What is the best way to paint a traditional Jap. Godzilla?

[torpted]

I hve painted a few in my time , but I often wonder what is the best way to do it for the sake
of realism. What base color? Drybrushin? Should I use an airbrush? What color to shade it in?
Any green or blue in the Godzilla suits or not? I know these are beginners questions, but I just
wanted some output. Thanks.

[raydrz]

this may end up a sticky with all the awesome G painters we got here...

mike, dennis, bilal, matt, jon, monsta, fred...we're all ears

[torpted]

It seems like a simple paint job, but I prefer mine not to look like drybrushed grey over dark grey or black. I also realize that some G's are greener or greyer or close to black depending on
the film we are talking about, but I know there are some formulas for this that work on almost
everyone. I remember Bill Craft from the Modeler's Resource always painted his black /dark grey and drybrushed them with Cape Cod Blue which is a blue grey from Delta Ceramacoat.
I would appreciate any help, but thanks for me doubting my skills, if I have any that is.

[gothiken]

I honesty thing it depends on the year and suit of G..

lots of drybrushing.... lots of washes....

[raydrz]

on the 90's godzillas, i like to take 'blue stoneware' to dry brush over dark blues/dark grays/black...

[tohoboy]

I think the one thing we've all learned is that we all have out own tastes, styles, and methods. That's what makes it so cool to see everyone's work. I know several folks use something like the following: some kind of greyish base coat, dark oil wash, dry brush highlights and airbrush and/or chalk pastels for shading.

It also depends upon what you're trying to do. Do you want to match the suit in real life, as it appeared in a particular frame from a film, etc. Stan Hyde has posted photos of the different G suits. The G2000 suit was green, the 90's suits were darker grey, and the GMK suit was almost black.

My recommendation is to get a hold of as many reference photos as possible if you're going for realism. I start all my paint jobs by capturing frames from the DVD and checking out all my Godzilla reference books. As Stan has pointed out, the color of the suits in the films may appear different than the color of the suits in person due to studio lighting, etc.

It might sound like a cop out, but in the end, it's what pleases your eye.

[monsterjones]

Yep...I freeze frame the movie and look at different parts of the suit.
I rarely, if ever use an airbrush on Godzilla...mostly basecoats(Delta Creamcoat Charcoal),
drybrush and oil washes. I also look at Hobby Japan, Japanese Kaiju hardbacks and Godzilla Dream books...great reference shots help alot. Last but not least..add some subtle , very thin washes to breakup up the mono color scheme....it is a radioactive critter,
ya' know!

[torpted]

Thanks to everyone especially Tohoboy and Monsterjones advice. It is greatly appreciated. One question that has me curious though, why oil washes? Does it cover better or produce
a better less washed out effect? I know on some of my miniatures to break up the drybrushed
look when complete I sometimes apply a wash with Windsor Newton inks which have a small
amount of shelac in them. It gives the miniature a slight sheen and takes away those sometime hard drybrush edges. Is this the case with the oil washes with the Godzilla? What
color are the oil washes that you use, Bill? Thanks in advance if you have time to answer.

[Jon LeGrand]

I use both oil and acrylic washes, but oil washes can be made to be more subtle and tend to flow in crevasses better since they can be thinner and dry very slowly.
Robert Butler has been challenging us at G-Fest the last 2 years to get away from just painting the color of the suit and paint the affects of light on the suit. I have been experimenting with that a lot lately, and it really helps your shelf of Godzillas to look more interesting.
I first tried it on my Godzilla 93 VS Batra dio. I used purples in the shadow areas and used the color wheel opposite, yellow, on highlight areas. On Godzilla VS King Kong (in proper scale) I used a lot of purples, pinks, browns, greens, etc, with darker shades in the shadow areas. It makes it look much more solid, heavy or real, than just gray with lighter drybrushing. I also recently posted pics of a G-Tempest '54 dio with his body reflecting flames on the side where the flames are. I did a Bandai 54 once and painted him in electric blue shades and bluish grays to look like the box art where he is surrounded by electricity from power lines. What is very interesting is if you do this with subtil wahes and drybrushing (I go back and forth several times usually, and I like to use transparents so I am not just painting over what I did) your brain will still translate the piece to a neutral gray somewhat but as you look closer you will see it is actually more colorful, and hopefully it adds realism or gives the effect of the surroundings affecting the animal (or suit). Check out some of the threads I mentioned above to see what I was trying to do, or feel free to browze my webshots page http://community.webshots.com/user/JonLeGrand to see more stuff I have been trying.

[starmanmm]

torpted wrote:

I remember Bill Craft from the Modeler's Resource always painted his black /dark grey and drybrushed them with Cape Cod Blue which is a blue grey from Delta Ceramacoat.

I always wondered why I had this color in my collection..... now I know.

[DenZilla]

I typically base coat with wrought iron then dry brush with different shades of gray and then wash in blues, purples and blacks.

[torpted]

Once again, I must thank all of you especially Joh Legrand for his thorough insight into painting
and breathing life into the models of Godzilla. I will try these techniques on the Bandai 92 styrene I am painting for my cousin. Much thanks.

[tohoboy]

I used to always use water-based washes, but once I tried oil-based washes (thanks to some advice from a certain, Monster Jones), I was a convert.

[Paul Helfrich]

This is a great thread. Thanks, everybody, for sharing these techniques! Very helpful stuff.

[monsterjones]

I have a ready made oil wash jar and a jar with thinner/cleaner on my work desk. The oil wash is a mix of burnt umber & black...ever see
the color of the oil that comes out of an automobile with an overdue oil change? That's it......(don't try used auto oil...it wont dry...and no,
I didn't try it....haha ) .

I also have a glaze jar with same color but acrylic matte medium....just used it on a Creature from Black Lagoon scales.

[Hobby_Dude]

For Godzilla, I like to base coat with a medium gray (often it's just gray primer). This is basically the high light color. Then I use my airbrush to pre-shade all of the folds and shadow areas in his skin with a very dark gray. To tie everything together, I mix up a mid tone color which is usually a medium gray color heavily tented with blue, brown or green depending on what suit version I'm working on. I use my airbrush to apply this in thin transparent layers so that I can have control as I blend the highlights and shadows with the mid-tone color(s).

[raydrz]

officially a sticky ...thanxxx for all the input (so far)...sure there will be more as the clock ticks...

[DenZilla]

For the teeth and claws I use a color Matt, ( Kaiju Modeler) suggested, Model Master Radome Tan.

[cyberpunk12]

Thanks for sharing the secrets of your kung fu, gents!

Jon, your gallery is amazing! I was seeing much of it for the first time. I LOVE the Godzilla vs. Kong dio but they're all fantastic.

[Jon LeGrand]

Thanks Mike!