How to paint muscle definition

[ErikB]

I recently got a bunch of Hasslefree muscle-guys (Wolf, Akos, etc.) and I am having a tough time painting the muscle definition well.

I have been using Dark Flesh, Dwarf Flesh, Flesh Wash, Dwarf Flesh, then Elf Flesh (or whatever they are called now), and a final highlight on knuckles and noses.

The problem is that the contrast with the Dark Flesh is too much and my blending is horrible.

I've tried putting down a glaze of Dwarf Flesh to blend the Dark Flesh with the Dwarf Flesh and that helps a bit but I used too much glaze medium so there is a booger-colored filler in some of the muscles.

Also, when I try to brush on a highlight layer, I leave some brush marks in the crevices which ruins whatever hard-earned effect I was able to achieve.

They are especially challenging because they are in "normal" 28mm scale instead of Heroic, being Hasslefree.  So, that wash doesn't work the same way as it would on a GW mini.  I am being forced to learn new ways to paint... 

Anyone have a good tutorial on how to paint these kinds of figures? 

[petercooman123]

My first thought would be to use bronzed flesh, between the dark flesh and dwarf flesh, but bronzed flesh has been gone for years now.

Would it help to apply a mixture of dark flesh and dwarf flesh between step one and 2 to ease the contrast?

[Michi]

I recently got a bunch of Hasslefree muscle-guys using Dark Flesh, Dwarf Flesh, Flesh Wash, Dwarf Flesh, then Elf Flesh (or whatever they are called now), and a final highlight on knuckles and noses.

The problem is that the contrast with the Dark Flesh is too much and my blending is horrible.

Anyone have a good tutorial on how to paint these kinds of figures? 

I only use Vallejo 72042 parasite brown for basic flesh and add white to mix some lighter toned shades which are applied in layers. It´s much easier on muscular bodies, because you don´t need to care about soft blendings as on females.
Five layers will do.



The Kev miniature is even smaller than the most Hasslefree minis, but it works on him as well as on that enormous Reaper not-Hulk:

[ErikB]

Great advice, folks!

Question re: the dip.  Are the current GW washes comparable?  Or must I go buy the Army Painter stuff?