21 December 2020

Review: Master Scale Modelling, by José Brito

Disclaimer: I received the book as a free review copy by the publisher. This will not predetermine my review, which will be a fair summary and assessment of the book's strengths and weaknesses as I perceive them.
 

Hey all,

this is David, back again with another review of a recent book.

This time, I'll dive into Master Scale Modelling, published by Acrílicos Vallejo. The book is written by José Brito who is one of the best-known modellers out there, and an extremely productive author of excellent how-to-guides and tutorials. I am sure that you have seen some of those tutorials, be it in print, pdf or video format somewhere on the web, where the artist is wearing those distinctive blue gloves. That's José.

 

This book is a collection of articles by José - some already published as pdfs, some updated versions of published works, and some original pieces produced specifically for this volume - covering almost the whole spectrum of modelling. The book is a 552-page mammoth, weighing in with 2.3 kilograms, which takes the reader from the most basic topics such as the core tools for modelling to advanced issues such as diorama-planning, ultra-detailing, or weathering. Next to scale-modelling of planes, vehicles and ships, the book also covers miniatures and all-things-diorama.
 
 
The book is organized in two main sections. The first, titled "The World of Scale Modelling" is an introduction into the basic considerations and materials necessary for building, painting and weathering models, figures and dioramas. In these 70 pages, José talks in depth about the basic implements and necessities of our hobby, including the relevant tools, types of glues and paints, as well as the different materials models are made of and the stuff we can use to build dioramans and improve/detail existing model-kits. He also briefly touches upon some general ideas on planning a model project and how a bit of research can greatly improve the modelling experience. All of this is mainly written from the perspective of scale modelers and diorama-builders, but will also be perfectly applicable to the needs of the display or tabletop-army miniature painter!

 
 
 
The second part comprises the "meat" of the book, in which José presents on over 400 pages almost 50 step-by-step tutorials on a diverse range of topics, touching on every aspect of scale modeling, diorama building and miniature painting. Many of the tutorials focus on and are titled by a specific aspect of the modeling endeavor, including the process of (super-)detailing a model kit, working with different materials such as balsa and isolation foam, model water, or decals, or implementing special effects and working with metallic paints. Other tutorials are more focused on a specific model or "theme" or scene, such e.g., capturing the design and "mood" of World War I trenches, how to build a Sherman tank, or replicating the 1944 Allied Normandy landing. All of these individual tutorials are self-contained, spanning between a few to over 30 pages, and take the reader through the full range of steps - from presenting the material and products to the final result.
 
 

 
A gallery of some of José's best known works, expertly photographed and nicely arranged, rounds up the volume, giving an excellent overall perspective on the finished models/dioramas and providing a nice capstone for the many how-to guides in the book.
 
 
 
The book is printed in full-color, on thick, sturdy paper. It is shock-full of nicely laid-out pictures that show the indivual steps in a clear and easy-to-follow way. These step-by-step pictures are the undisputed stars of the book, as they show in detail what José is doing. Every picture is annotated with a short descriptive text - each relatively brief, but still instructive. The texts include explanations of the techniques and materials as well as codes of the Vallejo products used in the individual steps. The range of topics covered leaves nothing to wish for, and every modeller is sure to find something of interest and relevance in those pages. This includes small tips and tricks, such as submerging sandpaper in water when sanding resin parts to catch the hazardous dust, but also insights into the complete process how José approaches the planning, composition and actual building of his projects. Whether it's super-detailing plastic kits with photo-etched parts, the building of complex, multi-storey buildings from scratch, or replicating earth, sand or water effects, José covers it all.
 
 
 
In terms of substance, then, I really found nothing missing. The book covers pretty much everything a modeler and/or diorama-builder needs to know to build models and present them in dioramas. It is a bit brief on the planning and design aspects of diorama-building, but covers these issues as well across a few parts of the book. Of course, some of what is presented in the volume has been available elsewhere already, but I am sure some modellers will find it useful and worthwhile to have all of these tutorials collected in a single, high-quality print version. The main issue likely to come up with this book is that the specific structure makes it somewhat hard for readers to find a specific technique or piece of advice in the vast amount of information and the many pictures and descriptions in the volume. The presentation - mostly structured along projects instead of specific techniques or topics - makes it less useful as a reference work for those looking for a specific piece of information. This can be solved by going through the whole volume once with a pen and some post-it notes, marking pages where specific topics/techniques of interest are presented. Nonetheless, an index would have been very welcome! The book's project-focused structure also leads to some degree of redundancy, as similar topics and steps are presented multiple times across the chapters. Of course, being published by Vallejo, the book features mainly those company's products (but not exclusively). But there's nothing that prevents modellers from using the exact same principles, techniques and tips José describes in this volume with other manufacturers' acrylic products.


In sum, I think that this might be the go-to-book for modellers looking for a one-size-fits-all manual. As such, I would say that especially beginners will profit from the book, as this volume covers much of the whole range of modelling-related topics, from very basic issues to many advanced tips and techniques. As such, novice modelers can profit from the book's content over a long period of their growth up to advanced level without much of a need of looking elsewhere. More advanced modellers and those looking for advice on specific issues might be better served with more specialized, and slimmer, books that take a less comprehensive approach.

The book should be available through all retailers selling Vallejo products with a listed price of around 50 Euros.
 
Let me know if you have questions or comments. All the best,

David

18 December 2020

MV Challenge 2020: Second Cut!

Aloa everyone!



Thank you all for your patience on the second cut votes.
You can not believe the hard task you put on us judges in doing judging work on this great gallery. It is really though work, but we pushed forward.

Second cut entries are now live in the gallery:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/E7sBViNBuSmKcUpQ7

This is how we worked, second cut:
We discussed our judging criteria and started to give points to the strongest entries. Every judge had one point on each entry. Every entry with more than 5 out of 8 votes continues (We are 8 Judges). Now all of these entries who made first cut were strong , but now the idea and exection, the atmosphere, the storytelling come in play. Not only technical aspects.

10 entries made second cut and are running for one of the three medals!

We will have these results ready for you in the new year as we will meet up for an online meeting to discuss everything and also Roman is moving flats as we speak, so things are quite busy!

_________________________________________________________________________

If you are one of the winners of the Random Prize Pool and did not yet contact Roman with your postal adress, please do so (Postcards will be sent in the new year as they were already moved to the new flat):

3. Random Prize Pool Winners:

#01
3x Sets of Roman Lappat Miniature Art Postcards A
- will be shipped after Roman's move

Rayiskum (adress recieved)
Zoe Birrel (adress recieved)
Alex York


#02
3x Sets of Roman Lappat Miniature Postcards B

- will be shipped after Roman's move
Charlene Jägli
Helge Wilhelm Dahl (adress recieved)
Jason Carter (adress recieved)

#03
Limited Model From Michael Kontraros Collectibles
Alexander Triebeneck - confirmed, shipped

#04
The League "Water"
Josef Skladanka  - confirmed, shipped

#05
Bograth the Hunter, Journeyman Miniatures
Lea Kraus - confirmed, shipped

#06
Mr Lee's Surprise
Nathanel Shaw - - confirmed, shipped

#07
Nordly's Miniatures, one figure of choice
Tanja Zent - - confirmed, shipped

#08
The Last Ronin
Andrea Merlini - confirmed, shipped

#09
Kensho Miniatures; Skylar bust
Kathy Millat

#10
Abyssoul Faenir
Lea Salomon

#11
Rackham Dwarfs
Michael Reckhaus - confirmed, shipped

#12
Boy on Waterbuffalo, Miniwarpaint
Philip Leadbitter - confirmed, shipped

#13
Diorama and Dragon bust, Orzol Studio
Wilhelm Tell - confirmed, shipped

#14
Diorama and Dragon bust, Orzol Studio
Tiago Thedim Dias - confirmed, shipped

#15
Duchess from Miniac
Serena Caruso - confirmed, shipped

#16
Duchess from Miniac
Mikael Borg - confirmed, shipped

#17
Encyclopedia of figures" #02
Adam Davis - confirmed, shipped

#18
Inquisitor Eisenhorn, Games Workshop
David Anglade - confirmed, shipped

#19
1/6 Manga Kit
David Garcia - confirmed, shipped


If you find yourself as a winner of these, please contact Roman via
jarhead(at)massivevoodoo(dot)com
and sent your actual postal adress.

We will ship all prizes in the new year.

 

If you want to support us with coffee, tea, tissues for tears, chocolate or boxing gloves please know that all donations to the jungle will not change our judging decisions.

_______________________________________________________________________________
You want to support Massive Voodoo? 
If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.
_______________________________________________________________________________

 


08 December 2020

MV Challenge 2020: First Cut, Fan Award, Most Entries Award, Random Prize Pool Winners

 Hello everyone!

You can bet that judging all your great entries of the MV Challenge 2020 is some though work for all of us eight judges. The full MV-Team, Josua, Roman, Phil, Sebastian, Hansrainer, David, Daniele and Johannes judged the first cut nonetheless and we all know that the first cut is the deepest.



Well, no it is not the deepest. The first cut.
This is how we worked:

We discussed our judging criteria and started to figure out some of the strongest entries. Strong in this case means: The idea is beautiful, the exection and creativity is on a high level and the photos of these entries allow us to see everything properly. From these entries we judged downwards, means finding the ones who make the first cut and finding those who do not.

All entries who made the first cut will be moved upwards in the already existing gallery and a new banner marks them. If you did not make the first cut, please do not be angry or sad. Like said before you all are winners who entered and made this gallery such a beautiful place to look at.

LINK to the updated gallery:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/E7sBViNBuSmKcUpQ7


Now follows judging for the second cut, means we will pick all entries from these who see a possibility of winning one of the three medals. 

 

Following

  1. Fan Award
  2. Most Entries Award
  3. Random Prize Pool Winners

If you find yourself as a winner of these, please contact Roman via
jarhead(at)massivevoodoo(dot)com
and sent your actual postal adress.

We will ship all prizes in the new year.

_________________________________________________________________________

1. FAN AWARD:

Thank you all for voting for the Fan Award via the gallery commentary function.

We got a winner with 45 votes -
Winner of the FAN AWARD is:
Petar Knezovic



If you find yourself as a winner of these, please contact Roman via
jarhead(at)massivevoodoo(dot)com
and sent your actual postal adress.

We will ship all prizes in the new year.


Close with 30 votes was this entry:


And also close was this one with 27 votes:


Others were closing in too, but the Fan Award is decided.
Congratulations, Petar!

_________________________________________________________________________

2. MOST ENTRIES SPECIAL PRIZE:

The winner for this special prize is: Christoph Klingshirn
with 23 entries all over! Crazy! Congratulations!

If you find yourself as a winner of these, please contact Roman via
jarhead(at)massivevoodoo(dot)com
and sent your actual postal adress.

We will ship all prizes in the new year.


Followed by Kyle Maitland with 13 entries and Petra Lehrmann with 10 entries.

_________________________________________________________________________

3. Random Prize Pool Winners:

#01
3x Sets of Roman Lappat Miniature Art Postcards A
Rayiskum
Zoe Birrel
Alex York


#02
3x Sets of Roman Lappat Miniature Postcards B
Charlene Jägli
Helge Wilhelm Dahl
Jason Carter

#03
Limited Model From Michael Kontraros Collectibles
Alexander Triebeneck - confirmed, shipped

#04
The League "Water"
Josef Skladanka

#05
Bograth the Hunter, Journeyman Miniatures
Lea Kraus - confirmed, shipped

#06
Mr Lee's Surprise
Nathanel Shaw - forwarded to Mr Lee's Minis

#07
Nordly's Miniatures, one figure of choice
Tanja Zent - forwarded to Nordly's Miniatures

#08
The Last Ronin
Andrea Merlini - confirmed, shipped

#09
Kensho Miniatures; Skylar bust
Kathy Millat

#10
Abyssoul Faenir
Lea Salomon

#11
Rackham Dwarfs
Michael Reckhaus

#12
Boy on Waterbuffalo, Miniwarpaint
Philip Leadbitter - confirmed, shipped

#13
Diorama and Dragon bust, Orzol Studio
Wilhelm Tell - confirmed, shipped

#14
Diorama and Dragon bust, Orzol Studio
Tiago Thedim Dias - confirmed, shipped

#15
Duchess from Miniac
Serena Caruso - confirmed, shipped

#16
Duchess from Miniac
Mikael Borg - confirmed, shipped

#17
Encyclopedia of figures" #02
Adam Davis

#18
Inquisitor Eisenhorn, Games Workshop
David Anglade - confirmed, shipped

#19
1/6 Manga Kit
David Garcia - confirmed, shipped


If you find yourself as a winner of these, please contact Roman via
jarhead(at)massivevoodoo(dot)com
and sent your actual postal adress.

We will ship all prizes in the new year.

 

If you want to support us with coffee, tea, tissues for tears, chocolate or boxing gloves please know that all donations to the jungle will not change our judging decisions.

_______________________________________________________________________________
You want to support Massive Voodoo? 
If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.
_______________________________________________________________________________

 

04 December 2020

SBS Sculpting: The Genie of The Lamp




SBS: The Genie of The Lamp




Hello mates, 

I'm introducing here about my new project.

I always wanted to sculpt something in Aladdin's world related so I decided to sculpt a Genie with his little Aladdin, obviously in my personal interpretation.






The Idea


The first thing I usually do when start to sculpt something is thinking the form, the concept, the idea behind the sculpture.

At this stage the main important think is the speed. The more speed you create a sketch the more you can express your idea.
Our minds are fast, so we have to use this skill.






I sculpted this idea in exactly 2 minutes using a Medium Plasticine Chavant NSP.

The main idea was to sculpt a Genie riding a magic carpet while are flying and a little child on his back.
That's all.


The fast sketch with plasticine



The Genie


To sculpt the Genie, I sculted the body using the Super Sculpey Original and some soft aluminium wire to create the arms.







After this simple stage, I covered the body with some Beesputty+FIMO in a 50-50 percent.

Sometimes I use some ciano-glue to better stick to the previous Super Sculpey Original already baked.


First stage of sculpting the genie

Joking with expressions, and so on

Joking with facial expression and muscle structure.


Nothing is definitive in this stage, just attempts and failure. As always.






mmmm I don't like it, yet



Meanwhile I sculpted the back, without cover it with any shirt or something similar. If something about muscle structure and proportions isn't correct, cover with shirts doesn't solve the problem.

Firstly, you have to sculpt the body correctly, then you can cover the body.

I try try try try, until I obtain what I want


Sometimes I smooth the surface with White Spirit just to clarify all.

Smooth sometimes helps you to understand forms
For the hands, I sometimes use wire inside the fresh clay


Joking

Remember : you don't need to be perfect. Fight for persistence, not perfection


The Magic Carpet


To sculpt the magic carpet I assumed I needed of a hard support that allows me to sculpt the form properly.

To obtain that, I created temporary armature and then created the carpet with Magic Sculpt, baking paper, and baby talc.

Two balls of Magic Sculpt





Using a rolling tool, and some talc I created a thin layer, not too much thin.







This is the temporary support needed to maintain the form of the magic sculpt




once hardened 




This is not complete, obviously. I need to carve and sand, in order to obtain the form I need.


The little Aladdin


I created a simple armature with some copper wire, which allows me to cut easily in order to create the mold in a simpler way.


1) cross the wire

2) Define the lenght

My armature ready to receive some fresh clay :-)


 Limited Edition bust

The Genie of The Lamp

designed and sculpted 
67mm 

Super Sculpey Original
FIMO Classic + Beesputty + QuickMix

I'f you'd interested to this bust please subscribe here










THANK YOU ALL :-)

Link and resources:


_____________________________________________________________________________

We have your same passion, and we put work, love, and passion to write wonderful articles only for you. 
Please support Massive Voodoo!
If you like to support or say thanks the monkeys of Massive Voodoo in what they do, please feel invited to drop a jungle donation in their direction via paypal or check their miniatures they got on sale here.
_______________________________________________________________________________

01 December 2020

Review: Dioramas F.A.Q. 1.3: Storytellying, Composition and Planning.

Disclaimer: I bought the book myself, but received a small discount from the publisher. This will not predetermine my review, which will be a fair summary and assessment of the book's strengths and weaknesses as I perceive them.

Hey all,

this is David, back again with another review of a recent book.

This time I'll be looking at Volume 1.3 of AK Interactive's F.A.Q. Dioramas Series, which is titled Storytelling, Composition and Planning. It is written by the incredible Belgian modeller Marijn van Gils, and since I am not only a huge fan of Marijn's works, but also found that a dedicated book on how to plan dioramas and vignettes guided by storytelling and the principles of compostions was the biggest blind spot in the existing modeling literature, I was super-excited to get my hands on this volume. And, let me get this out of the way right away: this book is the bomb! Whoever you are and however much experience you've got under your belt, if you're interested in telling stories with miniatures or scale models, you will find some information, insight or inspiration in this book!


 
In the book, Marijn takes us on a 240 page-long, richly illustrated journey through the process of planning dioramas and vignettes. Underlying the whole book is a very simple yet powerful premise: that the goal of dioramas is to tell a story. And from this follows a coherent, systematic and well thought-out line of chapters in which Marijn tells the reader how to ensure that the diorama does just that - and does it as good as possible. Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to the book's goals, a few core concepts, and few bits of practical advice on how to make most of the book.



In Chapter 2, Marijn develops the premise of dioramas as story-telling, and details the elements of "story" that one should consider in including into the diorama. He talks about emotions, interactions, plot, symbolism and the subject matter and how they interact, relate to each other and how to balance them in story-telling. He then discusses the development of ideas and where we, as modellers, can come up with, develop and evaluate them in the process. Here, as throughout the whole book, Marijn hammers home the idea of taking your time, thinking things through, repeatedly testing and reframing your ideas and modeling steps, and discussing ideas with friends, all to make sure that your diorama will be the best it can be.


Chapter 3 delves deep into the principles of composing a diorama to make it a tight and visually pleasing representation of your story. Marijn introduces a number of crucial concepts and ideas related to these goals, namely atmosphere, the way a viewer looks at and comprehends a diorama and how you can use this to your advantage in telling your story. We learn about the importance of multiple focal points and the various principles that make a diorama look coherent, dynamic and realistic. The chapter ends with a collection of a number of very practical tips on sketching, both on paper as well as using 3D mock-ups, which is a core element of Marijn's approach to diorama-building - if you do it his way, the actual diorama-building "merely" means to execute the plan that you have designed, sketched and revised during the planning stage.



 

Following the general principles and overall considerations of diorama-composition outlined in the two previous chapters, Chapter 4 addresses the core individual aspects of composition. Here, Marijn talks in detail about how to use color, figures, scenery, accessories and the design of the plinth to tell the story in the most convincing and impactful way. Chapter 5 is a brief excursus on how to use existing images as sources of inspiration without being limited in your artistic license by them.


 

While Chapters 2 to 4 constitute the main parts of the book, both in substance as well as in page numbers - with a total of almost 200 pages between them - the remaining chapters deal with a number of more specific topics. Chapter 6 discusses the general principles and more practical considerations to create a specific type of diorama: shadow-boxes, in which the modeller has full control over the view and lighting of the scene. Chapters 7 and 8 cursorily talk about telling stories with vignettes that include only single figures and single vehicles. The single page of Chapter 9 concludes the book with two brief paragraphs summarizing the core idea of diorama-building as story-telling, and a brief biography together with three pictures of the author.


 
As noted above, I think this is probably the most important book on diorama building published in the recent past. I have long missed a modern and more substantial version of Sheperd Paine's seminal volume or Ray Anderson's treatise on building box dioramas, that dives into the more conceptual aspects of diorama building: the principles of planning, design and composition, and how to use them to tell stories. Marijn's book deals with all aspects of these issues in a comprehensive and systematic way. Moreover, it is very well written, in a personal, engaging style and very well edited - which is not a given for many modeling books.


The book is lavishly illustrated with a total of over 500 pictures that Marijn uses to great effect to illustrate and drive home his messages. In this, he not only limits the presentation to pictures of his own work, but includes a great many examples by over 80 fellow giants of the modelling world, including Jean-Bernard André, Mike Blank, Bill Horan, Won-hui Lee, and Dirk Menningke, to name but a few of my personal favorite modellers. Each picture is dutifully credited with the diorama's artist, title, scale, and year of finalization. What I particularly liked is that the pictures are not only referenced in the main text as examples for the ideas and concepts developed there. Rather, Marijn makes sure to annotate each image, reiterating the points made in the main text and diving deeper into the idea he wants to transmit with each specific image.



In terms of specific highlights, I really struggle to settle on only one or a few. There are just so many lessons to be learned and pieces of insight and inspiration to be found throughout the book that it's hard to pick one out. The book is just an overall convincing, systematic and useful analysis of Marijn's approach. Moreover, for those who do not yet know Marijn's work in detail, this book is a great introduction into his work and creative mind. But even those who know his work well or even know him personally will find something new and useful, I am sure. For me it was the that literally everything that happens on Marijn's diorama scenes is meticulously planned, thought through and is there for a specific, story-related reason. I consider myself a great fan of his work, but learning about some of the thoughts and reasonings behind some of the smaller design decisions opened my eyes just how much thought, love and eye for detail is in each of these scenes.
 


With so much praise is there anything I was missing in the book? Not really. Reading through the first couple of pages, I was a bit irritated that the pictures that are referenced in the book's main text as examples for general points do not really depict the exact examples in the text, but are just that: additional examples for the same principle. Also, I think the three brief "chapters" on building dioramas based on pictures (Chapter 5) and vignettes including single figues (Chapter 7) and vehicles (Chapter 8) could have easily been integrated into the substantive chapters 2 to 4. But this is nitpicking, really.



In sum, I would say that, in my eyes,
this is the most important book on modeling I have read so far
.


While readers looking for concrete advice on techniques for realistic replications of some parts of the world (e.g., weathering or how to build a pine tree in scale) will have to look elsewhere (the existing literature on this is vast), this book fills a huge gap in the modeling literature by focussing on the thinking, planning and designing that goes on before and during diorama-building. I am convinced that virtually everyone building dioramas or vignettes will benefit from reading this book. This book is, hands down, most highly recommended. If you want to take your diorama/vignette-building to the next level and don't own the book already, you should think about getting it. The book is listed for 45,95 Euros and is available through all known retailers.
 
Let me know if you have questions or comments. All the best,

David