Cat's Cradle Building the vignette
As we haven’t got the space in this article to cover everything, this is just a brief rundown of my approach to making scratch built figures. While what follows uses by way of illustration the "Cat’s Cradle" figures I did based on the Picture Post painting by...
Cat’s Cradle Painting
The whole thing started in 2002 when I visited the MFCA show in Valley Forge, because I arrived a day earlier in Philadelphia. I spent the time looking around and “doing the sites” like any normal tourist. On the way back to the hotel I passed a small museum and as...
The Last Mohican (part 1)
Okay, here I am back, and would like to start with a project I started some time ago. As you can see the idea is based on a painting from N.C.Weyth. It is a very romantic piece and the historical accuracy was of course secondary. So therefore it was not a historical piece. We got that idea from a collector...
The Last Mohican (part 2)
Okay, let’s start with the second part and see what I have messed around. As you can see from the pictures, the figures were interacting quite vividly with each other. That’s why I had to paint the Indians face and chest first before Alan could finally finish the figures. Here on these pictures you can...
Maximilian I (part 1 horse)
The idea for this figure originally came from Rüdiger Möhrmann who commissioned me to make it for him in 90 mm.He sent very detailed drawings of the figure he wanted, and supplied close up photographs of the Maximilian style armor, as well as many illustrations of both the man himself and...
Maximilian I (part 2 figure)
As you may be able to tell from some of the pictures, I actually did some of the work on the figure of Maximilian when I was still working on the horse...but it simplifies things and makes more sense (as I can keep track of where I am up to) if I describe each part of the project as a separate...
Matter of Time
This project began, when someone from Italy asked us whether we would be interested in making these Indians as a vignette for him. As we were already interested in Woodland Indian, and admired the pictures of Robert Griffing, we were naturally glad for...
General Nicholas Herkimer
Nicholas Herkimer, born in 1715, was commissioned as a Militia colonel in 1775. He became chairman of the committee of safety of Tryon County, and in 1776 was made a brigadier-general in the New York militia. He was one of the most prominent and widely respected of the...
Carving a basic head
This article is based on my part of the seminar Marion and I did on Sunday morning at Chicago in 2004, since doing the seminar, we have had people that they...
Henry VIII
This project started with an inquiry from Annette Wagner, to see whether Alan could make a figure of Henry VIII, as she wanted it as a Birthday gift to herself. Alan agreed to model it, but it was really a great challenge to make the figure look like one of the most...
How do I paint a figure with acrylics
In this article I will try and show how I paint using Acrylics and present it in understandable language based on examples of different figures that I have painted. There is a quantity of literature on using Acrylics and everyone praises the technology of the medium...
Painting Technique
Over the Years I tried many brushes, until I finally found the best ones for me and I have now used the red series of Andrea and the series 7 from Windsor&Newton for years. My preferred sizes are No.0, No.1 & No.2, which I can use to paint from 54mm to 120mm figures problem-free...
Colour Chart
Red I Basis:
Red A12+Black A26+Hull red V985
Red I Basis: Red A12+Black A26+Hull red V985
Highlight: Basis+ V 948Golden Yellow+V910Orange red +V947Red
Shadow: Basis+V859 Black Red+ V960Violet
The Palace Guard
The idea for this figure came from Karsten Abel, who suggested to Marion that it might be a good piece for me to make. Looking at the copy of the painting he sent, I liked the relaxed yet self-assured pose and decided that I would like to do it. I don’t know much about the picture but decided that the...
Grandfather's Boer War Notebook
A brief rundown of what is in my Grandfather’s Boer War Notebook. Two wars fought by the British and the Boers for the mastery of S Africa. The British had made several attempts to re-incorporate the Boers, who had left the Cape Colony in the Great Trek, within a South African confederation....
Commercial sculpting
This posting includes quotes from several others, so I don't claim I wrote the whole thing. I'm not sure which bits are who's now, but the whole thing is from a discussion that was on timelinesforum and I have included some of the input from the discussion that followed as they added greatly to the value...
General Thoughts on measurements
I originally posted most of this on the MedRom Forum, but thought that it might be worth re-posting here, as it falls under the general heading of this forum.Of course, this is only a personal viewpoint, and in some cases you have to use precise measurements (equipment, weapons, etc.)...