PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE: Charging Soon Towards You!

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, 9 October 2012

Charging Soon Towards You!

Labels: Alpine Miniatures - US Marine 1943-44 Posted by Calvin Tan at 17:34

After several weeks of work, I'm proud to showcase Alpine Miniatures latest 1/16 scale offering of a WW2 US Marine from the Pacific Theater of War. Aficionados can outright distinguish this an unprecedented release for Alpine Miniatures - one of dynamic animation - from their standard upright contrapposto figures.

Interesting to note that this figure also marks the entry of sculptor Dmitry Shevtsov's into Alpine's ensemble of sculptors. The pose and animation is spot on and rendering of folds and intricate details resonates with the high quality we have come to expect from Alpine.

Though satisfying, the duck hunter camouflage pattern was particularly tedious to execute. It is convenient to assume this pattern consisted of random amoeba shapes but close study reveals distinctively unique patterns repeated throughout. Maintaining the consistency of shapes and sizes whilst painting pattern thus took its toll of on my concentration as often went back and forth to correct the shapes. I can't say that they are perfect but at least I can claim that I done by humanly best.

All interfaces of the component parts were refitted with magnetic locks making them detachable during the painting of hard to reach areas. The carrier block for the rifle and bayonet was removed towards the end to mitigate warping and breakage.

Overall this assignment was the most demanding I had for this year - given the intricacy of the sculpt and complexity of the camouflage pattern. Nonetheless it was quite rewarding to know that I tried my best to render this commonly overlooked camouflage pattern.

Cheers,

Calvin

5 comments:

Schedler Vincent said...: Fantastic work Sir
Congratulation
Greetings from Belgium

http://figurinepassion.blogspot.be; 11 October 2012 at 22:35
DUFF said...: This is great work! I am stunned!; 12 October 2012 at 18:46
Bandit 32 said...: excellent work, greetings from Nevada.; 15 October 2012 at 14:48
Unknown said...: Calvin, this is Awesome! I like painting US Marines and Army figs in both 120 & 1/35 scale.I was hoping Alpine would do more in the Marine and Army figs after speaking with Taesung Harmms at a show in Ct some yrs ago.I recently finished a Marine sculpted by John Rosengrant and used Vallejo paint for the first time on a figure using your techniques and was pleased as to how it came out. I was wondering what colors you used for the base coat and on the camo since it looks like you have it down right to the T. I used many references and mix colors to get as close as i could. Thanks, Michael; 19 October 2012 at 09:16
Calvin Tan said...: Hi Guys,

thanks for the generous compliments.

Michael, glad to know that you've found my methods useful. For your information, I used Jo Sonja acrylics for the painting of the Duck Hunter camouflage. I've gotten a couple of inquiries for my color mixes and so I'll be planning to post the color mixes sometime this weekend.

Cheers,

Calvin; 23 October 2012 at 16:15