FIGURE MODELLING 20

Figure Modelling 20

Welcome to the 20th edition of “Figure Modelling” in Mr Black Publications Scale Model Handbook series. This is the 24th book weve published so far, with 20 of our titles covering figure modelling; two about modelling dioramas and the remaining two books are our popular “World War Two” modelling specials.

We decided to celebrate our 20^th edition in the Figure Modelling series by featuring only WWI and WWII themes, which are our two most popular periods. We have 11 different articles herein – five on WWI and six on WWII.

The articles have been written by four, well-known artists with lots of tips and techniques about modelling miniature figures, busts and vignettes. Our chosen subjects are covered in detail and illustrated with step-by-step photos and explanatory texts.

Sergey Popovichenko presents a large-scale bust painted with oils and acrylics, depicting a British Infantry Soldier at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Eight pages with 58 step-by-step photos reveal exquisite details on painting, weathering and how to “add life” to this excellent resin bust sculpted by Young B. Song and produced by Young Miniatures.

Mike “The Kiwi” Butler presents another eight-page masterpiece feature about creating a moment in history in miniature form, using the Fusilier figure set in 54mm. The sculpting was done by Steve “the Fusilier” Warrilow and the five-figure vignette depicts the ANZACS on Chunuk Bair during the Gallipoli Campaign in August 1915… Mike used original soil from the ground there!

 A three-page feature by Stelios Neofytidis depicts a 75mm German Stormtrooper sculpted by Andrew Cairns and produced in high-quality resin by AC Models. This is an excellent sculpture with a realistic pose that Stelios painting gave life to.

 The famous WWI flying Ace Eduard-Maria Joseph Ritter von Schleich, better known as the “Black Knight of Germany”, is the subject of a three-page article made by Mr Black Studio. The well-known American miniaturist Mike Good designed the figure and produced by the Model Cellar. There are some historical data included along with all the necessary mixing recipes for creating a natural looking leather flying coat for the figure.

 Stelios strikes again with an article about the WWI Canadian flying ace, Billy Bishop, another impressive figure sculpted by Mike Good and produced by the Model Cellar. This is an excellent reference for painting dark tone leathers.

In a seven-page feature with lots of step-by-step photos (45) master artist Toshihiro Sano, one of our regular Japanese contributors, presents a guide to painting a 180mm Young Miniatures bust of a WWII German U-boat Commander using Tamiya enamels.

Following is three-page article depicting a 1/35 scale, two-figure vignette from the first days of the German Invasion of Russia - Operation Barbarossa! This article, by Mr Black Studio, explains how to do minor conversions to commercial figure kits to produce a simple, but also unique small diorama.

A winter scene based on the Ardennes campaign in 1944 uses a 1/35 scale Alpine Miniatures US Infantry Officer figure is the next subject by Toshihiro Sano. A short explanatory text, with Toshihiros necessary colour mixing recipes to make a similar vignette, should inspire you!

Another winter scene of a two-figure vignette depicts a moment during the Third Battle of Kharkov. Stelios used one Alpine and a Sovereign 2000 figure changing the heads producing totally different personalities to the original kits! Read a lot of interesting tips and techniques here for creating the ideal WWII winter scene.

“Somewhere in Stalingrad” is the title of yet another winter scene vignette made by Mr Black Studio. The Warriors three-figure kit is unfortunately now discontinued, but the same creation and painting techniques can be adapted for similar figures. Two figures were used after making some small alterations.

We close with another WWII theme featuring Toshihiro Sanos impressive 120mm German Officer bust of the 116^th Panzer Division Windhund. Originally an Alpine Miniatures kit sculpted by Mike Good, this particular bust was converted by Taesung Harmms. Awesome painting by Toshihiro using Tamiya Enamels shows why he earned two Gold Medals in October 2016 and July 2017 at the major US show held annually in Chicago.

As always, thanks must go to all our contributors for their support and for sharing their secrets with us. Special thanks are due to Pietro Balloni, Luca Marchetti, Alex Vallejo, Darren Parker-Mead, Man Jin Kim, Alexey Lucanev, Fernando Vallejo, Balazs Schuller, Taesung Harmms, Yannis Papadopoulos and last, but not least our English text editor Ken Jones.

We hope you enjoy our latest edition!

Stelios Demiras

Editor/Publisher

CONTRIBUTORS

MIKE “THE KIWI” BUTLER • STELIOS NEOFYTIDIS • Sergey Popovichenko • Toshihiro Sano

A4 FORMAT
52 PAGES
BINDING
MATT LAMINATED COVER