So I imagine most of you know one the new figures to be released is Darth, and the prospect of painting seem like quite exciting challenge... But I also dread the thought. Am I correct in thinking that red is quite a difficult colour to paint over black, and what makes it worse are all the intricate tattoos that will be really quite hard to replicate on something in such a small scale... So, I'm just interested in how you guys would go about doing it? Perhaps painting his skin red first and adding red later?

Thanks for reading.

We don't get Darth Maul. We get (old man) Maul!

Red is a colour that usually doesn't cover too well, especialy over black. I never use a solid black primer on a mini, but prime it black and then fog it with white colour spray. That way I not only achieve a pre-shaded base to work on, but also one which brings out base colours like reds much better than a solid black base.

As for the black patterns on Maul's head, face and arms, the best way to go about it is to start with the largest ones and working your way down to the teeny-tiniest ones. I'd start with the back and sides of his head as well as his cheeks and neck. Then I'd paint in the black shapes around his eyes and his mouth. If you mess up, it's much easier to correct these, and it is important to get these larger defining shapes right, because they also help you later with aligning and proportioning the smaller elements of the black patterns. I also recommend using a brush with a small sharp point for this - I got myself a 5/0 from an art supplier here in Germany just for painting Maul's and Ahsoka's face.

A little tip for painting very tiny details, especially if they are freehands: Try to put the tip of the brush on the mini while you slowly breathe out - your hands will be most steady while you are slowly breathing out. Do not try to hold your breath when painting tiny things.

1 hour ago, Fourtytwo said:

We don't get Darth Maul. We get (old man) Maul!

Red is a colour that usually doesn't cover too well, especialy over black. I never use a solid black primer on a mini, but prime it black and then fog it with white colour spray. That way I not only achieve a pre-shaded base to work on, but also one which brings out base colours like reds much better than a solid black base.

As for the black patterns on Maul's head, face and arms, the best way to go about it is to start with the largest ones and working your way down to the teeny-tiniest ones. I'd start with the back and sides of his head as well as his cheeks and neck. Then I'd paint in the black shapes around his eyes and his mouth. If you mess up, it's much easier to correct these, and it is important to get these larger defining shapes right, because they also help you later with aligning and proportioning the smaller elements of the black patterns. I also recommend using a brush with a small sharp point for this - I got myself a 5/0 from an art supplier here in Germany just for painting Maul's and Ahsoka's face.

A little tip for painting very tiny details, especially if they are freehands: Try to put the tip of the brush on the mini while you slowly breathe out - your hands will be most steady while you are slowly breathing out. Do not try to hold your breath when painting tiny things.

Thanks for the great advice! Being relatively new to painting, it's handy getting tips from someone more experienced.

As regards to primer, I've always steered away from black for the reasons you mentioned. I haven't been able to try dusting my figures with a white spray over black and or grey yet, but it is definitely next on my to do list.

Didn't knowing about the breathing thing, I'll be sure to put into practice.

No doubt I'll probably to still mess it up... Unfortunately that tends to be the case with my limited attention span.

I would actually advise one thing differently...

I would save the back/neck "cowl" for last. This way you have a little more flexibility in making the shaped facial tattoos the right size/shape without having to worry as much about where the edges of the face lay. Then you can do the cowl last to frame the face appropriately. I think it would just make it a little bit easier to do the important parts first.

At this point (not actually having the miniature in my hands yet) my plan is to put on the red first and do most of the detail with black afterwards like you suggested. You need the red to be really bright and clear and I just think it would take more coats than I could be bothered to do over black. Usually, I go for black undercoat unless I really don't think it's going to work.

2 hours ago, Srba said:

At this point (not actually having the miniature in my hands yet) my plan is to put on the red first and do most of the detail with black afterwards like you suggested. You need the red to be really bright and clear and I just think it would take more coats than I could be bothered to do over black. Usually, I go for black undercoat unless I really don't think it's going to work.

From what I understand it really depends on what you're doing. Black would probably effective more often than not, but I have always just avoided for fear of having to layer and layer and layer.

On my IA figures I mostly use white primer but black have its uses on some. The probe droids for instance to get it darker.

I almost exclusively use black primer on my Warhammer Fantasy Bretonnia Knights. I want them dark and dirty (I'll admit that I have undead theme on them) Yes, it takes many layers to get the yellow good (black/yellow/red being my theme colours)

I have tried to paint my wood elves with both primers and you get a dirtier, darker (even a little sinister) look of the figures.

It all depends on the job you want to put on the figure and how you want the colours to look (dark/light)

I'm definitely excited to see everyone's cracks at Maul and Ahsoka. Seems challenging!

6 hours ago, subtrendy2 said:

I'm definitely excited to see everyone's cracks at Maul and Ahsoka. Seems challenging!

I will get mine either today after work, or tomorrow. Then I'll start prepping and painting right away - I had to wait long enough!

Well, I've started mine. Went for a black undercoat with some very rudimentary 'zenithal' highlighting from a white can. This is where I've got to far painting black over the top of the red - still a lot of improvements to make and plenty more details to go onto the arms:

In my opinion, they've made his abs too ripped - very difficult to get the pattern to look decent over them, and not really how he looks in Rebels.

48 minutes ago, Srba said:

Well, I've started mine. Went for a black undercoat with some very rudimentary 'zenithal' highlighting from a white can. This is where I've got to far painting black over the top of the red - still a lot of improvements to make and plenty more details to go onto the arms:

In my opinion, they've made his abs too ripped - very difficult to get the pattern to look decent over them, and not really how he looks in Rebels.

fantastic work man. im going to start mine soon. i was going to prime him red, then black wash. and touch up red areas. hoping the wash fills in the eyes and other areas. would you recommend that method. yours looks great with a black undercoat

I would be careful with the wash. I found that what looked like a good, strong red colour to begin with really needed to be brightened on the face once the black was on. At that size it needs a really high contrast to look any good at arm's length.

30 minutes ago, Srba said:

I would be careful with the wash. I found that what looked like a good, strong red colour to begin with really needed to be brightened on the face once the black was on. At that size it needs a really high contrast to look any good at arm's length.

so no wash on the skin of the miniature will help it stand out? maybe a flesh shade on the red skin

I don't mean categorocally don't wash it, just be careful not to darken any of it too much, because you might end up losing definition on the tattoos.

9 hours ago, Srba said:

Well, I've started mine. Went for a black undercoat with some very rudimentary 'zenithal' highlighting from a white can. This is where I've got to far painting black over the top of the red - still a lot of improvements to make and plenty more details to go onto the arms:

In my opinion, they've made his abs too ripped - very difficult to get the pattern to look decent over them, and not really how he looks in Rebels.

Brilliant work so far,very neat.

You can also cheat and use a thin pen to mark up the black lines. I bought this one (or a similar one) som years ago for this kind of purpose: https://www.jetpens.com/Staedtler-Pigment-Liner-Marker-Pen-0.05-mm-Black/pd/7936

You 'can' use it to fill out as well, but if the area is big enough, I'd fill out with paint instead. Notice that 1) it's very gloss - so it needs matte varnish. 2) The varnish can sometimes absolve the pen lines, so I usually let it dry thoroughly and then wash on top to have a "protective" layer of paint. I 'think' that I want to wash him afterwards with a mix of red and seraphim shade.

Wondering if you guys can help me. I'm currently painting maul but for the life of me I can't figure out what he's holding in his left hand. Is it another lightsaber? Looks more like a wooden torch to me? Just need confirmation before I paint it wrong.

Cheers

This version of his lightsaber converts into a walking stick. That bit attaches to the bottom for that purpose. For real. He does also fight with it though. If you search YouTube for Rebels Maul vs Inquisitors you should see how it works.

Am I the only one who really doesn't like the pose of Maul in this miniature incarnation? Of the three Figure Packs, Ahsoka's pose is great, Palpi's is good, but Maul's...

Fortunately, with his arms stretched out and his neck exposed, he will be easy to cut up and be converted into a different pose.

I also found Ko-Tun Feralo's neck to be too long - I fixed that already, but will go a bit more into detail on that fix and converting Maul in a few days in my painting thread once Snips is all painted and varnished.

More or less finished the skin parts now. I'll touch up a few bits when everything else is done:

10 hours ago, Fourtytwo said:

Am I the only one who really doesn't like the pose of Maul in this miniature incarnation? Of the three Figure Packs, Ahsoka's pose is great, Palpi's is good, but Maul's...

Fortunately, with his arms stretched out and his neck exposed, he will be easy to cut up and be converted into a different pose.

I also found Ko-Tun Feralo's neck to be too long - I fixed that already, but will go a bit more into detail on that fix and converting Maul in a few days in my painting thread once Snips is all painted and varnished.

I think what bothers me is how he's holding his stick... Just doesn't look right...

10 hours ago, Benjy81 said:

Wondering if you guys can help me. I'm currently painting maul but for the life of me I can't figure out what he's holding in his left hand. Is it another lightsaber? Looks more like a wooden torch to me? Just need confirmation before I paint it wrong.

Cheers

I think it's a wooden stick. I could be wrong but if I remember correctly that's what it was in the series.

17 hours ago, Srba said:

More or less finished the skin parts now. I'll touch up a few bits when everything else is done:

Absolutely amazing work. I was truly reluctant to start this one as I didn't want to take any chance of messing this figure up. Thank you.

2 hours ago, C3POFETT said:

Absolutely amazing work. I was truly reluctant to start this one as I didn't want to take any chance of messing this figure up. Thank you.

Thanks! I’m hoping to get him finished tonight if I get some peace.

edit: Simply cannot get this guy’s lightsaber to straighten out. I haven’t had much of a problem fixing bendy bits with hot water on other minis but this...

3 hours ago, Srba said:

Thanks! I’m hoping to get him finished tonight if I get some peace.

edit: Simply cannot get this guy’s lightsaber to straighten out. I haven’t had much of a problem fixing bendy bits with hot water on other minis but this...

Ha! yeah, I've also been noticing this mini doesn't quite wanna behave when trying to straighten those blades.