PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE: Male Head Study in 1/24 (75mm)

ARTIST STATEMENT

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.

Calvin Tan

WWII GERMAN UNIFORMS - PERSONAL MIXES BY CALVIN TAN

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.

CALVIN TAN'S BASIC GUIDE TO FIGURE PAINTING

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.

CALVIN TAN'S GUIDE TO CONVERTING AND PAINTING FIGURES

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. .

Wednesday, 7 May 2008

Male Head Study in 1/24 (75mm)

Posted by CALVIN TAN at 23:41

After a month or so of inactivity, here's something I've been working on at an irregularly basis for the past couple of weeks. It's a WIP head sculpt of a 1/24 scale commission for a close collector friend of mine.(sorry folks, it's another one-off I'm afraid) I must confess that though I was hesitant about accepting this project as it's a subject that I wasn't familiar, his enthusiasm has infectiously inspired me to consider otherwise which I'm so far enjoying. (I'm mentioning this as I've not progressed on to the details that would eventually make the figure "pop") Anyway, I reckon it might not make it to the WE 2008 in July due to my current hectic teaching assignments at several schools and institutions. This will probably last through till mid August and hence my apologies in advance for not making any responses to any of your criticisms, comments, questions and well wishes.

Cheers,

Calvin

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Wow! That is very good! I have always wanted to sculpt like that. Glenn Bartolotti; 8 May 2008 at 10:50
Evacomics said...: Eva said: Ouch, that's small! Very impressive...
Yeow Kuang said: Wah lao eh!
Han Xiang said: Hao lian lah~; 9 May 2008 at 22:59
Rudi Richardson said...: Very nice, Calvin. So it's a full 75mm figure? Do tell though, what's the figure? :-)
Rudi Richardson; 13 May 2008 at 13:08
steve readdie said...: very nice work so far Calvin,i will follow with interest to see how it develops.; 8 June 2008 at 05:15