PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE: SS- Obersturmführer, Das Reich, Russia 1941

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. .

Sunday, 7 February 2010

SS- Obersturmführer, Das Reich, Russia 1941

Labels: SS- Obersturmführer Das Reich Russia 1941 Posted by CALVIN TAN at 19:24

Today has provided me with another fruitful progress to the 1/32 sculpt. Sorry to disappoint but there are no plans for this to be a commercial sculpt as this is long overdue single figure commission for a collector I promised a long while back.
Another WW2 German nonetheless; I wanted to depict haugthiness of an SS officer embolden by the successes of Blitzkrieg and the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa.
The clay is still soft at this moment and I reckon I will commence the first round of baking(with the heat gun) when most of the primary folds and surface details are established.
I'm still having some issues with the posing of the hand holding the artillery Luger and judging from the pics I feel that it needs to be slightly angled medially. Apart from that, everything seems to A-ok for now.

cheers,

Calvin

7 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hi Calvin,

great work, you really catured the "character feeling". Could you give some more details on your technique with the polymer clay? How do you manage not to damage the still soft parts when posing for example the arms? Do work in thin layers of putty or do you first add the volume and then the details?

Best wishes
Mark; 7 February 2010 at 22:19
Andreas said...: Hey calvin,nice sculpt so far,will you bulk up the hand resting on the leg?The hand look too small I think.

I have a heat gun now too but it does not work good with fimo.How long do you bake it and from which distance?

I plan to buy ss Firm,is this stuff compatible with the heat gun?

best regards and thanks,

Andreas; 8 February 2010 at 00:42
Jim Johnston said...: Hi Calvin, I love the pose of this figure and think you are on the right track with the pose. The right hand might work better bent back at the top of the wrist from the weight/feel of the weapon. The left hand is fine scale wise, just seems to be disappearing into the blouse of the sleeve a bit. The line of the gray on the hand may be tricking the eye of Andreas. I look forward to seeing your progress on painting.; 8 February 2010 at 02:01
Anonymous said...: Calvin
We have got to get this figure into production!
It's a beauty!
Chris "Panzer" Mrosko; 8 February 2010 at 05:28
Gary Dombrowski said...: Calvin, Very nice. Is it possible to completely bake the clay with a heat gun? I've read that some folks submerge their sculptures in a pan of boiling water. just a thought. ~Gary; 8 February 2010 at 05:49
Orb said...: Again, fascinating....

what I'm personally interested in, would be seeing a photo of the armature you used, and maybe how you constructed it. Maybe on the next project.....?

cheers

Rob; 9 February 2010 at 21:40
6q said...: you are the best , this sculpt is very good wok , I am a fan of your paint of figures ,thankyou !!!; 14 February 2010 at 03:01