Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)It's difficult to quantify Bill Horan's contribution to historical figure modelling. His sculpting and painting set a standard by which other work was judged for at least a decade and this title continues to be a source of inspiration for me six years on. The author's steady improvement over the years (including his early, modest, efforts) is documented, which I found fascinating and should provide a spur to improvement for any dedicated modeller.
This is well written in the author's distinctive style and extensively illustrated with colour photos including a number of step-by-step sequences. In addition to many of Bill's incredible 54mm single figures, vignettes and dioramas there are numerous pictures of the work of other noted miniaturists.
Beginning with a chapter on painting a single stock figure (David Grieve's 100mm Sergeant, 79th Highlanders) the progressive photos clearly show the author's enamel-painting style, complementing the detailed written account and 15 pages showing the work of other artists round off the chapter. Chapter two covers conversion and scratchbuilding, beginning with one of the author's trademark 54mm sculpts (a Confederate infantryman in this case) built from a commercial head, resin parts, wire and putty. The text covers materials, tools and posing before detailing the techniques used. The finished figure (shown approximately four times lifesize in one view) highlights the extremely high finish and just how much additional detail can be achieved at the painting stage. 25 pages of single figures by the author and others finish off the chapter. Chapter three is on vignettes, with a detailed look at the creation of the author's "Fight For The Flag" with 13 pages of additional photos of vignettes rounding out the chapter. Chapter four covers perhaps the most impressive side of figure modelling, dioramas, with an in-depth look at the creation of the noted "Ghosts Of Chillianwallah" and also includes photos of the author's legendary "Last Stand At Gandamak" from 1988. The final chapter is on mounted figures and dioramas with "A Cloud Of Red", an exquisite three-horse vignette depicting the charge of the 16th Lancers at Aliwal, covered in detail. Eight pages of photos of top-notch mounted subjects complete the book. Although only touched on lightly in the text, careful study of the groundwork on the author's pieces will benefit the reader in this under-appreciated area of the hobby.
For anyone interested in figure modelling, an absolute must-have from an acknowledged master.
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