Trust me, I'm the Doctor...

The moment I saw these models on Heresy Miniatures website I absolutely had to have them. I've been loving the series and Matt Smith has been a brilliant choice only almost eclipsed by Karen Gillan. Painting was a breeze with both taking only about an afternoon each, so Ladies, Gentlemen and Derivations thereof (bonus geek points if you get the episode reference) I present to you - in deference to Heresy's naming structures avoiding the wrath of Aunty - Dr Hugh and Amelia Lake!

I love the work that Steve Buddle has put in to these models. Just to show how tiny and detailed these figures really are I have included a scale picture:

So, now to look at the good Doctor in more detail. The jacket was a real challenge. Tweed is not an easy effect to portray:

The only way to paint the tweed effect was to paint on a base layer and then hundreds of fine lines in a checker pattern, some with a redder tone to the base layer, some with a greener tone and some with a brown/black mix added for the dark lines. Please, please don't ask me what the exact colours were as I just eyeballed the layers. I know I started with Graveyard Earth over a Khemri basecoat and that I used Red Gore and Orkhide Flesh for the green and red shading but that is all! I shaded the jacket with Devlan Mud in the creases.

In the same manner, the shirt is actually a fine red pattern over grey that resolves at a distance as the fine lines you see painted on. I'm sure you will agree with me that it is the details that make this model. The sonic screwdriver, the clips on the braces, everthing. Wonderful work.

And so onwards to the plucky assistant!

The only parts that are really useful as painting advice are the hair and fabric. Painting convincing red hair is tough, too often you see bright orange masquerading as ginger (I have been guilty of it myself). Recently I figured it out: Vermin Brown basecoat, Devlan Mud wash, highlight with 2:1 Vermin Brown and Vomit Brown and finally 1:1 Vermin and Vomit browns. This gives a convincing red without making it look comical.

The leather jacket is deliberately over-highlighted with the edges and folds being almost pure fortress grey, this is to give the impression of light shining off it. I also gave it a thin coat of gloss varnish but don't rely on it to create the leather effect. You won't always have spotlights to help. The Denim is fairly easy, you need to use drybrushing to achieve the textured effect, a basecoat of shadow grey highlighted with fortress is my personal favourite.

Well that's all for today! Hope you like these models as much as I do. If you have any questions about technique or colour that I haven't covered then please ask in the comments. It is always nice to get comments, proves there are readers out there!

TTFN