1st SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung LSSAH

Here are some new photos of an old box art assignment painted for Alpine Miniatures back in 2006. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Go For Broke - US 442nd Infantry Regiment, France 1944

It is finally done. 

The moss is from AK Interactive (AK8131) Realistic Dark Green Moss. The mushrooms and pine cones are from HD Models secured onto the base with AK Interactive Matt Varnish (AK11237).

For the final presentation, I used a wooden pedestal from Il Basetta by Franco Serra. The name plate was designed on Photoshop and created using the Canon Selphy photo print transfer method onto a sheet of adhesive foil.

 

Cheers,

Calvin

Go For Broke - US 442nd Infantry Regiment, France 1944

 A little more progress today especially with the M1907 rifle sling. This was particularly tricky as I needed to punch the eyelets along the length of the straps and achieve a natural sag of the sling. After some experimentation with paper and epoxy putty, I decided to use rolled sheets of epoxy putty. Epoxy putty can be easily shaped with a wet brush to achieve the natural sag and attaches easily to any surface with PVA glue. The main drawback is that its structure is very delicate and breaks easily with the slightest touch. My solution is to paint both the front and back of the thinly rolled sheet of epoxy putty with AK 11419 Waffen Red Brown. This gives it a thin vinyl shell to preserve the shape and acts like an exoskeleton to fortify the structure of the putty. I am therefore able to punch the holes through the putty's surface without breaking up the putty. Furthermore the skin of paint prevents the putty from adhering to each other - removing another headache in the process. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Go For Broke - US 442nd Infantry Regiment, France 1944

Some progress on the figure this evening. The shoelaces are made from Black Milliput and added on after the shoes were painted. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Go For Broke - US 442nd Infantry Regiment, France 1944

Modelling the US 442nd Infantry Regiment has always been at the top of my wish list and I can now finally claim that I have done so all thanks to the new US Infantry Scout Set (355379) from Tamiya. All it simply took was literally some plastic surgery to transplant the faces from Tamiya's Japanese Army Officer Set (35341) and voila! 

The face transplant was seamlessly performed with some careful cutting and "welding" with Tamiya  Plastic Cement and Extra Thin Quick Setting Cement. 

Cheers,

Calvin

1/16 scale Japanese NCO, Malaya 1942

A blast from the past. In 1999, I made my first ever commercial sculpt for Singaporean model company Miniature Alliance and later in the same year it won a silver medal at Euro Militaire. It was the most exhilarating time of my life as I have dreamt of competing at Euro Militaire for many years before. It was by first big break into the international scene and since then I had lots of opportunities to meet a lot of my heroes whose names I only knew from magazines. 

The figure was painted with Testors and Humbrol acrylics. The neck flaps were made from paper and the lanyard from a string of sewing thread. The vegetation consists of a mixture of dried plants purchased from a local florist. Despite its age and though today I could nit pick on some minor flaws, this figure remains one of my favourite and memorable pieces to date. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Podcast Interview on Small Subjects

 I have been an avid listener of the podcast Small Subjects hosted by Barry Biediger and Jim DeRogatis for quite some time now and it is indeed a great privilege and honour to be featured. Though I feel strange hearing my voice over the air, I still hope you guys will like the interview and don't forget to also check out the rest of their podcasts and their web page Box Dioramas. 

Cheers,

Calvin