PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE: March 2023

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 26 March 2023

Painting a Head in 1/35 scale

Labels: Modelling Tutorials Posted by Calvin Tan at 23:42

Here is a short animation documenting the process of painting a head in 1/35 scale using AK Gen 3 acrylic paints.

Cheers,

Calvin

Friday 24 March 2023

Detailing the Gas Mask Canisters

Labels: Tamiya Posted by Calvin Tan at 14:00

Detailing the base of the German gas mask canisters by lathing it on a cordless hand drill. A strangely satisfying process :).

Cheers,

Calvin

Sunday 19 March 2023

FineMolds 1/12? scale WW2 GI Caricature

Posted by Calvin Tan at 02:23

Finally done!

Cheers,

Calvin

Friday 17 March 2023

FineMolds 1/12? scale WW2 GI Caricature

Posted by Calvin Tan at 00:16

Finally, the painting has made some progress. At this point, I would estimate that it is roughly 80% complete. I made the decision to portray this soldier from the Italian campaign's First Special Service Force. On a flat sheet of glass, the insignias are modelled with epoxy putty. While the epoxy putty is still flexible, they are coated with acrylic paint. As it started to set, I gently used PVA glue to affix it to the figurine after scraping it off the glass. The swivels on the rifle stock are fashioned from 0.3mm solder wire using the same construction method.

Cheers,

Calvin

Saturday 11 March 2023

Faux Wood Figure Base

Labels: Modelling Tutorials Posted by Calvin Tan at 22:22

I just thought I'd share something a little different this weekend as I try to create a faux wood finish on a figure base made of balsa wood laminated with sheet styrene.

Several layers of Red Brown thinned down with AK airbrush thinner are applied until the desired effect is achieved. To enrich the saturation and give the final result a transparent reddish hue, some Clear Orange and Clear Red are added to the Red Brown. Numerous DIY videos on YouTube can easily be used to reference the application method..

A generous spray of satin varnish is applied and allowed to set for 24 hours.

The surface is smoothened with a grit 800 sanding sponge.

The bottom piece ogee is spray painted with black.

The finished result.

Cheers,

Calvin

Monday 6 March 2023

FineMolds 1/12? scale WW2 GI Caricature

Posted by Calvin Tan at 22:45

You can say I am off to a heady start with this fun project of a 1/12? scale caricature of a WW2 GI from Fine Molds. For this project I decided to "borrow" some colour notes from Lucien Freud as well as his heavy and dynamic strokes to echo the caricature. I am no longer using a black primer base as I have completely switched to undercoating my figures with Mr Color lacquer-based Flat Clear varnish. As my painting technique involves layering thin glazes of paint akin to water colour painting, the lacquer varnish provides an extremely firm and porous ground for the AK Gen 3 acrylic paints to adhere. The objective is to "stain" the Flat Clear varnish with paint rather than to attain an opaque coverage. This saves me a lot of time "mediating" the wide scale of tones extending from black to white using my previous method.As proven, this result took only 45 minutes to accomplish.