Game Color - Skin Tones Set

Flesh from the ground to the brightest point

The flesh tones form a range in this set that follows on from one to the next, so you do not have to mix the intermediate steps yourself. Game Color is an acrylic line intended for gaming figures: it has a denser binder and a finer grind than paints for large areas, so that the engraved detail of a face and hands is not lost in the coats.

The base decides the result

Nothing affects flesh as much as what lies beneath it. A light gray primer will keep the tones fresh and warm, a black one will damp them down and you will need an application more. Resin and metal have to be degreased before the ground is sprayed on, or patches will appear here and there where the paint does not hold.

Thin coats and plenty of strokes

A face is not done in one application. Lay the base tone on lightly twice, then shade with a heavily thinned glaze at a ratio of roughly one to three, and apply the lightest tone only to the raised spots with a brush carrying a minimum of paint. Let the area really dry between the individual steps; into a damp coat the tone beneath will lift and the transition will smear.

When to reach for an airbrush

With larger busts and large figures an airbrush pays off. It lays a smooth ground with no marks from the bristles and will manage a soft transition to a highlight as well. On small models it is more of a delay: the preparation and the rinsing take more time than the painting itself and the fine work is done by hand anyway. The starting point is thinning to the consistency of milk and a lower pressure, so that the paint is not atomized into a grain. Flesh is the least forgiving of all figure surfaces, so do not hurry and rather add one step more.