PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE: Alpine Miniatures - DAK Grenadier, Tunisia, 1943

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. .

Saturday, 26 May 2012

Alpine Miniatures - DAK Grenadier, Tunisia, 1943

Labels: Alpine Miniatures - DAK Grenadier Tunisia 1943 Posted by Calvin Tan at 12:19

After much anticipation, here's a preview of the completed paint work for Alpine Miniature's upcoming release. This is probably in my opinion one of Taesung's most elaborate 1/16 scale sculpt - comprising of many fine intricate details reflected by the lace work on tropical boots and subtle creases on the tunic, trousers and even the hands. With the full marching kit, this figure will prove to be a rewarding project with the variety of challenges it offers.

Cheers,

Calvin

6 comments:

Histone said...: Congratulations on completion!! What a beautiful rendering...amazing.; 27 May 2012 at 00:50
Ernesto Reyes S. said...: Very cool Calvin, looks fantastic, hope to paint WWII figure like you some day.
Best regards
ER; 30 May 2012 at 01:17
Dennis said...: Another beauty Calvin.Thanks for making them available.
Dennis; 5 June 2012 at 05:35
Richard Knorrek said...: Hi Calvin!

Great work, as always!
I jsut got some figures that I thought you might like, since you mentioned that you liked the slight caricaturistic face of your most recent Young bust.
Check these fellas out:
http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u43/HordalandsDoedskvad/Fine%20Molds/

They are designed by Akira Toriyama, the artist behind Dragon Ball, who also drew the awesome assembly instruction sheets for all 7 figures.
I picked mine up from the post office today an boy, are they cool! Very nice faces, very good clothing detail, very nice detail all around! I found'em for like 20 bucks a piece on ebay.

Maybe they're something you might like to try out if you ever needed a change of subject without straying too far from your usual domain expertise :)

Cheers,
Richard; 5 June 2012 at 23:22
Calvin Tan said...: Hi Folks,

thanks for all the encouraging words. I do hope to see some of your renditions of this piece in the near future.

Calvin; 7 June 2012 at 15:33
Calvin Tan said...: Hi Richard,

thanks for the reminder. I do have caricatured figures from Fine Molds stash in my boxes waiting for a splash of paint. The problem is always finding the time and effort. I painted the SS figure with the ZB26 back in 1996 in oils and enamels (a la Bill Horan) and loved that experience. I'll see if I could post some pictures of that figure when time permits.

Calvin; 7 June 2012 at 15:45