-A Painting Tutorial and Resource for A&A Global-

@Redleg13A:

I just went through this whole thread again and on top of being inspired by the pieces I bought from you to get back into painting…I can see that I may have lost a step or two in the last 15 years lol…The pieces you’ve demonstrated on this thread are just amazing and I’m hoping that I can get to that level eventually. As you can see from the thread I started, I am painting again…but I sure have a long way to go before I get to your quality of work. Well done and just know that you’re quality of work is now on my front sight post!

Thanks RedLeg! Practice is certainly the best way to improve - you’ll find that you learn from experience; you’ll become familiar with your paint’s viscosity and characteristics, you’ll get a better eye for detail, and you’ll develop your own style. If you want to save your Global pieces until you get to a level you’re happy with, you could get some of HBG’s cheap factory decline pieces for practice.

If you ever have any questions, let me know!

The ships of the Kriegsmarine have finished their time in the drydocks and are ready to cruise the Atlantic!

Battleships

Aircraft Carriers - front are HBG Light Carriers, rear are OOB.

Cruisers - my personal favorites.

Destroyers

Transports

I thought I would take a before and and after shot of the navy to show you what a difference an inkwash will make. While these are not my best work, I think they still serve the purpose!

The shot below is the ships before an inkwash. At this point they just have a coat of primer, one or two base coats for the deck, hull, and superstructure. Notice how flat the piece looks; it looks fine, but it’s not what it could be.

This next shot is after an inkwash. It makes the crevices pop, and you get a much more three dimensional piece, especially from a few feet away on the gaming table. I recommend that you also give it a good drybrushing to make it look even better. Of course, some of it is subjective; you might prefer it to be more of a flat, fresh paint look rather than a battle-worn look.

For those of you interested in my storage solution for my pieces, wait no longer. Below is a picture of my custom build storage box.

This is only one of three that I was planning on building. Each box would hold one nation on each side; this one was originally constructed for the Germans and the Japanese, which is why I used the black and read felt. The Axis Powers!

I only ever got around to building one, but I will need to build two more pretty soon, as this one is too full at the moment.

The materials I used:

• Plastic container with snap on lid (Target)

• Long strips of balsa wood (Michaels)

• Sheets of felt, cut to size (Hobby Lobby)

• Hot glue

• Exacto knife

The rest is pretty self explanatory. You just measure how big you want the individual sections to be, cut the balsa wood to size, glue the felt down, glue the balsa wood down, and you’re done.

I’ve found that it works pretty well for my storage needs, because it keeps the pieces secure and non-scratched because of the felt. My original idea was to see if I could fit in a second level, like a removable tray, but I scratched that idea. I also wanted to spray paint the boxes black and then paint or put a sticker of the national insignia on the box to make it look really professional. You can take the idea and run with it - you guys are creative.

Post your storage solutions here, or let us know how you keep your pieces safe and sound!

@John:

What are you painting next? :-D

Your Japanese military. I don’t have time to do anymore painting before I move, so the paints are all away for a few months.

@jwo1984:

I like your color scheme for the American carriers too.  Question do you use like a ink wash or something to get out details in the hands and face of the men?  Ive seen a few of these impressive details from a few guys on here, just curious what guys do…… look so much better than just the flesh colored blob of a head that my guys have lol

Hey jwo1984 - sorry that I’m just now seeing this! I somehow let it slip.

I do use an ink wash for my soldiers skin (brown). In fact, I use a wash on the whole piece. Depending on the uniform color, I will choose either brown (most uniforms; green, beige or khaki esp.) or black (mostly for blacks or greys, i.e. Germans.) The skin is always brown. I only began this recently, but I find that like you say, it brings out the details. It’s the same method as any other ink wash. However, make sure you don’t let the initial ‘skin’ coat of paint blob out the details. By this I mean don’t apply the skin color too thickly so that the face turns into a featureless blob. If you lose the nose, eye sockets, helmet rim, etc, then the ink wash won’t have any crevices to get into and shadow for that realistic look.

If you are coming to this thread by way of the A&A.org homepage, welcome! I’m so glad you found it. I hope that the article, and the information contained in it helps current or aspiring painters. Please feel free to ask questions about anything and everything, request tutorials, or comment on how you customize.

@Proud:

Spitfire38,

Stumbled onto this tutorial as I just joined the site.  Wow- Really impressive- not just the painting and techniques but also the descriptions, tips, and interaction.
Thanks for sharing your work with us.

Thank you! I’m glad that you’ve enjoyed the work.

@Wizl007:

Yup Spitfire 38 those are awesome
I have a question about what you call “nationalist troops” that insignia you made at the bottom…those soviet troops …
How did you do it? Any special  trick up hour sleeve od it is just patience and steady hand?
Cheers

The hammer and sickle design on the base doesn’t have any real trick to it. I paint the base red and then the boots black. When that is finished, I move on to the yellow hammer and sickle. As you said, it takes patience and a steady hand, and it will probably require you to make some minor adjustments using red or yellow. For example, if I paint the handle of the hammer too wide, I can make it thinner by going back over part of the handle with red, which is the same color as the base of the piece.

@CWO:

@Spitfire38:

When that is finished, I move on to the yellow hammer and sickle. As you said, it takes patience and a steady hand

To paraphrase a flyer I once saw advertisting a Friday-night alcohol-fuelled “Communist party” being held by some university students: it’s hard to paint a tiny hammer and sickle when you’re hammered and pickled.   :-D

Ha, that’s good :D