Xpress Rotten Flesh

Pale flesh with no life in it

A pinkish gray in which the healthy warm undertone is missing, which is exactly what tells undead skin from living. The shade is used on revived corpses, on drowned bodies and marsh fiends, on sick and starved figures and on the skin of creatures that have never seen the sun. As the paint dries it gathers in the eye sockets, between the ribs and under the cheekbones, so the gaunt relief of the figure comes out by itself.

The ground decides how long it lasts

This type of paint is heavily thinned, so on its own it cannot anchor to a smooth surface. On untreated resin or on glossy plastic it forms a coat that once dry holds only mechanically, and if the part is bent or pressed with a fingernail it flakes off in thin scales. A ground applied beforehand removes that problem, because it creates a microscopically rough surface the binder bites into.

Preparing the part

With resin castings there is moreover mold release agent left from the mold. So before priming, wash the part in warm water with a drop of dish soap, let it dry thoroughly and touch it as little as possible afterward. Ten minutes of extra work here decides whether the figure will hold for years or will start to flake after the first move into a display case.

How many coats it will bear

Applying it repeatedly clogs the shade quickly and it loses the translucency that makes flesh look alive. Two applications are the ceiling; when you need more depth, bring it out with a darker color into the shadows rather than with a further pass over the whole area.

Supplementing the shade

Blue and violet tones in the hollows will bring the pallor out further still.