Be it an everyday play thing in the playground or as tokens on a miniature wargaming table, toy soldiers have throughout the ages have held a sentimental place in the hearts of both adults and children alike. Throughout history, warfare is synonymous with games military and political leaders play for power and control. The toy soldier albeit a plaything, has symbolic references which manifest the imagery of soldiers in real battle; an insignificant entity amidst the megalomania of war. Innumerable human sacrifices in battle amounts to mere loses in a casual game of chess. Almost all the miniatures you see here are diligently researched from historical sources and handcrafted between scales of 1/35 to 1/16 (approx 50mm to 120mm). The intricate rendition of human expression and fine details not only demonstrates the level of craftsmanship but also serves as a reminder to the fragile nature of human life. I represent no political bias though my miniature creations and my striving aim is to articulate humanity within the context of military history. Though much has been expressed through other mediums, I proudly choose this as mine. It is thus my pleasure that I present to you my weblog Perspectives in Miniature and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy your visit.
This instructional DVD published by Model Art magazine was primarily developed for the beginner armour and diorama modeller in mind. The video presentation will feature a variety of easy to master techniques used to render a 1/35 scale plastic injected moulded figure.Topics include proper paint application techniques, choice of brushes as well as some little tricks for painting fine detail. It is fundamentally a showcase of some of my methods and techniques for painting military figures and I am certain it will prove beneficial for any modeller who wishes to improve on figure painting. It is currently available in both Japanese and English.
This video presentation documents the process of rendering a highly detailed 1/35 scale after-market resin figure. Watch as I take the viewer through the process of rendering of leather, uniform insignia as well as camouflage patterns using the techniques and materials presented in the beginner's guide to achieve convincing results. It is available in both Japanese and English.
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Here is another conversion based off a famous wartime photo using Tamiya's Sturmtiger barrel and the US Tank Crew ETO set. I swapped out the original head with one from Hornet Models (which I must say bears an uncanny resemblance to James Franco) and married it with the Tamiya helmet. The arms are re-positioned and jacket seams detailed with thin strips of rolled out epoxy putty. The ambush scheme is hand painted with Vallejo acrylics as I figured it would be easier and quicker than doing a mask and spray with the airbrush.
What better way to kick off 2019 by sharing a recently completed box art assignment from Young Miniatures of an "Alter Hase" or "Old Hare". It has been a fun assignment to be able to go a little adventurous particularly with the painting of an ugly Nordic pattern scarf as well as a gaudy floral gift box. I guess I would not have done so if not for the candlestick in the grenade bag; speaking of which marks my first time using the Non-Metal Metallic (NMM) rendering technique on a larger sized object. I am satisfied on how it shows up but I do reckon more practice is needed to perfect it. It is always fun and refreshing to always try out new things. In all the sculpt is quite clean with lots of possibilities to exercise the skills and imagination of the painter - especially on the camouflage smock and scarf.
Finally a special thanks to Young-Bok for giving me the privilege of painting this fine sculpt.
Took some time over the last two days to finish up the painting double for the filming of Calvin Tan's Basic Guide to Figure Painting DVD. The face and uniform are painted with Vallejo Acrylics and Andrea Colour according to the methods depicted in the DVD.
In this variant, I did not hand paint the the Armoured Division shoulder patch, but instead used the ones made by Archer Transfers. I adopted what I now call a "low depth of field" approach to painting; meaning to only direct the viewer's focus toward a specific point and blurring out the rest. I did so in this particular piece to circumvent the main drawback of injection moulded figures by only raising the tonal contrast of the areas that registers the best definition of details. Regions lacking in definition were rendered with darker analogous colours and low tonal contrast to reduce their visibility. A good example would be the use of Vallejo SS Camouflage Black Brown and Andrea Slate Grey to create the mud stains on the bottom of the overalls. This harmonizes the figure with the ground work to enhance the atmospheric perspective of the entire composition.
A few months ago I used this stock figure from Tamiya's Italian Front Wespe as a demonstration piece at the 2018 Malcom Show in Penang. It was shelved until late last week that I renewed interest in it and decided to convert it to a Panzer Artillery crewman of the 10th SS. Pz.Div. "Frundsberg"as a companion piece to the 9th SS.Pz.Div forward observer on the rooftop.
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