Garden Railway Forum

I need some suggestions on painting glasses (spectacles) on figures.
I have this figure who has glasses. What colour should I paint the 'glass' ? (please ignore the spots etc in the pic - I will fix all that)
Should I paint the eyes and eyebrows first?
I tried painting the glasses black to simulate sun-glasses but that looked terrible.

gregh wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2024 12:42 am I need some suggestions on painting glasses (spectacles) on figures.

It would have helped if the manufacturer hadn't decided to mould the glass as well as the frames. The lenses in normal glasses are clear, so the eyes and surrounding skin are visible and look more or less normal, (depending on the prescription). The glass is only visible when it reflects light.

You could try painting the lens area in skintones, then paint the eyes using a wash, so they can be seen, but aren't too obvious. Then pick out the frames in a suitable contrasting colour.

If you want the effect of sunnies then try finishing the lens with a thin wash of gloss dark grey, or maybe dark green. The only wearers of opaque black lens are welders and sometimes blind people.

I don't recall ever painting a large scale model figure with glasses, so the above is just a couple of ideas for experimentation......

Regards,
Graeme

Could you carefully drill/scrape the 'glass' area to just leave the frame, paint the frame and then put a small drop of transparent liquid in the 'glass'? I've done that successfully with things like signal lamp faces. Clear 2-part epoxy works well and goes off fairly quickly.

Thanks Philip and Graeme,
Good suggestions. I will try and paint the frames (with much scratching off probably) and then the eyes etc.