Meine Herren !
Kaiser's Army is a series sold via
www.Zwerg vom Nettenscheid (Dwarf of Nettenscheid) who also does Fantasy items etc.
Alan Ball ( MB Miniatures on the web ) often sculptures those figures.
Up to now there is no flying personnel in the range, but for dioramas one always needs some artillery....boom,boom (B.Adder)
ModelDesignConstruction/UK do have excellent figures for the aircraft range- see their Website.
This is my first WW 1 figure and it is one of only a handful figures I painted ( still working on a Game of Thrones Vignette for my wife ) in the recent years.
I'm still training myself, especially the faces are an important part.
This figure was solely done with the Vallejo /Andrea acrylics.
Mixt Media of course is always a very good choice.
The main goal is to replicate the surface of cloth, gear, metal. Everything that does the job well is allowed.
But what I always try to do: do not let cloth look glossy or semi gloss.
Meanwhile I always use a head-magnifying glass; this is really helpful !! -and makes the job more easy.
As to paints: try them, there is no "ONLY THIS WILL DO".
Painting: work with well diluted paint; it is better to build up several layers; this enhances the 3D effect; do not overdo shadows
( blackpainting - but this is a matter of taste ); remember from where the sunlight falls on your soldier.
Learn from pictures in books and magazines: of real items or models.
Painting a knight might be a good training, since you must not follow uniform regulatives; one might also use a soft plastic
model soldier (Airfix) to try faces.
One thing I noticed:a good sculpted figure is more rewarding to paint, especially a well made face. What is not there in 3D
can't be "painted on " (easily).
In the end it is like rigging: do not shy away from it, even if the first steps are frustrating; afterwards it will be great fun !
On my photo you'll notice the brush strokes and his left eye is injured ( a little faulty it was - but that is not the usual case).
At normal eye distance you will not notice the strokes; this is the magnifying effect of the lens that shows more detail than you would notice at normal eye distance.
Imagine yourself beeing a painter in a theatre: you have to create optical illusions on stage; painting models and figures
means creating an illusion: looking real but just smaller.
Kind regards, Gunther
