Teaching friends to paint Napoleonic plastics

My good friend Rich and his son James were interested in learning to paint toy soldiers and I was only only too happy to help out. James got a box of Italieri 1/72nd scale French Napoleonic Infantry for his birthday. These soft plastic figures are surprisingly detailed and generally very well moulded. Only a small amount of flash had to be removed before they were washed in warm soapy water, thoroughly dried and then undercoated using GW white spray.

Now, bear in mind that neither Rich nor James have ever painted model soldiers before, so I think you'll be very impressed with their efforts, I certainly am!

I decided that painting an example figure for them would be good way to start, rather than trying to describe "this bit is blue" and "that bit is red", etc. For the example I kept the scheme simple and neat, using only base colours. At 1/72nd scale this would look fine. All paints were GW as these are readily available here in NZ. It took me about 30 mins to paint the first figure and I must say that it was quite enjoyable. These figures paint up well and en-masse would look ace.

Anyway, enough waffle... Here's Rich's model. First ever painted model. Told you you'd be impressed.

Rich's Figure


Here's James' first model. Good or what! Especially when you consider that he's only 9.

James' Figure


They both took great care with their painting; their faces were a picture too, both pulling the same expression ... no doubting they are father and son. Brilliant.

Here's the group, with my example in the centre.

All three figures

They both really enjoyed the painting so I've given them a bunch of paints, brushes, etc so as to get them off to a flyer. I certainly enjoyed passing on a few of my painting tips. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of their efforts.

Welcome to the absolutely brilliant world of model soldiers!

Comments

  1. Thanks mate,
    We both really enjoyed painting the figures.
    Have only got 2 left to do in that first group that you started.
    Hope the shift has gone well without any hitches. We all look forward to hearing from you soon.
    With all our love.
    Rich

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