Superman Bust

[Mongo Mel]

Hi guys,
This is a figure I painted several years ago. It's the Horizon soft vinyl Superman kit. It started life as a full figure but I wasn't thrilled with how the legs lookd so I decided to convert it into a bust. The upper torso was molded down to the waist so I cut it where I thought it would look good and then cut the cape to suit. Where the arms would have been attached looked good for my purposes so they didn't need any changes. Here's a picture:

As always, any and all comments and especially constructive criticisms are welcome and appreciated.
Thanks,
Craig

 

[yancy]

Craig-

Awesome! Love it.

Very clean. The color selection came out just perfect!

Yancy

 

[Joe Hudson]

Craig,

I think that you have done a superb job on this kit. I really like the finish and the flesh. How did you paint it? Did you airbrush?

Great job!

Joe

 

[Mongo Mel]

Hi guys,
Thanks for the nice comments.
Joe, this figure was primed with a spray can of car primer and the cape and shield were undercoated with an acrylic applied with my airbrush. The rest of the work was done using oil paints.
I had a heck of a bad time with the reds on this one The red oils refused to dry for me. They would still be tacky to the touch after 2 weeks! After several tries, the solution that worked was to reprime these areas and then to apply the undercoat of acrylic paint. I think the problem was a result of the fact that this is a soft vinyl figure. Although the other oil paints (fleshtone and blue costume) had no problems drying, the red oil paint just didn't want to dry for me and the additional barrier of red acrylic took care of it.
I'd appreciate hearing any other possible theories on why this would have happened to me.
Thanks,
Craig

 

[Joe Hudson]

Craig,

Thanks. I love your flesh color, what do you use for your palette?

Joe

 

[Mongo Mel]

Hi Joe,
Here is a link to an article I wrote for ArmoramA about the different mixes I used for fleshtones. The first mix listed is the one I used for the Superman. It is a good looking mix but I found it too difficult for me to duplictae with any regularity.
Let me know what you think of it.
Craig

Fleshtone mixes

 

[Joe Hudson]

Craig,

Thanks for the site. I will give it a try on a figure and let you know how it goes. Great article.

Joe