PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE: Alpine Miniatures

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. .

Thursday, 6 November 2008

Alpine Miniatures - KG Peiper, Ardennes 1944

Labels: Alpine Miniatures - KG Peiper Ardennes 1944 Posted by CALVIN TAN at 00:35

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And finally here are a couple of WIP shots of the Peiper figure after a hectic week of balancing work and family. Much work is still required on the back of the figure before I can snap the official pictures for the box art.

Also do check out the follow-up photo report on the recently concluded Korean model show NOVEM 2008 over at Young Miniatures. Though published in Korean, one could easily get an impression of the displays and ambiance on that day from the pictures.

Calvin

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Marvellous!

If you don't mind, could you please show me how do you paint Leather U-boat Jacket please?; 6 November 2008 at 16:10
Rudi Richardson said...: Calvin,

What's to say, mate? Great job! Like sion, I'd also love to know more about your technique for painting large (black) leather surfaces, like the submariner's machineroom jacket.

With regards to the recent show - what was the agenda? Any workshops like the European and US shows? Was the presentation language English or Korean? Sorry about all the questions, but I'd love to attend some time, and I'm sure other Aussies would as well ;)

Rudi; 6 November 2008 at 18:51
Kinjiru said...: Impressive work! I'm loving it! I'm amazed with the detail and it's not finished yet!! ahhhhhhhhhh!! :D

Keep up the good work!; 7 November 2008 at 18:15
CALVIN TAN said...: Hi Sion and Rudi,

thanks again for both your compliments.

The leather jacket was painted with oil paints. The colours employed were Ivory Black, Raw Sienna and Naples Yellow. I first applied a thin film of Ivory Black (straight from the tube) with a flat number 2 brush as a ground. A mix of varying quantities of Raw Sienna and Naples Yellow were combined with the Ivory Black to produce a warm grey-brown tone for the highlights. This was worked wet on wet with the initial layer of Ivory black.
I prefer using oils for such purposes as it allows a greater level of flexibility to attain my desired finish of leather within a shorter time frame.

With regards to the show in Korea, it was like a regular club meeting with lots of interaction, show and tell with two main lectures; one on sculpting by Taesung and the other on painting with acrylics by yours truly . The presentations was in Korean but mine was graciously translated from English to Korean by Taesung to the attendees.

That's all for now as I gotta get back to painting those spare heads.

Calvin; 9 November 2008 at 10:27