Just kitbash things

I think your work is great as always, I just don't particularly like the look of the closed-eyes heads to begin with. They might still work well in very specific contexts. The one with only one eye closed perhaps could benefit from an eyepatch; the one with both eyes closed might actually work as a crying girl.

I like the new skin textures of the heads very much. Great work! Like Ian, I not very enthusiastic about the Anime-like sculpts themselves, especially the one with the closed eye. I feel that any more realism in the paintwork will just clash with the stylized geometry of the faces, pushing you deep in the uncanny valley.

Nice job adding depth to these sculpts.

Great work

That Melina head is definitely better than the stock one; nice work! And wow, I somehow missed that Daenerys figure you put together—she looks fantastic!

How could I have missed that? Simply excellent work! You chose a number of very interesting head sculpts to paint. They all really have character. The eyelashes in the last sculpture initially looked like real hair to me.

Love the skin texture! And I don't think she needs eye shadow, unless you turn her into a singer, which is where my mind always goes with these open mouthed heads. In that case of course you could go for a show make-up kind of look. ^^

Thanks guys. Always nice to see what people like and what not. I still don't really like both heads with the closed eyes...so I will probably give them away. Not salvageable for my use cases.  


As I improve with the airbrush I revisited an old Tom Cruise head I previously painted by hand, removed some of the color and eyes and did a airbrush application. 

I'm happy how that one turned out compared to the first one (need to look if I have any "before" pics somewhere). The flaws are the staring look, which is a little bit too much in some conditions and the bags under the eyes are a bit too noticeable for my liking. He looks tired. Might try to go over that one with a brush again. With a good spotlight that is not as noticeable like on the first two pics:





Edit: Here is the head with slightly lighter skintone under the eyes. I changed it before I clicked on "sending" lol
Only minimal difference, but I like it more.






So here is a question to all you painters: What do you use as a light source for painting?
I'm using a LED panel with 2700K-5600K and use the daylight option there (5600K) for which I can adjust brightness, too. But often heads that look good under a certain lamp are pretty different in warm 2700K light which is clother to normal light bulbs in houses. I need to find a balance when painting stuff...

He looks excellent, Simon. I don't find the bags under the eyes too much, personally.

Valiarde wrote:

So here is a question to all you painters: What do you use as a light source for painting?
I'm using a LED panel with 2700K-5600K and use the daylight option there (5600K) for which I can adjust brightness, too. But often heads that look good under a certain lamp are pretty different in warm 2700K light which is clother to normal light bulbs in houses. I need to find a balance when painting stuff...

Hope this edited ‘quote’ works…. For painting I use a 3-6000k led lamp with white/bright white/warm options. It is fantastic, but I notice the same issue; I have to then take my painted stuff in different lights around the house, which does make a considerable difference. Especially with heads, I suppose they are the most complex with angles and aspirations to get them looking realistic. Not sure how to get around that. Your painting looks very good and the bags add a bit to that realism look I think, if not what you hoped for!

This looks really great to me, but I'm really not an expert at painting heads. But the eyes are little masterpieces. When I create heads myself, I always have to use tiny glass eyes because I can't do eyes. In my opinion, the hardest part of a homemade figure head.
Airbrush... another " must have " for me, i will never use ?

I think he turned out great. And like Ian, I don’t see the bags as too noticeable; honestly, Tom isn’t as young anymore, and we all end up with bags under our eyes as we age.

The craft lamp I use is both in one. You look through a magnifying glass in the middle and it is illuminated by a ring lamp around the magnifying glass. Something like that costs 25 bucks and my one is 12 year old.    


When I modify figure heads I have to match the skin color of the original exactly in order to paint the modeled parts in the same color. That's exactly how you wrote. Depending on how you later photograph the head, the color difference may become visible.

Ephiane, I have that lamp as well (though not nearly as old, maybe 2 years?). It works pretty well honestly, and has not caused me to hate anything I’ve painted once removed from its light. It’s pretty affordable on Amazon as well.

Yeah so the dimmable and color adjustment from warm to cold is common. No surprise. Still - best color accurancy is probably when you are using cold light (5600K daylight) but your figures aren't always presented in same light.

I also tried a magnifying glass once and I had problems - I could never estimate how far or close my brush was from the surface. I guess with some practice you will get used to that though.

Tom looks great! I also don't mind the bags. 
And I also have a lamp like that though I can't adjust the warmth of the light. Still, so good! You quickly get the hang of working underneath the lamp.

Wow, I guess I need one of those lights…. !

I think the problem woth single loupes is, that it is hard to see in 3D. You don't know how far or close you are to the surface.
I watched some YT vids from mini painters and they often say you should get headband loupe glasses instead.

I know i can't paint under a single loupe either...

MAybe I should merge my threads too...

Anyway, Kuiil arrived (just about 5 days since ordering) and this body and outfit is really great. Ian already showed you most of it. Just testing two heads for fun
(Pygmiana Jones and random Orc mechanic)

That is cool my friend, and works so well in your environment. In the top pic, I like the hat, works well for the figure/character. It has to said though, the guy on the bottom look good too.

Thanks Dal. Was just a quick shot on a loaded table (gonna sell the cockpit, that why it is standing on the table)
I thought the Orc head was too big but it isn't that bad. Still gonna try some other things with the figure.

Lovely! Glad you got him and are already putting him to good use. In the meantime, mine got the belt, too (I had overlooked it, I think). I think they both look very good, but for some reason the one with the orc head looks flawless to me.

Some fun mashups.

What a great figure!! I want one now, just to not not have it.

I like both heads on there, but I also really like that Orc head for some reason! I know they are not supposed to have the dwarf proportions, but it just looks awesome!

GubernatorFan wrote:Lovely! Glad you got him and are already putting him to good use. In the meantime, mine got the belt, too (I had overlooked it, I think). I think they both look very good, but for some reason the one with the orc head looks flawless to me.

This guy got quiet the upswing lately Deserved! What an awesome little dude and so flexible. I need to look into the equipment that he brings. Kinda wish the rucksack was real fabric instead of just resin. also want to use the goggles.
Thank you for liking the orc head - Ovy printed it for me for another project. I also like it here very much, but might test a smaller head in the future too.

Stryker2012 wrote:Some fun mashups.

Thanks Stryker!

Diana wrote:What a great figure!! I want one now, just to not not have it.

I like both heads on there, but I also really like that Orc head for some reason! I know they are not supposed to have the dwarf proportions, but it just looks awesome!

Tempting, isn't it? Especially for that price at kghobby. I think he is great for star wars lovers as well as kitbashers. While there are smaller bodies out there, the outfit is often problematic.

What two quickly created cool characters. I'm a bit jealous of your collection of head sculpts. Is that Mav's cockpit in front of which the two pose?

I think you also have a great pool of character heads Eph? But yeah, my collection on that part is growing fast.

It is a F-15 cockpit which I used for my Maverick, but in the movies he was in the F-14 mostly, but such a cockpit doesn't exist. I sold it and my Maverick kitbash yesterday. Doesn't fit my collection anymore and I need space

Oh, what a shame. Then you won't be able to show us any more pictures of Tom in the future. But I completely understand that. I don't know where to store my figures anymore and I've already dismantled many of them for new ideas. I would have liked to see another picture of his profile. I often only realize how well a Tom Cruise is modeled when I see him from the side.

Great looking figure and excellent photography, as usual. I'm sorry you let him go.