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Books / Painting & Modelling
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Displaying Reviews: 1 - 1
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I cannot recommend this book to you highly enough...
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Reviewed by Antar Howarth (info@totalmodel.com) May 11, 2006
Modelling guide books have been around for a very long time. If you're a military model fan or a model railway enthusiast the shelves are positively groaning under the weight of books on diorama building, scenery construction, weathering and all manner of other techniques.
If, on the other hand, you're a fan of smaller miniatures - of the kind used in wargaming or in role playing games - guide books are bit thin on the ground. For years the only place you could find tips was between the pages of Games Workshop's "White Dwarf" magazine. Then, with the advent of the Internet, things finally began to change as fans established their own dedicated miniatures websites. Often these were developed to showcase their own skills but many also included guides and workshops to help budding enthusiasts.
And that's pretty much how things remain to this day. Apart from a few offerings from Games Workshop, the shelf marked "How to do it in Miniature" is empty. So, imagine my delight when I heard that no-lesser talent than Kevin Dallimore was penning his own book!
In wargaming circles Kevin's skills have earned him something approaching celebrity status. As a studio painter for Bryan Ansell's "Foundry Miniatures" he has been instrumental in developing a style which has become the standard for almost all gaming figures. The technique - known as "layering" - creates the illusion of contours with bold layers of successively lighter shades of paint. This method is far less subtle than traditional connoisseur styles, where the paint is often scrupulously feathered and blended, but it is a lot faster. Instead of spending a day or more painting a single figure, you can create an entire platoon in an afternoon. What's more, because gaming miniatures are intended to be viewed from a distance, the layering style ensures each figure is far more "visible". The technique is used by many leading artists in the industry, including Tom Weiss and Dave Woodward, both of whom regularly showcase their work on TotalModel.com.
The Foundry Miniatures Painting and Modelling Guide is a weighty manual by any standards. The publishers have crammed in more than 170 full-colour pages between sturdy hard-back covers. The book opens with an introduction to Kevin Dallimore, his work and his inspiration. He goes on to explore, at some length, the huge assortment of different miniatures on the market today from Ancients - thru Horse and Musket - to Sci-fi and Fantasy. After a brief look at tools, materials and good working practices, Kevin describes the process of prepping the miniature for painting.
He almost always begins the process by giving each figure a black undercoat. When I first started painting miniatures back in the 80's this was akin to he racy! Kevin's technique, however, demands a dark canvas to work on. He builds up the colours, layer after layer, working from dark to light. Each successive layer covers a slightly smaller area than the one beneath, and it is this technique which creates the effect of depth.
Kevin's first step-by-step guide illustrates the one-colour technique in which he applies just a single colour over a black undercoat. A few pages later we're on to the two-colour method. The book continues in this manner until Kevin introduces his advanced three-colour layering technique. Kevin uses their renowned Foundry Paint System - a range of colours developed to complement the layering style of painting. Each colour has a dark, mid and light tone which means there's no mixing or juggling with colour charts. You simply apply the dark tone over a black under coat followed, in successive layers, by the mid and light tones on the top.
Most of the painting guides are presented as stage-by-stage photo montages (click on the thumbnail above for an example). This a very effective way of showing each step of the process. The technique has been used many times before, especially in the painting guides produced by Games Workshop, but never in quite so much detail. In one guide, for example, in which Kevin paints and Orc warrior, there is a sequence of 27 images taking the reader from a simple white metal casting to a fully painted and based character.
The book also includes a number of useful modelling guides. In one Kevin demonstrates how you can make spears from pins., In another he shows the correct way to apply shield decals. There's also a brief look at figure conversions. Indeed, the entire the book is interspersed with a rash of info boxes, each containing quick tips and other nuggets of useful information.
Elsewhere Kevin explores the different techniques he uses for painting vehicles and scenery. He also demonstrates a quick and easy method for painting horses. There's even an entire chapter dedicated to varnishing and basing.
The book closes with a look at the work of guest painters including Tom Weiss, Andrew Taylor, Jim Bowen and Chris Steadman. Finally, after a quick word about photography and painting competitions, there's just enough space for Kevin to sign off.
As I'm sure you've started to realise, this book is absolutely stuffed with information. I've seen many modelling books in the past - for both military and railway modelling, plus a few publications for miniatures - but none have been as comprehensive as this one. Kevin told me he'd been "faffing around" with the book for ages and it's easy to see why. There's just so much in it! If you are in any way interested in miniatures, I really cannot recommend this book to you highly enough. The £25 price tag may seem a little steep but it's worth every penny. My only regret is that the 170 pages just wasn't quite enough! I wanted to read more. In particular I wanted to see Kevin tackle WWI and WWII subjects and learn how he creates the scenery for his fabulous vignettes. I suppose all of that can wait for the next volume. One thing's for sure, there can be only one thing better than this book - and that's the prospect of the next one!
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17
out of
18
people found this review helpful
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