Chaps finished

My friends, the results ain't perfect, but it's honest work! :D 

Due to time constraints, I had to finish the other mechanic "out of the box", and that means some visible printing texture on his back and the WW2-style dog tag around his neck along with some other imperfections on the surface. If nothing else, this can be considered an exercise in painting historical figures in the most historically inaccurate color palette ever :D 

But accuracy really wasn't the main objective here. These were the most suitable figures for this diorama I could find in my stash, and the biggest challenge was painting vibrant, non-military colors. That turned out okay, I think, especially the blue was really enjoyable to paint, and the most intimidating part was the naked chest. Painting such a large skin surface was new to me, so far I've only painted faces and hands. Even rolled-up sleeves gave me problems in the past! 

So I decided to use a different approach than usual. Andy, one of my Patrons, has been painting skin tones using an airbrush for a long time. It gives you nice results and speeds up the overall workflow. So I did just that, using the same colors I normally use. The pre-shaded torso was first sprayed with Brown Sand from Vallejo, diluted with VMS acrylic thinner. Highlights were then sprayed from above with Flat Flesh and Basic Skintone. Of course, the contrasts had to be adjusted with a paintbrush, but most of the work was carried out with very diluted Raw Umber from AK in the shadowed areas. Glazes were also essential - the same ones I use on faces. Blue around the armpits, red around the waist, and yellow on his shoulders and back. 

With all the main elements done, I can now focus on adding clutter to make the yard more lived-in. I'll also add some grime on these figures, they're definitely too clean for tank mechanics!