Learn to Paint: Tigra and Echo — Marvel Crisis Protocol

When Atomic Mass Games recently sent over the character pack, including Tigra and Echo, I figured these would be some fun and easy models to get up quickly on the table. Both have some opportunity for freehand work, and with Tigra, some fun and unique skin tones.

Echo, Tigra, Ronin - atomicmassgames

Atomic Mass Games

atomicmassgames

Priming

For both of these models (and a few more), I opted to prime with White Scar. Like Silk and Spider-Ham before them, I figured a white primer would work out very well for both brightness of tones and skin tones, seeing that Echo is generally shown as a pale character.

Base Tones

Speedpaints or Contrast paints can do wonders over white. These paints, with a similar flow to inks can quickly fill gaps and create dynamic contrast on a model. On Echo, I used Turnbull Turquoise to achieve the blues in her costume. On the wraps, I used Quick Gen White Shadow, which gives me subtle shadow tones while maintaining the white primer, which works well for wraps. On her boots, I used Power Blue, another Quick Gen paint with very intense hues. 

For Tigra, I used traditional painting techniques. Desert Yellow for the skin, Lava Orange for the hair, and Imperial Navy for the darker part of the costume. On the white part of the costume, I thinned down Runic Cobalt and mixed it with the navy to get a dark yet pale tone. I’ll be working up to my highlights with this choice. 

Mid Tones

Getting into the mid-tones for both models was an easy venture. For Echo, I used the same mix from Echo and Spider-Ham, where I mixed Runic Cobalt with Ivory White to build up my mid tones. On Tigra, I used the same mixture but with a little bit of Imperial Navy to make sure it still fit the base tone. For Echo’s boots, a tiny amount of Cobalt and Power Blue gave me a slight highlight, but I didn’t want to go much further. On Echo’s skin, Dorado is pulling the majority of the work. 

On Tigra’s hair, Lava Orange and Ice Yellow helped build up my mid tone. For her skin, Ice Yellow and Desert Yellow started to build up that mid tone, focused on all of the musculature. Lucky for me, her sculpture has a lot of little raised areas that make it easy to create visual interest. 

Highlights

Easy peasy in this case. On Echo,  I repeated the same technique I used on some previous models, mixing in Ivory White with Runic Cobalt. For the skin, like on Silk, Dorado with Ivory White. On Tigra, all of the blues got more cobalt and Ivory white mixed in, and Ivory White got mixed into the yellows. Once you find a universal highlight color, it really helps create unity across a subject. For the final highlights on Tigra, Ice Yellow building up to Ivory White, with final speculative highlights thanks to Golden’s Titanium White.

Special Effects and Basing

For the bases, I stuck with a mixture working up from The Darkness into Thunderous Blue into Great Hall Grey, with the Grey being focused on the edges of all of the cracks across the concrete. AK Interactive enamels helped out with Panel Liner, first providing darkness in the cracks, then liquid enamel pigment to leave a dusty finish. These all clean up with white spirits or thinner. The Yellow for the curb actually is an AK Interactive Real Color marker. It has the best consistency I’ve seen come out of a yellow paint. 

This is now my default recipe for all things Marvel Crisis.

Tigra has a lion head statue she’s leaping off of, and while the box art depicts the lion with a reddish color, I opted to stick more traditional approach, painting the head a concrete gray color. I didn’t write down what I used, but you can start with a mix of 50/50 black and white and work your way down and up from there.On Echo, the swords got  Plate Metal Steel, and then a mix of Broadsword Silver for the parts in shadow.  Moonbeam Yellow for the hilts. The bricks that she is standing on are a mix of Ruddy Umber and Vermillion, hit with an AK dirt enamel wash to simulate the dust that appears on the brick. 

Lastly, both models have some unique bits to them that require some special skill. On Echo, she has a handprint on her face. I didn’t trust myself to do it properly, so I used the Goblin Stamper from Goblin Hobbies to plant a white handprint on her face. I did it quite perfectly, only requiring a little bit of ruddy brown on the hair to clean up. 

On Tigra, she needed stripes. Tainted Garden, first in a thin layer, then more built up in certain parts to help create depth, solved this for me.

Goblin Hobbies

We are Goblin Hobbies, a miniature painting hobby company that produces Stampin’ Plates and miniatures.

Goblin Hobbies

Finals

After all of that, a quick pass with an AK Interactive Black marker for the rim, and some Ultra Matte Varnish, and both of these models are ready for the table!  Total paint and assembly time took a few days; don’t sweat it or rush it. I feel like if I wanted to push these models further, I could have spent more time refining my highlights, but these aren't going for competitive awards anytime soon; they’re destined for the table, and that’s what it’s about.

Have you painted up Echo or Tigra yet? Follow Gaming Trend for more Learn to Paint and Marvel Crisis Protocol articles, and show us how you’re painting up your pieces in the comments or find us on Instagram and Bluesky!