That "muted" finish

[Babelfish]

Disclaimer: The figures shown in this post are NOT MY WORK, and are shown for illustrative purposes only. All credit to the original artists!!! The vikings are the work of Brian (Snaddon) and Sergey Popovichenko, unfortunately I don't know who painted the Celt.

I'm a great fan of the faded/muted tones that some guys achieve on their work (which at the same time doesn't stop pieces being "colourful"). The ones shown here are examples of what I mean by that.



I'm realistic enough to know that my painting will never reach the jaw-dropping standards achieved by the true "masters" of our hobby, but at the same time I still try to improve with each piece, and this is the kind of "look" I usually aim for in my finishes. But very much with mixed results because more often than not, the end result is more "vibrant" than what I'd been after (despite my best efforts).

So my question is this: Does anyone have any tips for toning down and "fading" paints in this way? What's the secret? What am I doing wrong?! I usually paint in oils over acrylics, but am happy to experiment with other methods and have been doing so these past couple of weeks on a couple of pieces I've set aside as "paint mules" – albeit unsuccessfully for the most part.

- Steve

 

[Edward]

Hi Steve, I tried to achieve a faded/muted look with this viking figure I painted recently (in acrylics). I wanted him to have a dark greenish cloak but I used German WW2 field grey rather than a standard green colour. The trousers were painted khaki. The tunic was Vallejo leather brown - a cool brown colour - mixed with white.

 

[DaddyO]

Hi Steve - am I right in thinking that all these figures use a black primer rather than grey or white? In itself that would 'mute' the colours (For a really eye-popping red for example we were taught to put it over a yellow undercoat)

Paul

 

[Metal Extremo]

You must desaturate your colours
Mixing your colour with a bit of his complementery.
Mixing with a bit of grey
With a little of black.
It dependes of the colour you gonna work. For example in blues and reds i often mix with black, and never use grey. I paint with acrylics, but think is the same in oils.

 

[Eludia]

I work in oils too Steve and I'm also aiming for more muted tones on my models. I've found that starting off with a fairly muted palette in the first place helps a lot so at the minute my main palette consists of:

Gold Ochre
Blue Black
Alizarin Crimson
Titanium White
Burnt Sienna/Umber - I've been using umber but it dries a little too quickly for me so I'm trying out sienna now to see how it goes.

I can get a surprisingly wide palette from these colours and because there is usually a bit of everything in the mixes it has a certain inbuilt colour harmony. Like all of us, I also have boxes full of paints that I can call on if I need something with a bit more punch but this is my core palette.

My recent Ploegsteert Wood model was painted virtually entirely with this palette so it'll give you an idea what can be done with it. The only other paints I used were black, white and grey primers and some printers inks for the metal bits.

Edit: oops, I forgot I also used some light brown acrylic as a base coat on the rifle and pick helve and I started off with Yellow Ochre but switched to Gold Ochre halfway though, it's pretty much the same colour but the synthetic GO is nicer to work with

 

[rossbach]

Maybe part of the trick could be in the basic colour mixes Steve.

Looking at the pics I see a lot of 'earthy', brownish and greyish mixes. Would you agree on that? It's a bit like looking at old sepia coloured black and white pictures. I can't see reds, blues or purples for sure.

I imagine that if one would apply brownish, earthish and greyish mixes consistently throughout the figure this would result in a sombre, monotone maybe even a bit colourless drab effect. Not unlike the fieldgrey mentioned by Edward.

This effect I think could be further enhanced by highlighting with the addition of quantities of white paint. This will probably result in a bleached out effect you are after.

Looking at the pictures again it occurs to me that the colours used to paint the figures makes them seem to blend in with the colours of the natural surroundings. Now I would not go as far as to call that camouflage avant la lettre.

However I does help to keep in mind that for centuries colour dyes primarily came from plants. These were quite readily available and relatively inexpensive as opposed to Reds and blues. So it could be argued that the colours chosen to paint the figure in the pictures come very close to what could be considered historical reality.

Romans and Celts certainly didn't chase each other across the country dressed in garments with Osprey colours that's for sure!

Paul

 

[Ferris]

Another thing that helps is to pick one common dominant colour and mix all colours from that one. In Vallejo acrylics, say, start with burnt umber or english uniform and vary that colour with bits of (non-vibrant/desaturated) greenish tones, or other browns. That way different parts will look apart, but are still related by colour, making for a harmonious finish.

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[kagemusha]

Why not just PM Brian and ask him how he does it

A very worthwhile investment...would be a Tube of 'Old Holland' Neutral Tint...does what it says on the tin

 

[OldTaff]

Old Holland is a good neutral tint, although I prefer the one by Sennelier. I was introduced to this one by the late, lamented master flat-painter, Jim Woodley.

Alan

 

[Alex]

With acrylics (and oils also), if you find your colors too vibrant once the model is finished, you can add some thin layer of any earth color all over the model (except the skin) in order to tone it down a little bit. I think it is really a question of taste and what you can like on pictures can be different than what you will like in real. When I walk into a show, I am always more attracted at first to the figures with the bold contrasts and vibrant red / blue / orange... I prefer them in real to the 'earthy' figures.

Cheers

Alex

 

[Mark S]

A lot of modelling paint manufacturers have a WWII series of very muted greys, browns and greens....I usually got straight to those for a muted effect.
The Tamiya WWII acrylics have a lot of greys, sand brown through to dark earth and dirty greens.

 

[chailey]

Steve, thank you for bringing this topic to the table, lots of useful suggestions.
I wasn't aware of 'Natural tint' which I presume to be artist oil?

chailey

 

[Forté]

I've found using desaturated colours works. Either adding grey or brown to tone the vibrancy down.

You can go the other way too by adding colour to your chosen grey.

 

[OldTaff]

Steve, thank you for bringing this topic to the table, lots of useful suggestions.
I wasn't aware of 'Natural tint' which I presume to be artist oil?

chailey

Quite correct, it is oil paint, and lasts for ages! Neutral Tint (or Teinte neutre, in French).

Alan

 

[brian]

Disclaimer: The figures shown in this post are NOT MY WORK, and are shown for illustrative purposes only. All credit to the original artists!!! The vikings are the work of Brian (Snaddon) and Sergey Popovichenko, unfortunately I don't know who painted the Celt.

I'm a great fan of the faded/muted tones that some guys achieve on their work (which at the same time doesn't stop pieces being "colourful"). The ones shown here are examples of what I mean by that.

View attachment 239258View attachment 239259View attachment 239260

I'm realistic enough to know that my painting will never reach the jaw-dropping standards achieved by the true "masters" of our hobby, but at the same time I still try to improve with each piece, and this is the kind of "look" I usually aim for in my finishes. But very much with mixed results because more often than not, the end result is more "vibrant" than what I'd been after (despite my best efforts).

So my question is this: Does anyone have any tips for toning down and "fading" paints in this way? What's the secret? What am I doing wrong?! I usually paint in oils over acrylics, but am happy to experiment with other methods and have been doing so these past couple of weeks on a couple of pieces I've set aside as "paint mules" – albeit unsuccessfully for the most part (Dettol bath, then try again).

- Steve

Hi Steve
The muted tones you ask about are easily done.I add either raw umber oil into a colour to kill the starkness, and naples yellow to dull down lighters colours and sometimes a little Tit white as well.The undercoat can dictate the outcome of the tones when you're using oils.I usually prime a figure with a grey primer or Humbrols 63 which is a sandy colour.I usually don't paint an undercoat for e.g. reds and greens and other colours,but i apply oils directly over the sandy or grey colour which will mute the tones if you apply the red or green oils directly over the Humbrol 63,64,250 etc,
Another tip is to realise that you can mix oils with humbrol enamels although this will dry a lot quicker than straight oils ,but is very effective.By using Humbrol 72 enamel with raw umber and white you'll end up with a nicely worn out effect.
I hope that this helps a bit ,but i use all different types of ways to mute tones,but the above is a good starting point.
Brian

 

[Mark S]

Mmmm a little Tit white....one of my favourites too Brian.

 

[Babelfish]

That's very useful Brian, thanks for that.

I have for some time been adding Humbrol to oils, and have found that this can also help kill the gloss effect that you sometimes get with oils. I've got a couple of Pegaso 54s that I'm currently using as paint mules (apply paint - make notes - Dettol bath - rinse & repeat) and I'll certainly try the other things you suggest.

Here are a couple of my more successful attempts ...



... one moderately successful attempt (would have liked a more muted cape) ...



... and one less successful attempt (greens and oranges too vibrant) ...



- Steve

 

[rossbach]

Another thing that helps is to pick one common dominant colour and mix all colours from that one. In Vallejo acrylics, say, start with burnt umber or english uniform and vary that colour with bits of (non-vibrant/desaturated) greenish tones, or other browns. That way different parts will look apart, but are still related by colour, making for a harmonious finish.

Cheers,
Adrian

Sounds like a good idea. Never thought about it!

Paul

 

[rossbach]

Why not just PM Brian and ask him how he does it

A very worthwhile investment...would be a Tube of 'Old Holland' Neutral Tint...does what it says on the tin

This might sound a bit silly. Old Holland is made in a little artisan-like factory half an hours drive from where I live. One of the reasons I use this paint primarily is that
I always have a stockist nearby that never runs out of supply! However I have no idea as to what 'neutral tint' is or does. Can you tell a bit more about it please?

Paul