Figure Friday: Painted Red Skull Miniature

First off, I’m sorry for the delay and posting this short blog on Red Skull! I had him all painted and ready to roll last Friday but I got distracted by a morning of playing Tunic and then kind of a busy few days with Father’s Day and getting a new furnace/air conditioner. As you can see, this classic Marvel villain is now fully painted and ready to enact evil plans in Marvel United.

What I Like

I really enjoyed documenting the process of painting Red Skull over on Twitter and Instagram. I can understand the hesitance of posting work in progress pictures because many aren’t all that flattering and I tend to be messy. I think there are more benefits though, and it’s fun to see how the figure evolves after each step and painting session.

I like how the different shades turned out on Red Skull, especially some of the highlights. Finally, I’ve done a little bit of reading on how to take better photos of miniatures, so I hope that some of those tips and tricks translate into better photos for social media as well as these blog posts.

What I Want to Improve

I’ve learned my lesson using Army Painter washes: when they say shake lightly, shake LIGHTLY. I received a pack of their washes as a Christmas gift and this was my first time using them, the red and green tones were fantastic and a nice change in pace to only using one or two from Citadel. However, I must have shaken the red tone a little too much, producing extra bubbles that did not go away once they got on my figure. After the wash step, Red Skull looked like he had a bad case of acne, so I had to try and cover up those spots with some extra paint.

I also think I could have applied a little more wash in the recesses of his skull to give more contrast, but it was far from a failed first attempt using a different wash!