Back When I Was Building Armor Models, Where So Many of Us Started in the Hobby, Humbrol

Back when I was building armor models, where so many of us started in the hobby, Humbrol enamels offered a wide variety of military colors. Naturally my first experiments with painting figures used the same paint I had on hand, and despite the knowledge that other figure painters were using artists oils, I was getting comparable results, so didn’t consider learning to use them. At the time Humbrols were inexpensive, available at the local hobby shop, offered ready-mixed military colors, and dried to a nice matt finish. They still offer a good selection of colors, are fast drying, and offer some of the properties of acrylics, such as opacity; but unlike acrylics, colors can be blended to some extent on the figure, like oils. Some very successful painters still doggedly cling to enamels, such as Bill Horan, Mike Good, and Mike Blank. 75mm figures offer a nice compromise between 54mm and 90mm. They’re easier on the eyes, yet one can still use the same techniques that work with 54’s with little change, and achieve a bit more detail. For the purpose of this demonstration, I’ve started with a 75mm resin head of my own creation because it’s hatless and beardless, ( and I have a bunch lying around) and primed it by brush with Floquil gray primer. When painting complete figures, I like to airbrush the primer coat, or if I’m feeling particularly lazy, I use gray Krylon spray automotive primer. I’ve laid down a coat of my basic flesh mix and allowed it to dry overnight. It’s important to let the base coat dry thoroughly, to avoid lifting the paint while blending later. I like Winsor & Newton Series 7 Sable brushes, and I most commonly use sizes: 1, 00, and 000. My starting mix consists of Flesh, Red, Natural Wood, and a little Leather. I don’t have a formula, but mix by eye each time, moving the paint to my plate glass palette with the brush. The base coat should have a rather rosy hue; don’t worry about it looking too red, as most of it will be covered by subsequent layers, but avoid using too much leather, as this will give your face an undesirable orange tone. I thin Humbrols with turpentine, which, in my opinion, gives them a creamier consistency than mineral spirits. I keep the color thin, but not as thin as a wash. We need some body to the pigment. As the colors dry on the palette, I re-liquefy by adding more turps.

Here, I’ve painted the eyeballs with white and Natural Wood. Avoid using pure white, as this will contribute to a pop-eyed look that one sees so often with beginning painters. The irises of the eyes are placed in dark blue, so as to take up over 50% of the area, leaving little white. A good trick for eye alignment is to paint the off-hand eye first, that is, if you’re right handed, paint the figure’s right eye first , then it is much easier to match the left eye, which isn’t obscured by your fingers and brush. If the eyes aren’t perfectly aligned, then I think it’s better to err with eyes that diverge slightly, which one sees more commonly in people, than to have them crossed. A small catch light in light blue isn’t too difficult to add in this scale. Next, I add dark outlines to the eyes with a mix of red and Burnt Umber oil paint. Artists’ oils mix beautifully with Humbrols, giving a richer hue, as some Humbrol colors are rather bland. As long as you don’t mix in too much oil paint, the finish will still dry matt, but it will slow the drying time ( and increase the blending time) of the enamels. Note that the lower eye line stops at the outer edge of the iris. Don’t worry about keeping the outside of the lines tidy, as we’ll trim around them with another coat of the base color, after drying overnight, as in the next photo.

Now we’re ready to start shading and highlighting. Add another coat of the base color; this will help with blending. Humbrols can be easily re-liquefied for 30 to 60 minutes after application I like to alternate shadow and highlight layers, just to see the face come together as a whole. The first shadow is subtle, and uses slightly more Red, Leather, and Natural Wood. This is the only shadow I’ll put under the cheekbone, as I don’t want a sunken appearance. Next, I blend ONLY along the edges of the colored area with a brush moistened with turpentine. I’m relying on correct color placement to achieve realism here, not the ability to blend the paint completely from one shade to the next The blending stage is a good time to correct any irregularities in color placement too. Use a light sideways feathering motion with the tip of the brush.

The next photo shows the first shadow blended, and the first highlight. The highlight shades use progressively less Red and Leather. The Natural Wood will keep the Flesh from appearing too peachy. Each layer of paint will grow progressively smaller within the area covered, like a bull’s-eye.

These photos show the next shadow and highlight layer, then the next show them blended. With each layer, I’m adding more White into my highlights, and eliminating Flesh color from the shadow mix.

The final, deepest shadows use Burnt Umber, Leather and Red, and are limited to the inside corners of the eye sockets, the folds beside the nose, and small areas under the nose, lower lip, and chin. The lightest highlights are almost white, with little Flesh and Natural Wood, and are confined to points above the brow, tips of the cheekbones, either side of the bridge of the nose, a dot on the “bag” of each lower eyelid under the iris, the “break” and tip of the nose, the top of the upper lip on either side of the nose, and the tip of the chin. Take care not to blend these tiny areas away completely. These last layers are very small , but truly make the facial features pop.

I paint the lips a deeper red than would seem appropriate for a soldier, using Red and Flesh, and add a very thin line of Burnt Umber where they part. Then add white for a pink highlight in the middle of the lower lip, which completes the mouth.

A five o’clock shadow can be added by mixing Flesh and a little Black. Apply this sparingly to the lower jaw, a line above the upper lip, and to either side of the chin. Blend the edges of this into the face.

I tackle the ears in a second session. One layer of highlight and shadow is applied, then a very dark shadow in the ear canal, below the upper rim, and below the earlobe on the jaw. A very light highlight on the top of the ear, and at the top of the “conch” inside completes the detail.

Since Humbrols are so very matt, It’s advisable to add some sheen to give the face a sense of moisture. I use a mixture of x parts Polyscale clear flat, and x parts clear gloss. This overcoat also serves to create a uniform surface texture, as the turpentine can sometimes create shiny spots on the face, if used too freely.