Bargain pick up and repair help!

[Mithrandir93]

Hey guys

Ok, so I popped to Leicester yesterday (that's in the UK, for anyone that doesn't know) and went in a neat little antiques and collectibles shop, with loads of cool stuff in there. Over the counter I noticed a Sideshow Weta Bilbo bust (no box) next to a Gollum figurine that came with the Extended Two Towers DVD set. At this point I was buzzing. I had a look at the Bilbo and granted there was some damage e.g. chips and paint work but nothing major. I asked for the price and the shop owner said £5. Yes, only £5. The Gollum was £8 which I also bought but the Bilbo for a fiver was a steal.

I've touched up the nose where a lot of the paint damage was and it's covered well but the flesh tone needs a little work to repair it to its former glory (you can see the difference in tone on the picture below, on the nose and brow area). I haven't touched up the paint work on the base or chest/shoulder area yet. I need help on flesh tips really. I've touched up stuff before but there's a lot of work in the face of this bust and I don't want to make it worse. Any help would be appreciated?

Thanks

 

[sparkstron73]

Congrats on your bargains, dos'nt look too bad from here, have you sealed the paint touch up?

 

[Mithrandir93]

Congrats on your bargains, dos'nt look too bad from here, have you sealed the paint touch up?

Thanks. I haven't got round to sealing it yet. I'm hoping sealing it with give it a glaze like the rest of the paint work.

 

[tnaig001]

I'm not an expert but I've been tempted to try some of the cosmetics powder. they seem to have every skin tone known to man.


BUT I've never tried so its untried advice.


good luck.

 

[Red Metal]

Well, if you've never had experience painting, I'd recommend that if you want it done perfect, you might want to look into paying soemone else to do it. I paint alot of minitures, models, etc (12 years of experience), so I could tell you what would work, but it would be hard to explain if you've never picked up a paint brush.

I guess the key would be to choose a few different colors for the job. Games-Workshop, which is predominant in the UK has a few different skin tone color options available. I would buy a couple bottles of those and a basic brown color to mix. Buy the smallest brush you can find for detail and a slightly larger one to help mix in the shading. Then you'd have to work on painting the nose area to match the general look of the rest of the face - cheeks, chin, etc.

To seal, I use Testors Dullcote or Krylon flat coat - I don't know if either of those are available in the UK, but most flat/dull spray varnishes are pretty good for protection. Don't bother with the GW varnish - it's bad. If it was going to be handled alot (like the stuff I paint for wargames), I'd recommend a gloss coat and then a flat/dull overcoat, but just the flat/dull should be fine.

Hope that helps.

 

[sparkstron73]

I'm not an expert but I've been tempted to try some of the cosmetics powder. they seem to have every skin tone known to man.


BUT I've never tried so its untried advice.


good luck.

Could try that but it might wash off or smear when you go to seal it.

Thanks. I haven't got round to sealing it yet. I'm hoping sealing it with give it a glaze like the rest of the paint work.

Take some close up pics of the repair area and the surronding paint to it.

I reckon you could blend a few colours to match the orignal paintwork depends how confident your feeling.
If it's chipped then you see the difference in thickness unless you add more coats to bring it up to the original thickness of the paintwork.

As I said looks ok from the pic but depnds how fussy you want to be with it.
Sealing will help give it a more blended look imo.
Hope this helps.

 

[Mithrandir93]

Well, if you've never had experience painting, I'd recommend that if you want it done perfect, you might want to look into paying soemone else to do it. I paint alot of minitures, models, etc (12 years of experience), so I could tell you what would work, but it would be hard to explain if you've never picked up a paint brush.

I guess the key would be to choose a few different colors for the job. Games-Workshop, which is predominant in the UK has a few different skin tone color options available. I would buy a couple bottles of those and a basic brown color to mix. Buy the smallest brush you can find for detail and a slightly larger one to help mix in the shading. Then you'd have to work on painting the nose area to match the general look of the rest of the face - cheeks, chin, etc.

To seal, I use Testors Dullcote or Krylon flat coat - I don't know if either of those are available in the UK, but most flat/dull spray varnishes are pretty good for protection. Don't bother with the GW varnish - it's bad. If it was going to be handled alot (like the stuff I paint for wargames), I'd recommend a gloss coat and then a flat/dull overcoat, but just the flat/dull should be fine.

Hope that helps.

I am used to painting. I've painting model kits and miniatures for about 7 years. I just haven't had to repaint something before where the colour has to be so spot on. I've touched things up but as the damage on this bust was quite noticeable and the damage on a noticeable area, the nose, I need it to look like nothing has ever happened.

I think I will take your advice and get a few new colours and just keep mixing colours until I get the right tone.

Thanks.

 

[Mithrandir93]

As I said looks ok from the pic but depnds how fussy you want to be with it.
Sealing will help give it a more blended look imo.
Hope this helps.

I'm not going to be too fussy with it. It's on display with my other SSW busts and it looks fine. I agree with you that the sealer will probably give a blended look and that's really all I want. As it was such a great find I won't be selling it, so i don't need it to be perfect, in fact I've never sold any LOTR piece I own, I just can't seem to let them go haha. Thanks.

 

[Red Metal]

I am used to painting. I've painting model kits and miniatures for about 7 years. I just haven't had to repaint something before where the colour has to be so spot on. I've touched things up but as the damage on this bust was quite noticeable and the damage on a noticeable area, the nose, I need it to look like nothing has ever happened.

I think I will take your advice and get a few new colours and just keep mixing colours until I get the right tone.

Thanks.

If it helps, it does look pretty good so far. You just need alittle orange/red/brown in the recesses and it should look even better.

 

[sparkstron73]

I use this varnish and it gives a nice finnish.
I'd use the matte and you can get it from "hobbycraft" stores

Whatever you use try it on a test area which is'nt that noticeable like the back of the neck or under the chin and see how it looks.

 

[Fritz]

This isn't my auction but I have it and would recommend buying it...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Explorations-in-Painting-Horizon-Hobbies-VHS-TAPE-/170672086251?pt=VHS&hash=item27bcd95ceb