In the words of Wilbur Smith "War is the game played by old men with the lives of the young". The pawn in this game is the combat soldier, represented by the miniature toy soldier; an insignificant being on the battlefield. Combat is the most intense moment of war, where life and death balances on a knife's edge. The results are terrifying and reveal the worst part of our human nature. Conversely, there are moments when it exudes the best of our human spirit. Most of 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 of the fragile nature of human life. I represent no political bias though my miniature creations. My aim is to portray humanity through the chronicles of military history and thus it is my pleasure that I present to you my weblog Perspectives in Miniature.
In conjunction with AK Interactive, this exclusive Gen 3 acrylic paint set is specially composed with the essential colours that I use to render WWII German Uniforms. It contains 18 colours and a small pamphlet with my personal colour mixes. If you are keen to acquire all the colours on my palette to paint a field grey tunic, a splinter pattern zeltbahn, an oak-leaf pattern smock or the Kharkov anorak, look no further, this is the set for you to get started.
Do check out my Podcast interview with Barry Biediger and Jim DeRogatis at Box Dioramas.com
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.
In this third instalment, I will share my techniques and materials to customize and detail an inexpensive stock plastic figure. Watch as I take you through the steps on how I modify a pose, model details such as hands, belts and webbing and insignias. Learn about working effectively with epoxy putty as well as plastic styrene and paper. As a continuation from my first two DVDs, I will demonstrate how to model and paint a simple groundwork as well as an alternate approach using a monochromatic underpainting to render both a field grey tunic and the World War 2 German Splinter Camouflage pattern on a helmet cover. If you have enjoyed and benefitted from those previous titles, this edition will be a welcome addition to your journey in scale figure modelling – regardless of your current skill level. It is my sincere hope that this could inspire you to embark on your own creative adventure in this fantastic hobby. .
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Finally got more work done on the figure from the September 13 post. It's a very straightforward "me and my weapon" pose of another SS Grenadier from the early part of WW2.
9 comments:
You work is very, very nice. Can you contact me about maybe doing some work on some figures for us?
dmsidaho@gmail.com
Fantastico, amigo.
I'm glad you are updating your blog so often ;)
Hi,
two short questions:
what type of putty do or did you use? e.g. in your book?
Is it important to use Gunze Sanyo thinner? I've tried it with other thinners, but they didn't work, but maybe the putty's fault.
What I forgot: Great work, of course! ;)
Hi Oliver,
the type of putty I use is called "Bondite" which is widely available in most hardware shops here in Singapore and also Malaysia (some even say Batam). I used Gunze Thinners as it worked well with the putty i.e. it dissolved the putty much better than water whilst feathering. I'm not sure what type of putty you're using but you can try using cellulose thinners as they are sure to dissolve anything.
Calvin
Thanks for your answer.
The epoxy putty I'm using is from Tamiya. It does indeed dissolve in universal thinner, but not in a way that I could easily form it with a brush. However, I think I will try around with it some more.
Hi Oliver,
I've got some experience with the Tamiya epoxy putty it pretty tough to work with for fine detail work as it's like the chewing gum. It's also particularly difficult to feather as well and I don't think the Gunze Thinner will make much of a difference. Perhaps you can seek out other alternatives say like Polymer clays? ;) There's no harm in trying right?
Calvin
hi calvin,im always impressed by your great german sculpts and the heer and waffen ss are my faves,i like your early deutschland ss figure with broomhandle mauser,where did you get the references for the earlier type webbing?,ive searched everywhere for good pictures especially a rear view of the straps/buckles.have you ever tried magic sculp putty calvin?,i agree with you on putty working times!,one always has to rush before it sets!.keep up the outstanding modelling1 ! !
Thanks Richard,
actually that's not an early war webbing but rather the Model 1939 Light Mortarman's also know as the Traggestell 39. My references were partly taken from Ron Volstad's illustrations in the Concord title Blitzkreig and an older Osprey title German Infantry Equipment 1939-1945. I was also very fortunate to have Ron providing me from his own resources additional scans taken from WW2 German technical manuals of the Traggestell 39.
As of Magic Sculpt, I had never tried it before so I can't really comment much about it.
cheers,
Calvin
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