Hi all

I am making a dio featuring a couple of German Aircraft and was wanting to add a few little men to things look more busy. I have never painted figures before and wanted to see what an easy way of painting flesh tones on 1/48 scale soldiers and crew. Any tips on who makes the best acrylic paint for figures and detailing tips are very welcome. I was also thinking that with the small scale it might look srange painting the pips and eagle on the German uniforms in silver and it might look more convincing in a light grey.

With the rest of the uniform i guess its XF56 with a dry brush highlight and a few washes to tone things down.

Am i on the right track? Thanks for any help.

Sounds like you are on the right track. I would definitely also stay away from silver for the insignia etc. In real life it is often more greyish both for metal and cloth piping unless being parade uniforms.

I almost always use Vallejo colours with a few citadel paints mixed in, but that is much a matter of preference. However, vallejo works for me.

remember also to check out the sister site Historicus forum which has a lot of tutorials and inspiration for figure painting.

Hope this helps

Here are some so so pics of two 1/48 tamiya luftwaffe figures i painted a little while back. They were painted with enamels for uniforms and equipment and artist oils for the faces and hair. I used the old "how to build dioramas" book by sheperd paine as a guide for using oils on the faces and the shading/ highlighting of the uniform. I also got some guidance from the historicus forum on mixing oils for the blond hair. I did have some prior experience painting 1/35 figures (10 years ago!) but none of them can even approach these two smaller figures. Not trying to brag, just trying to show what can be done with careful research and patience. Im not very familiar with acrylics so cant give advice there. I used alumnium for buckles and such and with a flat coat they look good. Using a light gray is an excellent choice for uniform items, most of the eagles were cloth anyway and buttons were often painted, pebbled or dull. Few of these items were actually shiny. Do some internet searches to find pics of the uniform items, plenty of good collector sights that can give better info that box tops and instruction sheets. ( i should have used a duller yellow on the float vest)





Excuse the gloss coat, they got a flat coat later.

Thank you gentlemen , that was useful info for me. Those figures look great - that is pretty much what im looking to achieve.