Imperial Model & Sculpture Works
The
following is from a great model maker named Aaron Brigman. He has been doing
this type of work for years and I think he is one of the undiscovered talents
that we here at INTER-FAN would like more people to know. As you can see from the pics he is quite a talent with a brush as you can see below.Also check out his new field of scuplting. He has just started delving into it and I think he has quite a career ahead of him.If you
would like to get hold of him you can e-mail him at: chicagovader1@aol.com
Be sure to check out Aaron's NEW official site Dreamland.com. The link is on the third page of this gallery!
Introduction
to model-making
By
Aaron Brigman
Imperial Model & Sculpture Works
Well
if you're reading this you're either a fellow modeler like me or you're
considering entering the wonderful world of models, if you're the later then a
great time awaits you!
First
off there are many types of models out there on the countless different
subjects. There's Vinyl
models which can run you about $50.00 to $200.00 in price
depending upon the kit and the company it's made by. Then there's Resin
which will cost a little more. There's Cold-cast
Porcelain, something relatively new to model-making and is at
least $125.00 for your average cold-cast kit. There's the considerable cheaper Injection
Molded kits, usually made of a
styrene type of plastic, building-wise the kit will be in more pieces so there
will be more work involved to get rid of seams, but rest assured with good
putty, sand paper and patience, impressive results can be achieved. Lastly
there's Vaccumed-formed
kits, which can be expensive and have a ton of work to them. I
personally try to avoid them myself due to the fact they're extremely time
consuming. One last thing on Vaccumed-formed kits is, don't let my personal
opinion stop you if you find something you really like then go for it, with a
lot of patience and care beautiful results can be achieved.
Next
we'll move on to the painting techniques and what type of paints to use on the
various types of kits.
Well
I'll start by saying that on Vinyl and Resin always use water based acrylics.
Also use water bases acrylics on Cold-cast porcelain kits. Now on Injection mold
kits you can use enamel paints like Testors, the same can be used for vaccumed-form
kits.
Now
on to painting techniques. First I suggest you primer your kit, this helps you
see if all your sanding is complete and will help your paint adhere
better.
Next
apply your base colors for the various areas of the kit, them begin the
detailing, such as shading and highlighting. Remember
always work from DARK to LIGHT!!
An
airbrush is one way to get nice shading and highlights, but like everything else
an airbrush requires practice to get good results. If you don't have an airbrush
the same effects can be achieved with brushes.
The
most effective technique is Dry Brushing,
which is when you paint an area a darker color then using a lighter color load
your brush with paint, wipe off almost all the color off leaving very little on
the brush then gently drag the brush over the raised surface thus highlighting
the raised areas while leaving the recessed areas darker, giving great detail to
your kit.
On
some areas of say a figure kit, such as when shading muscles a wash may be
necessary. A Wash is when you thin
your paint with water or thinner depending upon the medium to a transparent
consistency. Another use of a wash is when you let the thinned paint run into
recessed areas giving detail and believable shadowing. Then there's when you'll
need a fine point detail brush to
paint things such as eyes, teeth. Fingernails ect. Of course depending on the
kit.
Well
that's about it for now, next time I'll take you step by step buildup and
painting of a kit. Just in case you read this and you like models but would
never try to build one and you have bought one, if you need it built and painted
let me know and I'll do it for a reasonable fee. I am in the middle of catching
up so give me a bit and I'll schedule you in.
See
above on how to contact me.
| STAR WARS |
We have gotten some art work that Aaron did for a fan film based on Star Wars called Fall of the Jedi" and I hope someday to see the film finished.
| Modelmaking Page 2 |