Close-up 13 1/2 ” tall, resin , Sculptured by Randy Bowen Painted by Alex Castro

I had re-painted this piece a few years ago for my good friend and collector Scott Pierce private Collection. I just felt the timing would be appropriate to reintroduce this great work of art by Randy Bowen . This is my version, not as dark as the Moore’s version, but uniquely a Castro style paint-up.

P.S. I ‘m including this rare article from a Historex catalogue that’s no longer in print , and has been an inspiration from the first time I read the works of the French master painter Eugene Leliepvre.

Still under construction …!

Frank Frazetta’s, “The Egyptian Queen” 1/8 scale resin, produced by ReelArt Studios, sculpted by Gabriel Marquez, Painted by Alex Castro ©

This composition was painted 20 years ago. It is one of my very first large scale paintings in oils. It took me over a 1 1/2 years to complete in the style of the old masters. This painting has only been exhibited twice since then. It received the Bronze Medal, for oil painting by the prestigious “Academy of Arts Science and Letters ”of Paris, France.

 Haitian Singers”, 20″ x 27″ , oils on primed Belgium linen wood panel, painted by Alex Castro ©

When I first saw these singers perform  in a New York art gallery about 20 years ago, I was so impressed and moved by their performance that I started drawing them immediately. I showed them the drawings during the intermission and they were delighted.

“Haitian Singers”, 20″ x 27″ , oils on primed Belgium linen wood panel , Work in progress by Alex Castro ©

The colorful and beautiful headdress that the Haitian singer on the far left is wearing is very prominent and at the same time balances the composition. More importantly it forces the viewer to look over her shoulder and draws the viewers attention on the young Haitian singer, as seen in these pictures below !!

“Haitian Singers”, 20″ x 27″, oils on primed Belgium linen wood panel, Work in progress by Alex Castro ©

 The Formula forPainting Miniatures

Most of the techniques taught and used today were for two dimensional canvas work and panels, not three-dimensional figures! The instructions that come with most kits produce an average model or figure. In general, every kit is unique and may require a different painting strategy.

The order or sequence of how the paint is applied is just as important as the paint used! In this section, I am revealing  my formula for flesh tones, which I call GUM #1, 2, 3, & 4 (the higher the value, the more vermillion the flesh tone has; the lower the value the lighter the flesh tone). The reason I call it gum is because I derived it from a mixture I made from a GUM base color I used in the mouth, tongue and around the teeth area.

By adding flesh it gave me unique flesh tone values that provided a realistic flesh tone variation that I enjoyed! This combination provided me with a symbiosis of flesh tones that are used to paint the face and figures, for touch ups and fine tuning the figure. There are three exceptions. The first is that I use a color I call soot on flesh, a separator. Secondly, to touch up character lines I use an accentor, mixture of flesh and gray in equal amounts that produce a greenish flesh color that blends seamlessly into the gum colors. To darken the lines in and around the face I use gray tone, flesh, gray mixture and soot, consecutively. Thirdly, I use brown only to flavor my flesh tone, as an accent and to create ethnic types.

 My figures are painted mostly with acrylics and enamels. With my techniques, I have been able to mimic most of the results that can be obtained with oils. Most people are bewildered of the dynamics results achieved. I also use oils and enamels when the figure warrants it. In addition, another positive characteristic of acrylics is that they dry quickly.Oils have a tendency of staying mixable for a long period of time. Although this may be good, at times oils can become over blended becoming muddy and transparent, losing their opacity. Since the airbrush dominates my techniques to the extent I couldn’t think of painting a figure, in any scale without it, acrylics provided this option. The use of oils was not a viable option. I do not exclude oils but see them as playing smaller role or a supportive one rather than a primary role in painting figures.

 To create my skin tones, I use three basic colors: flesh, yellow and red. My preference is Tamiya Acrylics, however there are many companies that produce similar products that are just as good. The combination of these basic colors produces my gum base. Furthermore, the addition of flesh to this gum base provides the wide range of flesh tones I use on my figures. First I take five (5) empty jars (I usually save my Tamiya paint jars and wash them off) to store the gum colors I make. Gum Base = XF15 Tamiya Flat Flesh+XF3 Tamiya Flat Yellow+XF7 Tamiya Flat Red Formula for Gum Base – made of 3 colors of equal parts Tamiya XF 15 Flesh Tamiya XF 3 Yellow Tamiya XF 7 Red XF15 + XF3 + XF 7 = Gum Base (closer to red than yellow) Gum #4 = ½ Gum base + ½ XF 15 Gum #3 = ½ Gum #4 + ½ XF 15 Gum #2 = ½ Gum #3 + ½ XF15 Gum #1 = ½ Gum #2 + ½ XF15 Taking the gum base you created divide it in 1/2. Take Flesh XF15 and fill the other half of the jar that has the gum color. Shake it thoroughly. This gives you a Gum # 4, the deepest Vermillion color and is primarily used to distinguish the darker areas. Take Gum #4 and put half in an empty jar and fill the rest of the jar with XF 15 flesh. This gives you gum #3. To make Gum #2, take ½ of Gum # 3 and add ½ of XF15. To make Gum #1, take ½ of Gum #2 and add ½ of XF15.

This system involves making the gum base first and then reducing it by adding flesh to make the other four colors. Note it is very important that you mix a big enough batch of Gum colors to paint your figure. Once the colors are mixed it is very difficult to obtain the same color batch. Remember to make enough to paint your figure. Always ensure you have extra paint in case you need to repair the figure. Label each of your jars with the name and date. Discard after a year. In conclusion, painting figures is a challenge. The use of the aforementioned concepts and techniques will assist you in painting a more dynamic realistic figure, but like everything else it requires work and practice.

You can see the process in my book entitled The Art of Painting  Miniatures: Faces & Figures, produced by Compendium Publishers, Written by Alex Castro

  Close-up,1/7th cold cast porcelain resin sculpted by Clayburn Moore, produced by CS  Moore Studio’s, painted by Alex Castro for a Private Collector

What I tried to accomplish with this piece was to emphasize Conan even though the girl provided a good balance.
For the ground work, I decided to keep it flat and dry looking representing the dry desert. I signed the piece on the front, since I thought it would be easier to see than constantly turning it over. I blended the signature in and signed it next to the spot Frazetta has his signature on the painting.

1/7th cold cast porcelain resin sculpted by Clayburn Moore, from CS Moore Studio’s, Work in progress by Alex Castro. Private Collector

One of the things I wanted to establish is a relationship between Conan and the girl. My techniques bring out their connectivity. I wanted to keep Conan as the dark foreboding figure and at the same time balance him with the soft sexuality, like beauty and the beast.

Two-Part Priming  Technique:

Priming is one of the most important processes next to painting in painting miniatures or statues. It is the foundation for the painting process, yet it’s often times misunderstood and undermined. My process breakes away from the traditional priming and provides a two-part priming technique, which consist of two parts: silvering (enamel) and white primer (acrylic white) that will bring your figure to a different level.

Many traditional primers are of poor quality and out-of-scale for miniatures. As I tried out different primers, I found that they were primarily metal primers. Spray cans were unpredictable, created inconsistent spray patterns, over saturated areas and were overall too thick for the tiny relieve areas. Also primers were usually in gray color designed for lead pieces. There was no universal primer for plastics and resins. Therefore a different primer had to be purchased for each. Another problem I encountered was that the castings were not molded in one color; some were beige, some white, others green and black. This made a big difference in priming because the darker colors required more primer. This impacted the relieve areas.

After numerous testing and experimentation with automotive, household and art primers, I came across a silver primer made by Krylon (found in most hardware stores). I found, that unlike other primers, the atomization of the spray of this paint was thin. Another good quality is that the Krylon Silver was closer to the scale of miniatures. It had the ability to cover, across the board, any color in one coat. Krylon Silver dried quickly; it could be sprayed into the airbrush and also could be brushed. Also, it did not create a chemical or adverse reaction with resin, plastic, vinyl or lead. Most importantly, it allowed touch ups with a little thinner or solvent. This is crucial particularly during the repair stage.

The silvering technique brings up hidden scratches and fine details that were not visible to the eye prior to spraying. It also falls in line with the fast drying time of acrylics.

Once the piece is silvered, it allows itself to be easily covered with a light dusting by any light acrylic paint. Essentially it provides a good ground, a gripping agent for the white primer (I like to use Tamiya Flat white). The piece could easily be covered up with a dusting of white primer. The importance of the white is that it allows you to get to the true value of the color you are applying. When you apply color on the white, it is permanent, and doesn’t clog your relieves. It’s firm to the touch and can be easily handled without falling apart. This is true for any tiny castings, small figures and large figures.

A very important benefit of this process is that if during the application of the white primer I find an imperfection, I could easily wipe the white off (acrylic) and not disturb the silver (enamel). The key here is that it is easy to repair one level at a time then to re-paint or re-silver each level in a seamless fashion. Other primers can become gooey and you might have to re-do the figure or in some cases even lose it. The silver it self bonds just about to any material and has enough tooth to hold any acrylic paint. With this process you get the true color value without having to put more paint on, as said earlier, with just a mere dusting of paint!

Another benefit is that this silvering can be used for armor, for metal effect, base coat for weapons, etc. it also makes a great undercoat for exposed paint and chipping for tanks and airplanes. It works wonderfully on buckles. The silvering on these models gives the model an appearance of heavy metal.

Setting Up: It is recommended that you setup in an area that is well-vented before using the aluminum spray paint. I strongly recommend a spray booth to vent out particles and fumes. Also most importantly, use a mask. Cover up the area you’ll be working in. If you are only silvering one section cover the rest of the figure with a plastic wrap because silvering releases airborne particles. When using a brush to silver, spray the silver on a piece of paper and then dip the brush and work quickly since the paint evaporates rapidly. I recommend that you keep a set of brushes for this purpose because silvering destroys your brushes.

There are two different approaches to holding and painting figures. One is the Statue Approach where most of the figure is assembled, staked, and stuck in a hole or a vice to keep it in place. In some cases, the model is already in the statue mode. The second approach is the Modular Approach where the figure is kept disassembled as long as possible to allow more complete control of parts. There are pros and cons to both. For example, in the Statue Approach a positive outcome is that most gluing is done prior to painting. Therefore, the piece is handled less. On the other hand because posing is done very early it may be difficult to reach some detail. In the Modular Approach access to detail is better, and you do not have to commit to posing early on. On the other hand there is gluing on finished painted parts, there are loose parts that can be lost and more handling of parts. However, both approaches are good. It’s a personal choice. Note that both require different painting approaches.

If you are spraying small parts, take a piece of paper and apply masking tape, which has low tack, to keep the pieces from flying away as you are spraying. I spend a lot of time posing the figures, pinning them and arranging them, just to see what the best approach to take is. Every model has its own little innuendos and problems that are unique to the model and must be addressed before you get into the painting stage. It’s already too late if you discovered that you left a piece out or you shouldn’t have put a figure together because it’s going to be a problem to paint. All of this has to be figured out before you proceed.

Silvering Process:

· Start by placing the piece with the backside facing up.

· If you choose to pin your pieces use spools, small plastic cups, so that you don’t have to lay the piece down and can easily rotate it. For pieces like the head you can use a pencil or a narrow object that can allow you to hold it and get underneath it with paint.

· Once the pieces are laid out, take the can and start spraying before the piece in one continuous arch stroke, approximately 12 inches away from the piece.

· As soon as you see the silver color STOP.

· Move the paper again, and silver. When you finished you should have moved the paper approximately 3x spraying at differently angles. As soon as the piece is dry to touch (approximately 5 minutes) flip it over and repeat the process.

· Take one or two pieces of foam about 1 inch thick and wrap it with a paper towel and tape it the reason for this is that after the spraying you can discard the paper towel and use the foam again. You can also use utility rags that can be washed. They work just as well.

You can mount the figure on plastic cup, or lay it down on paper that’s on covered foam, spray from the bottom up and rear to the front. Wait five minutes and turn the piece over and spray gain from the bottom up and rear, to the front and do the sides. The piece dries in five minutes.

· Stand the piece up and place the piece on a pedestal or cardboard. I also use a marble Lazy Susan so that I can turn the piece around. This marble dish is easy to clean. Now spray the piece from the top down. REMEMBER only apply a spray mist. For a bust, you must spray under first and then do the same from the top.

· Now you’re ready for the white primer.

The White Priming Process:

· Use an acrylic white. I prefer Tamiya flat white XF 2. You can also use light gray. I prefer white because it allows you to get to the true color value quickly. Thin the

paint according to the airbrush you use. To cover large areas I use the Iwata HP- BE1 with an air pressure of 25-35 PSI.

· Take a new jar of Tamiya Flat White XF2 and fill it with alcohol (1/3) rigorously stir it using a stirrer and handshake.

· To test viscosity, take an old airbrush needle or the equivalent and place it inside the paint. Immediately pull it out. If the paint rolls off rapidly and there is a constant flow of paint, then it’s just about right for your airbrush. The slower the paint drops, the thicker the mixture.

REMEMBER you want a dusting not a painting. Dusting – as soon as you see the color change.

· If you see the paint cake, then you sprayed too much paint. Another way to tell if you have used too much paint is to take a bristle brush. Go to an area with a dark background and brush the figure. If you see a white dusting, continue to brush until it stops. Keep a small flat bristle available in case the airbrush splatters or some imperfections occur so that you can remove them immediately.

· When you spray look for imperfections such as scratches, holes, seams, etc.

Finished Primed Piece

Repairing and Touch-up Techniques: · Constantly lookout for imperfections.

· If there is anything wrong it is very easy to take off the white and leave the silver. The silver is an enamel and remains in tact. This method saves the piece from being completed stripped.

· If there is a hole you can strip the piece by taking off both the white & silver.

· After you putty the hole, then you take a brush with the silver, brush the silver on the area and then spray with the white paint.

· This technique prevents you from stripping the entire piece and it can also be done when you apply color after the priming stage.

· To fill the whole, take household plaster 50% and flat white paint 50% (dilute as needed). There is a symbiosis between all the elements. This combination of plaster with paint fills the holes eliminating the imperfection by blending it into the existing surrounding area. Therefore, the figure appears seamless when you finish. This can also be used when the piece is chipped.

· If the white is damaged, without eliminating anything else, you take a brush, preferably a bristle, and lightly dip it into the cleaning solution. Wipe off the excess and with a random stroke motion blending in the surrounding area. This loosens up the paint of the surrounding area and removes any ridges, and smudges around the area. Then slightly dust the area with white using the airbrush to blend.

· This doesn’t have to be an exact match, since the paint will be applied to this area.

· NOTE: This repair becomes super critical on exposed fleshy parts like faces and other anatomical areas and smooth surfaces.

· Imperfection Hunt: Look for irregularities, rough areas, and particles.

· If everything is up to par, and the figure is dry, take a bristle flat brush, use size approximate to scale of model, and dip it in clean water and go around lightly scrubbing the model. This smoothes the surface for fleshy areas.

Smoothing technique.

Work-Protect, Work-Protect: Once you have completed the priming stage, seal your work with a dull cote (I use Testers Dull Cote). This is optional at this stage. However, the advantage of this is that if you mess up, you only lose what you have done up to the sealer. If you don’t seal it and you mess up, the primer then has to be removed. One advantage of not sealing your work is that it gives you a cleaner relieve. Pastels, and certain colors will tone down with dull cote. Also the dull cote may not be as flat as advertised.

When you work you are making an investment in time, and materials. The two-part priming technique is just one part of the whole, that takes a little work but necessary to produce quality primed models that leads to these dynamic results.

Written By Alex Castro

1/7th cold cast porcelain resin sculpted by Clayburn Moore, from CS Moore Studio’s, painted by Alex Castro, Private Collector

The Face: In painting Conan’s face I wanted to achieve a cold intense stare with eagle looking eyes. His eyes are blue like in the book,but have a green look to them due to the gray and flesh area around the cornea of the eyes. I still may tweak his face a little more. I know when the face is done when it looks like I can engage it in a conversation, although Conan doesn’t look like much of a talker!

The Necklace/Earrings: Note the little red jewel on the necklace. I didn’t want to paint the claws in the convensational brown and ivory, so I made mine with ivory gray and black. The earrings are first painted in copper and highlighted in gold. The rest is left in copper for shadowing and toning affect.

The Body:I always shy away from all brown toning since you can’t regulate body temperature with just one color for toning. I also wanted to achieve a skin tone that would look great under different lighting conditions. See example below. The only thing I changed was the lighting source! I added a little hair on his chest and nipple to break up the smooth body builder look and add a little texture the the skin.

The concept of saturation, isolation, and containment, came to me out of frustration! When I started painting figures, my friends called me “Buck,” because my work spent more time in the bucket of solution than on the drawing table. I couldn’t get the effect I wanted. An artist By training, I assumed that painting these miniatures would not be difficult. After all I was a talented creative artist that had been schooled in the fine arts. In addition, my fellow colleagues were constantly debating with me that painting miniatures was not an art form.

 I viewed these figures as a three dimensional canvas, one-step beyond the regular canvas. I was determined to devote myself to this growing field of art and improve my skills and techniques. Painting miniatures carried a spirit of pioneering. The figures have the potential of looking alive! The issue here is how does one go about creating an aesthetically “realistic” figure? How does one translate techniques from the canvas to the figures? I remember a highly respected collector’s words, “I have come across a lot of very competent Artist, but they can’t paint figures. You have to have a knack for them.” Pondering his words, I realized that what he really meant was that figures require special skills and techniques unique to them, which only certain masters know.

Modeling and painting figures, in my opinion, is a mental process. One has to be able to understand the Technical difficulties, as well as the aesthetic end game before embarking on a painting strategy that Works. The first step is to look for the rough spots; anticipate any problems that may arise during the building and painting stages. This will help you to assess your limitations. Another words, do you have the concepts and techniques necessary to complete the piece? If the answer is no, put the piece aside and come back to it later. Believe me it will save you a lot of grief. There are three underlying principles that can be applied to most figures that have assisted me in producing an aesthetically pleasing realistic figure: saturation, isolation, and containment.

 The principle of saturation implies to look at the whole, to cover entirely, to soak, to fill, or load to capacity. The principle of isolation is to separate from the group, or whole, and set apart. And lastly, the principal of containment means to have within; enclose, to be able to hold; or keep within limits. In the past, when I didn’t know what approach to take on certain pieces, it usually meant that I was not applying these principles correctly. Let me illustrate. One day, I was attempting, to paint a 25mm fantasy lead figure. It was a beautiful piece, consisting of a treasure-trove and a wonderful dragon. The base was as large as the palm of my hand, and about six inches tall. As I examined the piece to see what approach I would take, it became apparent that the challenge was to visualize the end result. This required critical analysis of the piece. When examining the piece, I was overwhelmed with the number of items it contained such as gold, coins, jewels, pearls, beautiful ornaments, skeleton parts, weapons, and a host of other items. The first question that crossed my mind is do I paint the parts or the whole?

After pondering for some time, I decided that the entire treasure-trove had to be painted for two reasons: it allows you to orchestrate the whole piece and it allows you to develop a relationship (symbioses) with the other parts not yet painted. This I call saturation. Let me explain. First by orchestrating the whole I mean to paint the treasure-trove as one continuous piece, not in fragments. This sets up the groundwork for the other two principles: isolation, and containment. I randomly splash different dark earth tones, even black, on the treasure, letting each dry. One of my favorite colors is soot, which I make by mixing equal parts of black and brown. I apply soot over the entire piece as a final wash. It should be noted that in this stage we are looking for randomization, rather than order. Once the paint dries, the dark tones set up the groundwork for the other objects to emerge, creating a relationship or symbioses with the mass, in this case the treasure-trove.

As these clunks of matter emerged, I start to differentiate or isolate them by randomly painting them with precious metals like copper, gold, brass, and silver. At this level, I am isolating the parts for a visual effect. This is the principle of isolation.

Lastly, the principle of containment comes into play. The individual items are painted separately bringing out the details. At this point, the weapons, steel, jewels, etcetera, are brought out. The three principles of saturation, containment and isolation, interplay creating an effect of a continuous whole but separateness.

In conclusion, the concepts that I have outlined are the essence of my work. I hope that this book will become your workbook for miniature painting. I expect that the pictures, concepts and how-to sections will simulate and inspire you in seeing for yourself what can be done and that these results are achievable. I hope that you will be encouraged to paint more, with confidence, and with the pleasure and joy that that will enable you to enjoy this beautiful art form. Written by Alex Castro