probably get some of those for passenger cars and for use in the background, but am trying to decide whether I want to attempt hand painting of unpainted figures. Jim

 

or the paint thin enough.

 

Painting N Scale Figures

After using some of the painted Preiser figures on my layout, I decided to try painting some on my own, since the painted ones did not "fit' into the scene I wanted to include - a hobo camp.

The issues I faced were, 1) how do I do it, and 2) what paint should I use.

I found the paint at a hobby store that sells dugeons and dragons type figures. The paint was made by Ral Partha, but I don't know if they still make paints.

To paint, I removed the figure I wanted. Taking a flat head nail, like a three inch nail, I placed a small dab of zap-a-gap on the nail head and stuck the figure to it. This allows you to rotate the figure to any position you want and never touch the figure itself. I used a 000 size brush. Once painted, I stuck the nail in a piece of foam until it dried, then used an exacto knife with a #11 blade to remove the figure from the nail head.

As far as eye sight and steadyness, I have a torn and detached retina in one eye and a detached vitrious in the other, and numerous "floaters". I also have "shaky" hands. Solution: Optivisor for my eyes, and I steadied my hand on a the table top when painting.

The figures came out really nice. Someone has taken a picture of the hobo scene and posted it on the internetr at: Piute Flats Branch- Best small layout I have ever seen | nScale.net

While it is not a real close up shot, it gives you the idea. The figures have dirty clothes with patches on the knees of the pants and on the elbows of the coats.

 

Some good advice David - thanks. What are the basic colors you used?

I may give it a try if I have enough energy left after our 18 month old grandson leaves. He can wear adults out quickly, but the little guy likes to see the trains run. Jim

 

I bought the set you are talking about. My method was to leave them and paint one color at a time for as many as were needed. Lets say 40 would have brown. I would do all 40 them move on to the next color. When they wer all done then I cut them off and did whatever touch up was needed. I used mainly the cheap paint you can buy at places like wallmart that are latex in small bottles for a dollar. They have a fairly wide assortment of colors and are easy to mix and clean up with water.

 

This is how I painted my Preisers 120 figures:

1) Leave the figure on sprues, this will make handling and painting a lot easier
2) paint everything a flesh pink
3) let dry
4) grab a color, say red, and start painting one figure's pants, another figure's t-shirt, another one figure's coat and so on
5) grab another color, say blue, and start painting one figure's pants, another figure's t-shirt, another one figure's coat and so on.
6) grab another color, say brown, and start painting some figures' hair
7) grab another color, say yellow, and start painting other figures' hair
etc...

When you're done and the figures are completely dried up, remove them from the sprue, file the excess and finish painting the top of the heads.
In a couple of days I was able to paint a hundred figures like that...

 

Another thing I've found keep your brush wet...always. Once paint begins to dry you lose bristle flexibility. Invariably you go straight for more paint trying to get that over-all strap or jacket collar. Next thing you know you jam the brush hard and the guy has a denim colored face!

Keep a 2 ounce jar of water as well as a rag handy. Never use Alcohol I've found it causes coagulation some water based paints and dries much quicker than water. Paint a couple figures, then wet your brush, use the rag to claim excess water from your brush. Remember you dont want it soaked and you dont want it dry, just wet. Not enough to thin your paint just enough to keep the bristles lubed.

I would also add let the paint work for you! Often I've found paint is to thick to "flow" into seams and crevices, such as suspenders on figures. Give it a little water to thin it out.

Hope that helps,
Tim

 

In addition to model railroading, I also play miniatures. The majority of that hobby is painting figures...sometimes quite a bit smaller than the 1:160 we use in railroading.

I would suggest that you use one of the 1 gallon paint stirrers that you get from Home Depot.

Then you attach the figures using some of the gummy-tack. It's a little like Silly Putty.

Then spray with black primer.

Then drybrush the color that you want.

You should expect to get about a dozen figures per stick.

You can have several sticks going, however, I would suggest that you keep it to no more than 3 otherwise it will take you so long to get all of them done that you will have them lying around for weeks on end.

 

In my 30s I would paint 1/285 military figures in at least 4 colors.

 

Painting the little people doesn't sound too bad to do, appreciate the great tips and suggestions. There's no great rush as in checking around I found places that have them cheaper than the Walthers sale price. Now if they only had cheap unpainted 1960s style vehicles...

 

Denny99 has outlined my procedure for the most part. I use an Optivisor and, while my hands are still pretty steady, hand rests to make them even steadier.

I use a fairly big brush rather than a tiny one. A good quality no.3 or 4 brush will have a fine point, and I find it much easier to use just the point rather than a smaller brush.

When I have a lot of people--sailors for my Navy, for example, I spray the whole sprue a dark blue, then add details like faces or exposed T-shirts.

A drop of paint on a metal surface and a very fine piece of wire makes painting eyes a snap. I carve a tiny bit of paint from the edge of the drop and apply it. Yes, they are just dark blue dots, but it works.

 

I'll get to apply some of the good advice here as I just ordered a set of the Preiser unpainted set 79006. It will be a good rainy days project this Summer. Jim

 

Painting figures overall has been covered well enough here. For painting FINE details, like faces, use colored pencils. You can add just a bit of color to a figure's face by using a brown pencil or even a regular graphite pencil. The softer the pencil the better.
After all is done use a light BLACK wash to bring out the details, and dull the finish. Look around you VERY few people have BRIGHT & SHINING clothes. To finish out the figure a coat of DULLCOTE will do it.