Figure Friday: Iron Man from Marvel United

This week I wanted to highlight the second miniature I painted from Marvel United: the one and only Iron Man! I’ve had plenty of practice with red and yellow with various House Lannister units that I’ve worked on ever since I began painting a few years ago, so Iron Man felt like only a small jump away from comfort. After seeing some finished examples from other painters, I decided to stick with basic colors rather than using a metallic gold on his armor or blending in a silver metallic into the red. Ultimately I think this makes him look and feel a little more like he’s jumping out of a comic than Iron Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

What I Like

Based on the sculpt itself, it’s a little hard to tell if Iron Man is just blasting off from the street, or if he’s skimming across some water – so I kind of split the difference and made the waves underneath him (energy or water) blue. I’m really happy with how I was able to lighten up the blue to make it look interesting, although the photos don’t quite do it justice. The grooves in his armor meant that the wash settled in and gave each piece a pretty clear distinction. Seriously, I love how a simple wash can make me look like a better painter than I actually am.

What I Want to Improve

Looking back on the figure and seeing some of the details blown up on the photos, there are some aspects I’d like to improve going forward. Yellow is a pain to paint, so I’d like to learn how to smooth that color out a bit. There are also some spots where I could touch up after the wash so the miniature doesn’t look so dark and smudgy, this has been something that I don’t seem to correct on a lot of my figures. I’d also love to continue improving highlights, I don’t make them pop out enough. Finally, I’d like to take better notes on what colors I used, I had to take a stab at the blue because I painted Iron Man back in June. While it wasn’t much of an issue here, there are times where I leave a miniature half painted for a few months because life is so busy and hectic, and trying to remember what paint I was using can be tricky.

The Paints I Used

• Red Armor: Citadel Mephiston Red
• Yellow Armor: Citadel Averland Sunset
• Eyes/Arc Reactor: Citadel Macragge Blue
• Blue Energy: Citadel Alaitoc Blue
• Wash: Citadel Nuln Oil

Let me know how Iron Man turned out, and whether next week’s Figure Friday should be another Marvel figure or something different!