Tatooine_Todd
Sr Member
In the middle of a MaK build and want to simulate worn brown leather pads in part of a Snake-Eye suit. Any tips?
Need painting techniques for creating leather
- Thread starter Tatooine_Todd
- Start date
Too Much Garlic
Master Member
What's an MaK build?
For brown leather you can mix some black with brown and then do a lot of dry brushes and washes with varies shades of light and dark brown.
For brown leather you can mix some black with brown and then do a lot of dry brushes and washes with varies shades of light and dark brown.
Gigatron
Sr Member
Not sure what MaK is (is that one of those Machinekriegen (sp.?) that Jason's (moffeaton) always building?). If it's a styrene kit, ModelMaster makes an acrylic paint, called, simply enough, Leather. It's about the same color as an Indy jacket. Paint it on, follow it up with a dark wash and then a dry brush and you should have fairly convincing leather.
-Fred
-Fred
Tatooine_Todd
Sr Member
Hey guys,
Thanks for the tips. Yep, a Mak is short for Maschinen Kreiger, this particular one is a space powersuit version. I'll post pics of the build as I proceed.
Do you already have the leather texture or do you need to build that up too? If you already have it then it's easy, but if you want the leather texture you'll have to create it somehow, probably in something else that you can then add to the plastic model in a thin layer to give the texture without changing the overall shape.
blackdog
New Member
try this, I use a two paint system. first lay down a lighter color. For a black leather use a blue or a dark brown. let that dry. then use a paint product called "crackle" paint that on follow the directions of crackle. You can find crackle at craft stores . Paint on the top coat of black paint. the paint will crack and will look a little like old leather. gently rub with fine steel wool to scrub more top coat off then use a wood stain then seal the finished product and, you should have nice old look. Experment on something first to get the hang of this system. I don't you'll be dissaopinted.
TheEmperorsHand
New Member
Leather can be all sorts of different shades of brown and orange, not to mention black. I have to sometimes paint three or four different shades on a cowboy era figure because it would look goofy if it was all the same color leather.
Here are the best ways to paint brown leathers using Acrylic paint.
1: Try to find a brown that is a close to your final desired color. That will be the base color. We will need two more colors that we will add so we have a highlight and a shade.
For shading I use a very dark brown (as close to black as possible), and for highlights I use yellow (never use white).
You will need four small containers to hold the paint. (Soda bottle caps are cheap and can be thrown out after use.)
2: Painting the base coat.
Take the base color and place about 10 drops of paint from the jar into the first container (dipping the back of the brush into the jar works well to control the drop size). Now add a 50/50% ratio of water to it. It is very thin and will have the consistency of milk after stirring. Now start painting your first coat. It will not look like it does anything but it does (trust me).
If it looks like the there is too much paint on your brush when you first dip it in. Take a piece of scrap paper and unload it a little with one stroke. Don't worry there is still paint in the brush (trust me).
3:****let it dry.**** a hair dryer will speed things up.
4: Repeat the process until you have even coverage.
This method takes a little longer than one thick coat. However, you will lose any details, such as texture or folds.
5: Highlight color.
Take another bottle cap and add 10 drops of your base color, and three drops of your highlight color. Now add eight drops of water. We want this to be a little more transparent than the base. *** THIS IS NOT A WASH*****
When you dip your brush in it will load up with too much paint. That is okay you just unload it with a couple of strokes on a piece of paper. Now we paint the highlights. These will be the areas that would be in sunlight the most. For example, the top of the object, and the tops of all folds, wrinkles, edges, and seams.
Paint these areas with one coat. Again it will look like nothing is happening on the first coat.
*****Let it dry completely. ******
6. Apply a second coat but to only the inside half of your first highlighted areas.
*****Let it dry completely. ******
7. We apply a third coat to half of the inside areas of the second coat of highlight color. It is kind of like we are building an island of the highlight color. This method allows the highlight color to slowly blend in this the base color.
8. **Optional *** The very top highlight will now be the yellow or orange color in the center of the highlight. Very small and light you do not have to thin it out. It will make the highlights pop.
9. Shadow color
Take ten drops of the base color and add 3 drops of your dark brown to your third empty container. Add six drops of water. *** THIS IS NOT A WASH*****
We will now paint the areas that do not see as much sunlight. This will be folds, wrinkles, undersides, and the center of the stitching areas.
We do the same thing we did with the highlights by make islands of the darker color. with one exception.
The shadow areas should not be so big that the first coat touches the first coat you put down as a highlight. There should always be a band of the base coat color separating the highlights and the shadows. I make it a rule that all vertical areas will always be the base color.
*****Let it dry completely between each coat. ******
10. UNIFICATION.
If everything you have done, has been successful up to this point. Your leather will look a little like stripes of colors from light to dark. We want to have all of these colors blend into one another. This is where the base color will come in.
Take the fourth container and pour half of you base color into it. Now add eight drops of water to this. The consistency will be very translucent.*THIS IS A WASH SORT OF BUT NOT* I call it a glaze/veil.
Dip you brush into this container and unload it on a scrap piece of paper. Now unload it again. We want the brush wet but not too dry.
Now paint over the whole object highlights, base color, shadows areas in one thin layer.
***** let it dry********
How does it look? if you are not satisfied apply a second glaze coat.
Did the second glaze dull down the highlight? If so then apply the highlight coat again but only in the very center of the highlighted area ( the brush should be unloaded to the point that it is barely wet).
Same goes for the shadow areas.
This is the basics of leather. I can post another more on how to make it look worn and distressed as well as painting textures effects.
I have won many figure painting competitions with this technique.
If you are using a different medium, oil paint or enamel. I can post techniques for these as well.
Cheers
Todd
Here are the best ways to paint brown leathers using Acrylic paint.
1: Try to find a brown that is a close to your final desired color. That will be the base color. We will need two more colors that we will add so we have a highlight and a shade.
For shading I use a very dark brown (as close to black as possible), and for highlights I use yellow (never use white).
You will need four small containers to hold the paint. (Soda bottle caps are cheap and can be thrown out after use.)
2: Painting the base coat.
Take the base color and place about 10 drops of paint from the jar into the first container (dipping the back of the brush into the jar works well to control the drop size). Now add a 50/50% ratio of water to it. It is very thin and will have the consistency of milk after stirring. Now start painting your first coat. It will not look like it does anything but it does (trust me).
If it looks like the there is too much paint on your brush when you first dip it in. Take a piece of scrap paper and unload it a little with one stroke. Don't worry there is still paint in the brush (trust me).
3:****let it dry.**** a hair dryer will speed things up.
4: Repeat the process until you have even coverage.
This method takes a little longer than one thick coat. However, you will lose any details, such as texture or folds.
5: Highlight color.
Take another bottle cap and add 10 drops of your base color, and three drops of your highlight color. Now add eight drops of water. We want this to be a little more transparent than the base. *** THIS IS NOT A WASH*****
When you dip your brush in it will load up with too much paint. That is okay you just unload it with a couple of strokes on a piece of paper. Now we paint the highlights. These will be the areas that would be in sunlight the most. For example, the top of the object, and the tops of all folds, wrinkles, edges, and seams.
Paint these areas with one coat. Again it will look like nothing is happening on the first coat.
*****Let it dry completely. ******
6. Apply a second coat but to only the inside half of your first highlighted areas.
*****Let it dry completely. ******
7. We apply a third coat to half of the inside areas of the second coat of highlight color. It is kind of like we are building an island of the highlight color. This method allows the highlight color to slowly blend in this the base color.
8. **Optional *** The very top highlight will now be the yellow or orange color in the center of the highlight. Very small and light you do not have to thin it out. It will make the highlights pop.
9. Shadow color
Take ten drops of the base color and add 3 drops of your dark brown to your third empty container. Add six drops of water. *** THIS IS NOT A WASH*****
We will now paint the areas that do not see as much sunlight. This will be folds, wrinkles, undersides, and the center of the stitching areas.
We do the same thing we did with the highlights by make islands of the darker color. with one exception.
The shadow areas should not be so big that the first coat touches the first coat you put down as a highlight. There should always be a band of the base coat color separating the highlights and the shadows. I make it a rule that all vertical areas will always be the base color.
*****Let it dry completely between each coat. ******
10. UNIFICATION.
If everything you have done, has been successful up to this point. Your leather will look a little like stripes of colors from light to dark. We want to have all of these colors blend into one another. This is where the base color will come in.
Take the fourth container and pour half of you base color into it. Now add eight drops of water to this. The consistency will be very translucent.*THIS IS A WASH SORT OF BUT NOT* I call it a glaze/veil.
Dip you brush into this container and unload it on a scrap piece of paper. Now unload it again. We want the brush wet but not too dry.
Now paint over the whole object highlights, base color, shadows areas in one thin layer.
***** let it dry********
How does it look? if you are not satisfied apply a second glaze coat.
Did the second glaze dull down the highlight? If so then apply the highlight coat again but only in the very center of the highlighted area ( the brush should be unloaded to the point that it is barely wet).
Same goes for the shadow areas.
This is the basics of leather. I can post another more on how to make it look worn and distressed as well as painting textures effects.
I have won many figure painting competitions with this technique.
If you are using a different medium, oil paint or enamel. I can post techniques for these as well.
Cheers
Todd
Tatooine_Todd
Sr Member
Thanks for the fantastic replies, I can't wait to get to the bench tonight.
I'd buy one in a heartbeat! 
Dewka
New Member
ever since i discovered Reaper paints I have stopped using enamels and such on figures. MaK leather AFAIAC should be well worn, especially Mercenary forces gear.
I am currently working out how to paint blue leather on a 1/6 elven assassin bust and am on my third try on that...not much luck so far but that is todays project.
my other leathers in the brown range I basecoat in black, then a good layer of
Reaper Dark Skin Shadow, then Cobra leather layed on very very thinned (not a wash, just thinned about 100:1 with a small drop of flow extender). Once that is dry I hit the color with a 100:1+ flow extender overall filter. When that is dry I rub it with my thumb. Instant old, hard, smooth light brown leather.
for darker leathers I omit the orange and use either one of my skin tone shadow colors (for variety..who says animals are all the same color in the MaK universe) or Vallejo's English Uniform.
For black leather unless it is a polished boot or Sam Brown belt I go with a black base, black overcoat with a different black ( I love using black) and then a 200:1+extender with a dark brown such as Reaper's Muddy Brown. This works well for boots in service or just to give a used cast to black leather items, mainly from sweat and skin oil. I did this with my recent 28MM Tusken and it came out just as I had hoped.
HTH
