1st time painting Zinnfiguren

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at painting flats also known as Zinnfiguren and bought a few to try for dioramas.

This is the place that I ordered from in Germany. The earliest Zinnfiguren date back to the 13th century in Germany.

Initially they were used as teaching aids to introduce students to history, mythology and genres. I ordered 3 pieces of Greek Mythology.

 

I primed white as usual and then began painting up the pieces. Here is a 54mm Hercules Wrestling the Nemean Lion.

And the reverse side. It’s important to paint the forward most limbs brighter to create the illusion of depth of the 2 dimensional pieces.

I ordered a 4 x 4 shadow box from an Etsy seller

And cut a piece of foamcore to use as the back drop inside it

This will be used to house the diorama

Next I paint the foamcore backdrop with an aim to create depth and dimension.

Building up the backdrop with acrylic paint

Here with the finished set

To add more depth I created foreground pieces using popsicle sticks trimmed to shape and painted.

These were mounted on another trimmed popsicle stick to create a base for inside the shadow box. All pieces were then dull coated.

These pictures here do not do it justice, but now show a diorama with depth even though it is only flat pieces.

More to come,

Doc