PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE: 1/16 US Marine Recon, 1970

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. .

Tuesday, 4 January 2011

1/16 US Marine Recon, 1970

Labels: US Marine Recon 1970 Posted by CALVIN TAN at 22:02

A happy belated new year to all and what better way to usher the new year with a 1/16 scale sculpt based on the head study. There are obvious plans for a commercial release of this sculpt by Alpine Miniatures but not anytime soon due to other personal and work commitments.

With the exception of the hands and boots (done in epoxy putty), the entire figure is sculpted from a 50/50 compound of Super Sculpey and Super Sculpey Firm. There's still a long way to go before it finds its way into the rubber mold. Many details such as the canteens, grenades, K-Bar fighting knife and the tropical rucksack will needs to be fabricated and features such as the hands will need additional attention.

As mentioned, it's still a work in progress and do feel free to furnish whatever opinions of the sculpt.

cheers,

Calvin

5 comments:

LBM said...: hi my friend
good to see you back on sculpted minis
this is a spot on figure
regards
laurent borget; 4 January 2011 at 23:27
Orb said...: Calvin....!

good to see a large sculpt from you....and one of my fave subjects - recent took out the Miniature Alliance sculpt you did of the Airbone Recon guy you did a while back.....nice; 5 January 2011 at 18:13
Fredx1408 said...: Hi Calvin and happy new Year! Excellent job as usual, every time more amazing than previous!!!
I would like to see the painting process ;-)
Cheers
Federico; 5 January 2011 at 21:14
Anonymous said...: Calvin
Long time no see, great to see you back in the swing of things.
Keep up the killer work.
Chris "Panzer" Mrosko; 6 January 2011 at 11:51
Anonymous said...: Hi Calvin,

Happy New Year and a productive year ahead!

This looks really great. Looking forward to postings of the full figure.

My only comment would be that the shape of the ears look odd.

Cheers
Basil; 7 January 2011 at 18:13