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Since I have been asked to post my technique for modelling and painting over here , I've cut my tutorial out from the British OSS forum and put it here .
This shows the whole procedure from modelling through painting that I use when making a new head for one of my own figures : I'm using Fimo rather than Sculpey , because I slightly prefer it , but either will do the job .There are now various other Polymer Clays around : it's really a matter of choice which one you use , depending perhaps on which is available where you live .
This head is obviously a One-off : but I use the same procedure when a head is intended for casting .
The head here is a real man , a Junior British Officer serving in the later stages of WW2 in NW.Europe , and I've attempted a portrait .
Last winter I read Peter White's moving account of his war , as a subaltern in The King's Own Scottish Borderers , fighting through Holland and Germany from September '44 until VEDay . As an account of the Sharp End , it takes some beating : " With the Jocks .." Sutton publishing .
Out in paperback .
I had been thinking of creating a Junior Officer for some time , and since there were several photographs of the author in the book ( he's the one on the right in the photo ), I decided to make him a real person , rather than one of my " types " .
What follows is a largely pictorial description of how I make a head .
I use Fimo , available in craft shops pretty well everywhere in Europe . Sculpey is an alternative , but I find it too soft for some jobs : it's a personal choice .
The mixture , Kneaded to an even colour before starting , is four parts Dark Flesh , to one part White , the white being necessary to prevent the head coming out too translucent when finished . This mix has been arrived at after several years experiment , so you'll have to take my word for it . This is formed to a suitable blob and rammed hard onto a tile , which acts as an support throughout the process :YOU DON'T NEED A WIRE ARMATURE !
![]()
This is then worked on with a small dental spatula : nearly all the work is done with this tool . The putty should stay in place on the tile securely :
![]()
At this stage I check dimensions with a pair of screw compasses : about 38-40mm between the point of the chin and the top of the head . It's very easy to make the head too big as you model more material on to it , and it's worth checking again as you work . I rough out all the basic forms , referring in this case to the photos in the book :
![]()
Everything is taking shape . I work in spasms of half an hour or so , take a break , and come back to it .
![]()
After several sessions , once I'm happy with the way things are going , I start to put in the fine detail , using the tools you see . The brushes are for smoothing , using the Sculpey diluent as a lubricant , The white brush is quite stiff , and used for polishing out tool marks , and the brown brush is softer , for more delcate work :
![]()
The fine finishing process takes quite a time , since it's very difficult to change things once the first firing has been done : I like to use the Fimo surface as the actual skin of the head ( not covered in paint , save for a wash ) , so it's vital to remove all blemishes before firing :you can put a patch in later , but it tends to fire as a slightly different colour , so it's best to avoid repairs if you can :
![]()
The chopped off bristle-brush is for the stubble : you can get some very delicate surface detail using brushes .
Before firing , I carve off the hair , since I'm going to replace it with coloured Fimo :
![]()
Then , when you can't bear to do any more , it goes in the Baby Belling , which is perfect for firing Polymer Clays : about fifteen minutes at 125C :
![]()
Remove from oven , allow to cool , prise off the tile . You can now carve away any unwanted parts , and add more Fimo to shape the back of the head :
![]()
![]()
![]()
Now fire again to harden the added bits . You can fire the head many times , so long as you don't overcook it at any stage : I frequently put them in the oven seven or eight times in the course of finalising details .
Once the flesh parts are done , I hollow out the neck and mount it on a stick with some Blutack , and add the hair , mixed to a chosen colour . The tissue paper is to stop my dirty fingers marking the neck whilst shaping the hair . The scribing and finishing of the hair involves all the tools and brushes :
![]()
There is a pic in the book showing Peter without a hat , which I used as a guide to his hairstyle , controlling and shortening it somewhat since he's eventually going to be wearing a hat :
![]()
Finally the modelling part is done : it looks a a bit weird at this stage , but that will be corrected by the painting:
![]()
Now on to the Painting stage :
First thing , before starting , is to thoroughly scrub with detergent to "wet" the head : if you don't do this ( and this also applies to resin heads ) the paint will puddle all over the place , and not stick properly .
I generally start by using a matching brown to detail the hair , grading it down the back and sides from the coloured Fimo , and put in the eyebrows .Then I add the irises in black , establishing the " gaze " of the subject :
![]()
I've also put in the faintest stubble , by slightly washing the beard area with a tone matching the hair colour . This is done with very dilute paint , remembering to feather the edge to avoid a sharp line .
Then the skin tone : nothing too extreme with this subject : he's going to be in Europe in winter . This pic shows the colours I use , and they are diluted and dispersed with " acrylic matt medium " from W&N : this acts like a blender : if you can't find it , an acrylic gel drying retarder works in the same way :
![]()
You have to chase this around for a bit with a large brush , to get it even and avoid blotches ; it's better to do several thin applications rather than one thick one . Once dry , he now looks like this :
![]()
Now the tricky bit : the eyes . There's no getting away from the fact that you need a steady hand , and a good OO brush for this job .
The irises are already defined in black : the shape here is very important : notice the actual shape made by the circular iris , overlapped at the top by the upper lid , and just touching the lower :
![]()
Next , select a suitable eye colour for your subject , and fill in the iris completely , save for a fine line all round the edge . If you're feeling clever , you can add a little white to the colour and pick out the paler ring aroung the pupil and the radiating veins :
![]()
Lastly the pupil : I use Vallejo gloss black No.861 for this : position the pupil so that it just touches the upper eyelid ( if you want a relaxed expression ) , and by repeated applications build it into a little dome :
![]()
The more the pupil is covered by the eyelid , the sleepier the expression will be ; conversley , if there's space between the pupil and the eyelid , the subject will look alarmed ( or angry , depending on what the rest of the face is doing ).
Here's the finished head :
![]()
There are one or two subtle additions : a little carmine around the eyes , on the inner edges of the lids , and flushed on the ears . I've also run a fine line of carmine darkened with black into the join between the lips . The edges of the hair have been fine detailed with a tiny brush , to blend the edges where hair meets flesh . The last thing is to flood the eye with gloss acrylic varnish .
Finally , here he is, finished , on the assembled figure : there will be another version later of him in his combat dress , but that , as they say , will be another story :
![]()
![]()
The figure is DML , with a slightly modified DML battledress : notice the lining and hooks on the collar . The cloth badges are made for me by various friends ( thank you Peter and Rob ) , and the Tam o'shanter is made from Polyester Suede, which is a really useful fabric for 1/6 , since it has a woolen-style nap on one face , ideal for making serge uniform items .The hands are also modelled in Fimo , and attached to DML wrist pins with superglue .
The webbing belt is scratchbuilt using Richie Elbourne's scale etched brass sets ( [email protected] ), and the holster is DML , slightly modified.
**********************************************************
This shows the whole procedure from modelling through painting that I use when making a new head for one of my own figures : I'm using Fimo rather than Sculpey , because I slightly prefer it , but either will do the job .There are now various other Polymer Clays around : it's really a matter of choice which one you use , depending perhaps on which is available where you live .
This head is obviously a One-off : but I use the same procedure when a head is intended for casting .
The head here is a real man , a Junior British Officer serving in the later stages of WW2 in NW.Europe , and I've attempted a portrait .
Last winter I read Peter White's moving account of his war , as a subaltern in The King's Own Scottish Borderers , fighting through Holland and Germany from September '44 until VEDay . As an account of the Sharp End , it takes some beating : " With the Jocks .." Sutton publishing .
Out in paperback .
I had been thinking of creating a Junior Officer for some time , and since there were several photographs of the author in the book ( he's the one on the right in the photo ), I decided to make him a real person , rather than one of my " types " .
What follows is a largely pictorial description of how I make a head .
I use Fimo , available in craft shops pretty well everywhere in Europe . Sculpey is an alternative , but I find it too soft for some jobs : it's a personal choice .
The mixture , Kneaded to an even colour before starting , is four parts Dark Flesh , to one part White , the white being necessary to prevent the head coming out too translucent when finished . This mix has been arrived at after several years experiment , so you'll have to take my word for it . This is formed to a suitable blob and rammed hard onto a tile , which acts as an support throughout the process :YOU DON'T NEED A WIRE ARMATURE !
This is then worked on with a small dental spatula : nearly all the work is done with this tool . The putty should stay in place on the tile securely :
At this stage I check dimensions with a pair of screw compasses : about 38-40mm between the point of the chin and the top of the head . It's very easy to make the head too big as you model more material on to it , and it's worth checking again as you work . I rough out all the basic forms , referring in this case to the photos in the book :
Everything is taking shape . I work in spasms of half an hour or so , take a break , and come back to it .
After several sessions , once I'm happy with the way things are going , I start to put in the fine detail , using the tools you see . The brushes are for smoothing , using the Sculpey diluent as a lubricant , The white brush is quite stiff , and used for polishing out tool marks , and the brown brush is softer , for more delcate work :
The fine finishing process takes quite a time , since it's very difficult to change things once the first firing has been done : I like to use the Fimo surface as the actual skin of the head ( not covered in paint , save for a wash ) , so it's vital to remove all blemishes before firing :you can put a patch in later , but it tends to fire as a slightly different colour , so it's best to avoid repairs if you can :
The chopped off bristle-brush is for the stubble : you can get some very delicate surface detail using brushes .
Before firing , I carve off the hair , since I'm going to replace it with coloured Fimo :
Then , when you can't bear to do any more , it goes in the Baby Belling , which is perfect for firing Polymer Clays : about fifteen minutes at 125C :
Remove from oven , allow to cool , prise off the tile . You can now carve away any unwanted parts , and add more Fimo to shape the back of the head :
Now fire again to harden the added bits . You can fire the head many times , so long as you don't overcook it at any stage : I frequently put them in the oven seven or eight times in the course of finalising details .
Once the flesh parts are done , I hollow out the neck and mount it on a stick with some Blutack , and add the hair , mixed to a chosen colour . The tissue paper is to stop my dirty fingers marking the neck whilst shaping the hair . The scribing and finishing of the hair involves all the tools and brushes :
There is a pic in the book showing Peter without a hat , which I used as a guide to his hairstyle , controlling and shortening it somewhat since he's eventually going to be wearing a hat :
Finally the modelling part is done : it looks a a bit weird at this stage , but that will be corrected by the painting:
Now on to the Painting stage :
First thing , before starting , is to thoroughly scrub with detergent to "wet" the head : if you don't do this ( and this also applies to resin heads ) the paint will puddle all over the place , and not stick properly .
I generally start by using a matching brown to detail the hair , grading it down the back and sides from the coloured Fimo , and put in the eyebrows .Then I add the irises in black , establishing the " gaze " of the subject :
I've also put in the faintest stubble , by slightly washing the beard area with a tone matching the hair colour . This is done with very dilute paint , remembering to feather the edge to avoid a sharp line .
Then the skin tone : nothing too extreme with this subject : he's going to be in Europe in winter . This pic shows the colours I use , and they are diluted and dispersed with " acrylic matt medium " from W&N : this acts like a blender : if you can't find it , an acrylic gel drying retarder works in the same way :
You have to chase this around for a bit with a large brush , to get it even and avoid blotches ; it's better to do several thin applications rather than one thick one . Once dry , he now looks like this :
Now the tricky bit : the eyes . There's no getting away from the fact that you need a steady hand , and a good OO brush for this job .
The irises are already defined in black : the shape here is very important : notice the actual shape made by the circular iris , overlapped at the top by the upper lid , and just touching the lower :
Next , select a suitable eye colour for your subject , and fill in the iris completely , save for a fine line all round the edge . If you're feeling clever , you can add a little white to the colour and pick out the paler ring aroung the pupil and the radiating veins :
Lastly the pupil : I use Vallejo gloss black No.861 for this : position the pupil so that it just touches the upper eyelid ( if you want a relaxed expression ) , and by repeated applications build it into a little dome :
The more the pupil is covered by the eyelid , the sleepier the expression will be ; conversley , if there's space between the pupil and the eyelid , the subject will look alarmed ( or angry , depending on what the rest of the face is doing ).
Here's the finished head :
There are one or two subtle additions : a little carmine around the eyes , on the inner edges of the lids , and flushed on the ears . I've also run a fine line of carmine darkened with black into the join between the lips . The edges of the hair have been fine detailed with a tiny brush , to blend the edges where hair meets flesh . The last thing is to flood the eye with gloss acrylic varnish .
Finally , here he is, finished , on the assembled figure : there will be another version later of him in his combat dress , but that , as they say , will be another story :
The figure is DML , with a slightly modified DML battledress : notice the lining and hooks on the collar . The cloth badges are made for me by various friends ( thank you Peter and Rob ) , and the Tam o'shanter is made from Polyester Suede, which is a really useful fabric for 1/6 , since it has a woolen-style nap on one face , ideal for making serge uniform items .The hands are also modelled in Fimo , and attached to DML wrist pins with superglue .
The webbing belt is scratchbuilt using Richie Elbourne's scale etched brass sets ( [email protected] ), and the holster is DML , slightly modified.
**********************************************************
