WIP Critique 1/6th scale RAAF Spitfire Pilot, 1942

Hi guys,

I thought I'd start a new thread to show you some detailed pics of the Naked Army Spitfire Pilot. It's getting closer to completion, and now I'm mostly touching up minor details.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

Hi Tony,

good looking face.
Nice job

Tony,
He looks the biz - like the mucky face!
Chris

Tony, I'm sure he just blinked, stunning detail work.

Cheers Ken

Congrats, Tony! So it wasn't the menacing task that it sounded like after all.

Love it, the soot on the face is a nice touch. Great work.

Fantastic work Tony, the face is very well done.


Cheers David

Your figure is alive... love it.

like that very much ,especially the dirty face, big well done, speak to you soon,

Rob

Tony really like where you are going with this figure and you are really putting life into him now, if i had to give a critique it would be that its not going to be mine when its finished

Steve

Hi Tony
Love the work you've put into this figure especially as he's 1/6th scale.The weathed textures are spot on as well.
As you know i served in the RAAF but i can't remember seeing the pilots dressed like him.Must be younger than i thought!!!!!!!
Brian

Hi Tony,
you did an incredible paint on this face wahou !

Very realistic Tony, I think that you mate will be very impressed.
What's next for the Tony treatment,
Carl.

Great figure and subject. Love it!

Thank you to everyone for your enthusiastic comments. I'm sorry none of you will get to see this figure in person.

The friend I'm making this figure for will be blown away when he sees this at his wedding next month, It's one week since I started building and painting this magnificent Naked Army kit, and now I'm going to put him on top of the fridge and leave him for a few days.

I can now focus on putting the base together, which will include a name plate and RAAF pilot badge.

As for painting, well I'm 90% done now, and I'm very pleased with the results so far. Luckily I've given myself enough time now to do all the little touch ups that will bring this figure to life, and make him "pop".

As everyone knows, it's the last 10% of painting and weathering that defines the final look of the model, and in this scale that means attention to little details, while also trying to make the entire figure look realistic from any distance.

I've spent 30 hours painting this figure so far, plus 5 hours of tuning the radio station, cleaning brushes, searching for paints, picking lint out of my belly button, finding dropped "bits" in the carpet, etc etc.

I see the need to keep working on the arms and legs; the flesh tones need more blending and the muscles need better definition. The face can use more colour in the cheeks and neck.

I chose to add the "goggle shadow" effect around the eyes to emphasise that he'd just landed and was fresh from battle with the Luftwaffe. I'll keep working on it with pastels and oils.

I've just done a heavy black wash on the groundwork, and will leve it for a few days before highlighting with pastel washes. I'll leave part of the ground work under the figure in shadow to emphasise the sun being directly ahead.

There are lots of buttons, studs and metal rigging buckles that need highlighting and a final shadow wash before they're done. Item no. 123 on my list of "small " touch ups !

A wise old Kiwi mate once told me that there are three thing a person sees first and reacts to when looking at a model; the face, the hands and the boots, in that order.

So before I call this figure finished, I'll take a few days to view it from a variety of distances and angles, and deal with the final 10% in that order. This final painting process is similar to a photographer sharpening the focus on his camera to eliminate any bluriness and make everything sharp.

The key to painting large scale such as 1/6th, is to get the contrast correct. In this scale, a lower level of contrast is needed, so shadows aren't Chaos black and highlights aren't pure Titanium white. In this scale both extremes ends of the colour spectrum are less extreme than you would normally use in 120mm, and especially 54mm.

The key is to find the right balance so the figure will look good when displayed and viewed on a mantlepiece at eye height, or in a cabinet under lights. I've also been taking my pilot outside and holding him up to the sky to see what he looks like under the sun. It's a good tip to help any modeller achieve a realistic paint job, and see how different textures (skin, leather, metal) shine under natural sunlight.

Many thanks to all of you who have commented and offered your encouragement. I'll post a few more pics in a couple of days and hopefully you'll be able to see the final stages unfold.

Nice one Tony, not an easy figure subject to paint either.Look forward to completion here.

Looks very good Tony!!!
chris

Hi! Tony.
You have built it into a wonderful work.
The fresh tone is very cool.
The feel of a material of the details is also beautiful.
I liked it very much.

Mitsutaka

Skin tones good, blending superb, different textiles represented by different finishes (gloss, satin, matte, etc)

With the the eyes, have I missed seeing the little pink touch where the tear ducts are in the inner corners, near the nose?

I just checked out my eyeballs in the 1:1 mirror, and not prominently visible, still there though.

On the face shot, there seems to be a shadow or a patch of ochre on the right side of the neck (the figures left) just under the jaw line, roughly on the sternomastoid. (after reaching for my new anatomy for artists book)

Just my observations, which you may have since fixed, knowing you.

Here is what I really love about the figure.

The little touches; not sure if it's dog tags, me thinks it resembles a medallion (such as a St Christopher medal) which is a nice touch. Plus the handling of the webbing, textures, and blending.

Like the advice from the wise old Kiwi, that makes sense.....

Plus, one other fellow has a 48 hour mirror test. Leave for 48 hours, then examine figure in a mirror.

Quite a stunner, and if it can stand up to the ruthless scrutiny of fellow paint slappers, then you have a fighting chance of it being a "Wow" at the wedding!

Nice, now for the 1/32 scale Tamiya MkVIII in Aussie markings.