Best sculptor. Fallout...

Well, I have now named JAG, Brian Nelson and MIKH as my best sculptors in the world. It was, of course, a difficult and close decision. I'd like to use today's post to name a few of the sculptors who I bumped off the list but whom I genuinely admire and, on any given day, could sneak into that list of three...

Jes Goodwin: Jes is the man as we all know. A staggering genius of the minis world and, I'm sure, a lot of you must have been expecting him to be on my top three. Well, Jes is a superb sculptor but I don't think that is his true talent. Jes is the best pure miniatures concept designer in the world. He draws miniatures even better than he sculpts them and his understanding of the medium is unparalleled. But this was best sculptor, not necessarily best designer. Though Jes is certainly that.

Alex Hedstrom: Alex, as I understand it, has totally left physical sculpting behind in favour of digital work and he's showing himself to be the most capable in the world in that medium right now. I thoroughly believe that Alex will be up there with my top three very soon. His digital work is astounding and the only reason he's not on my list now is that there's not enough of it yet. But those Space Hulk Terminators are remarkable in their design.

Kev White: Kev's a machine. Nobody that good should be so prolific. Over the years of his company Hasslefree we've seen him go from damned good sculptor right up to the bleeding edge of sculpting without sacrificing the core style he works in or resorting to detail gimmicks. His works are complete and beautifully thought out. And his command of anatomy is as good as you'll see anywhere.

Juan Diaz: Another master of single character figures. Juan has emerged as 'the' guy for sculpting Space Marine characters over the last few years. Possibly my biggest minis disappointment of last year was finding out he hadn't sculpted a new Mephiston for the Blood Angels. Man, I'd love to have seen that... and preferably in resin. Juan is, of course, superb in many other areas than Space Marines and he's responsible for the Lord of the Rings single category at Golden Demon being almost completely populated by Arwen figures.

Allan Carrasco: Allan tends to let a little madness run in his work and I love it. There's something about his work that makes me think that if I look away it'll start moving. It's a little unnerving...

Tom Meier: I couldn't leave Tom off the list. There's nobody anywhere with his command of greenstuff. What Tom can do with epoxy putty is as close to black magic as anything I've ever seen. No one details a mini like Tom Meier.

Nick Bibby: It's a shame he left our industry all that time ago but Nick is still the man when it comes to the monstrous. For my thoughts on Nick you have only to read my post about the Great Spined Dragon.

I've probably managed to leave a lod of sculptors off that list that I'll be thinking about later but that's always the way with this kind of thing. So much choice of awesome sculptors and picking three was always going to be tough.

I'll leave you with one final thought. I've talked of the best in the world and so on... but who's the next big thing? So, one final selection.

Andrew Rae: Andrew is relatively new to the scene as a pro sculptor but you can see the potential. He's already producing amazing works. He's switched from epoxies to polymer clays and is going from strength to strength as we see his confidence grow from mini to mini. I think this guy is going to be a big deal not too far down the road and he's just waiting for that one project that will express his fullest potential.

Best Sculptor in the World: Post 3...

So far, JAG and Brian Nelson have made my three best list and there's one spot left. Who gets the final spot. Well, for me, the final spot had to go to someone whose work constantly astounds me. Ladies and Gents, I give you MIKH.

I watched a Miniature Mentor video of MIKH at work and he shares the secret of his amazingly precise and refined work. It's not a trick though, he just takes the time to make it perfect. From what I hear, often a long time and the results show in his work. I also love that in the modern minis world of that constant striving for total realism, MIKH's work maintains a character and exist as an extension of the old-school styles of mini sculpting; Classical but on a totally different level. I see these works and it makes me want to weep at times...



This forst example of his works is a Templar Knight type from the game Hell Dorado. It's a wonderfully characterful miniature and it screams with drama without resorting to any cheap tricks or fudging of details. Plus it shows something that still baffles me. I've tried sculpting in Fimo as MIKH does and I have found, as most others have, that it's nearly impossible to sculpt chainmail in the material. I think there's one reason why Rackham avoided it like the plague on their figures. But here it is. Perfectly sculpted chainmail in Fimo and, not only that, it's over the curved surface of his head. That's brutally awkward to get looking right. I own this figure and it's truly lovely. And, shockingly, smaller than it looks.



Here we have an Orc from Warcraft. Now the Warcraft style isn't something I'm especially interested in but look at the craftsmanship and the clean lines. There are just no cut corners here. In other views there is detail on the hammer than looks like it was milled by machine such is the level of precision.



This figure from the boardgame Claustrophobia shows that MIKH is never hiding the sound fundamentals of sculpting behind a facade of details. It's a simple sculpt but has a finish and character that is rarely equalled (check out the work on the arms).



Finally, take a look at this closeup of MIKH's sculpt for John Blanche's Femme Militant line. I'm glad I never saw this before sculpting my addition as I'd probably have been too scared to participate (actually that's not true. I'd still have sculpted the figure but the thought would have occurred). There's just so much going on here. Textures, details and silky smooth skin. My only disappointment n this figure is that, to my knowledge, she never saw production as I'd love to have grabbed one. And then been scared to paint it (and then I'd better read my old post on fear miniatures).

Really, I only have one problem with MIKH's work at all, and it's not really a problem as such. For the most part MIKH has worked on projects that don't really interest me especially. I'm not really into straight sci fi so Infinity never appealed, nor Warcraft. Hell Dorado had some interesting pieces and I have the Templar as mentioned. So, my biggest problem is I haven't seen MIKH sculpting on the ranges I'm into. I'm sure the time will come...

So, that's my three best. I'll be following up with a post talking in brief about the many sculptors whose work I love but didn't make my final list. Because it could easily have been my twenty favourite sculptors, but that would have gone on forever...

Best Sculptor in the World: Post 2...

And here we have the midway point on my little list and the unveiling of sculptor number two. For my second choice I will be taking you to the largest miniatures company in the world and to the hallowed design studio of Games Workshop to talk of none other than Brian Nelson.

My first experience of Brian's work came in 1996 when I was working in the promotions department of Games Workshop's factory in Eastwood. I was working on the Citadel Journal at the time and a small bag of new Orc figures was delivered to Paul Sawyer, who was editor of the Journal at the time. Three Orc Big Uns from the new guy in town and they just screamed with raw energy but still neat, tidy and very paintable. I kept an eye on this guy...



The above figure is typical of the work I truly admire from Brian. It's a very simple figure at it's heart but has all the character that you could wish for and still has the dramatic presence needed for a leader type. I painted this figure for Golden Demon a number of years ago with a minor conversion to make him a Commissar and he was just a dream to paint. One of my favourite miniatures of all time. You can see my paintjob on him on coolminiornot at this link. http://www.coolminiornot.com/32063



This figure is not actually one of my favourites of Brian's but it illustrates perfectly an area where his talent truly shines. Brian maybe the best in the world at designing plastic miniatures. The guy has proven time and time again an immense understanding of the processes of injection plastic tooling which is a truly arcane science. He is a master of the plastics puzzle in making figures that aren't compromised by the blank areas normally apparent on plastics due to the limitations of the moulding process. This Griffon is a snap together and the Griffon itself is just four pieces and I believe six overall which is just jawdropping for such a complex, three dimensional piece. Crazy, and my hat is permanently tipped in Brian's direction for such achievements. For more examples of his tooling genius look at the plastic Ogres (in particular the Leadbelchers), the Warhammer Giant or the pile of corpses on the Corpse Cart.



Now we take a jump back to his early work and this awesomely understated but powerful Orc Shaman. For my money one of the greatest Orc figures ever sculpted. I even managed to win Gold in 40K Single Figure way back in 1997 with a conversion of this figure. Again, there's no wasted motion here but the figure feels three dimensional and deeply characterful.

And, you know, Brian is versatile. I haven't even touched on his work on the Lord of the Rings license. Brian sculpted the original metal Fellowship of the Ring plus the Heroes of Helms Deep. Check out the original Theoden figure for one of the greatest likenesses I've ever seen (and check out Bilbo while you're at it). And look at the Bretonnian Sorceress with sword, or Archaon or... or... well I could go on forever.

Brian, for me, is the best sculptor in the world of figures in the gaming style rather than the boutique style (though his work on John Blanche's Femme Militant suggests he'd be brilliant there too) and he's the master of plastics work (I'm waiting to see more of Alex Hedstrom's work after Space Hulk showed an incredible talent there but I need more data).

People know I have quite old-school tastes and, for that reason, Brian is the sculptor I'd most like to have sculpting an entire range for me. Doesn't look likely though...

Best Sculptor in the World : post 1...

And here is the first of my three 'Best Sculptor in the World' posts. It's not a top three and they are in no particular order. I should also clarify that when I talk of sculptors beyond the obvious 'I'm talking miniature sculptors as in our hobby' I should also say that I'm sticking to 25-54mm as any smaller or larger tends to be a slightly different skillset. Plus these scales are what I know.

So, here's the first and probably no surprise. He's been described as the world's best miniature sculptor many times now and his name? Jacques Alexandre Gillois (also known as JAG).



It's no exaggeration to say that JAG is THE sculptor of the moment and I suspect he is saught after by practically every high-end miniatures commissioner in the world. In the pure sense of sculpture I'd suggest that he shows no real weaknesses. He sculpts believable, natural and finely detailed pieces with a visceral impact and without the cold sterility that can plague this sculpting style. The above figure, from Studio McVey is just so beautifully rendered, crisp, clean and stands as one of the most impressive sculpts I have ever seen.



This second piece, another from Studio McVey is, genre-wise, not quite of interest to me but just look at that dino; again it looks so natural and real but dynamic and fun. The dino is a totally different sculpting challenge and JAG just knocks it out of the park.



Finally I'd like to share one of the pieces from JAG's breakout period. It was the range of Vorag Barbarians for Ilyad Games (now sadly defunct and the miniatures OOP) and shows the incredible eye for muscle detail and dynamics that JAG possesses. A thunderously impact of a piece.

I've watched JAG sculpt via his Miniature Mentor video and it was something of a shock to me. I'd always assumed he was a very meticulous and precise sculptor in his approach as this is what we see in his final designs but it was a shock to see him working like a canvas painter practically throwing the clay around and showing what looked to be quite a messy process until he finally refines to this incredible finish. There's a fiery, natural talent here to be that confident in the process. I can't help but feel that JAG is the Frank Frazetta of sculptors.

I will return soon to reveal my second choice. My second choice is another genius of the sculpting world though he's producing quite different product to JAG...

The above Studio McVey figures are available at www.studiomcvey.com and JAG has his own website at www.miniaturestudio.net

Top three...

For the next few blog posts I am going to be taking a look at that old chestnut, who is the best sculptor in the world (I would expect I'll get to best painter at some point as well).

But what criteria should be considered for such a choice. Should it be their technical skill, ability with natural pose, dynamics, animation, flair, paintability, character? Lots of choice and reasons to choose. Of course, when narrowing down, you're looking at all of the above and more. And then it's always difficult to choose just one. So, I'm going to wimp out and choose three. The three best sculptors in my opinion. They will be in no particular order because, if they were, then it'd be easy to take the number one spot and just choose that one.

I may then follow up with another post or two about other sculptors I admire for one reason or another...

So, I will leave you with an annoying lack of content in today's post and instead tease the next: my first choice in the 'best sculptor' category. All I'll say is that this choice will probably surprise very few...

Space...

I've been on house tidying duties over the last couple of days. This morning my work desk got 'the treatment' and, as it's looking nice and neat I thought I'd show you where I do my sculpting at the moment.

It's a rather smaller space than you might expect but I try to keep it fairly contained. The grand tour goes as such.

For lighting I have a single angle-poise lamp which has two bulb options at the moment. Currently it's using an incandescent 100 watt daylight bulb. At this time of year I'm glad of the amount of heat it kicks out and the lamp itself is designed to handle larger bulbs (most are limited to 60 watt and I've burned a few out in the past). For summer months I switch to a daylight fluorescent bulb which stays nice an cool.

The second lamp runs a regular 60 watt reflector bulb and I use it to speed up the curing of epoxy putty projects when required.

To the right I have a stack of drawers to keep all my... err... crap in and it doubles as a stand for my laptop which gives me access to the net for references and provides my entertainment (usually US sitcoms in vast doses).

Pinboard for other references.

Box of tools (naturally).

My Optivisor is hung on the wall for easy access. I use this if I need to do very fine detail work or require extra precision.

To the left you'll notice a curved piece of paper has been blutacked into place. This is my emergency photo booth. With a quick twirl (and 1980s style transforming sound) my lamp springs into action for me to take quick photos. Handy for WIPs to send out to clients.



Pics are taken with my iPhone as it's very convenient and, shockingly, it takes decent mini pics... see below.



So, that's the grand tour. It'll get a lot less tidy in the nearest of futures...

Musings on the denizens of the Hellpit...

Today I'd like to be horribly unfashionable and talk a little about a recent release from Games Workshop. The model in question is the Skaven Hellpit Abomination. I'm not going to delve into it's usefulness on the battlefield or even talk a whole lot about the miniature itself. Suffice to say it's a big and ugly piece of work and falls squarely into the love it/hate it sector of the market. I rather like it myself but that's not the point of the exercise this night.

Put simply, the Hellpit Abomination is a marvel of plastic tooling technology. I'll not pretend to be utterly fluent in the language of injection plastic tooling but I know enough of the ins and outs of the process to know that this is really something special.

According to the box, the figure was sculpted by Seb Perbet who has done a great job of creating a biological mass of unspeakable horribleness which pretty much achieves what it said on the tin. What truly impresses is the ingenious level of how it breaks down into components and the ease of sticking it together. Everything fits with a near perfect 'snap' and cleanup required is retty minimal given the nature of the kit. The difficulty of a kit of this nature in plastic is the process of casting the model in a solid steel mould instead of the rubber moulds used for either resin or metal processes. This means that the plastic figure must be designed without 'undercuts'. An undercut is actually a fairly difficult thing to describe quickly but essentially it boils down to a component only having detail in one plane. Basically the front and the back can have detail but the sides cannot have any recessed detail or the figure would get stuck in the steel mould due to it not flexing like rubber. Look at a plastic figure and turn it sideways. Note how the detail basically vanishes or generally looks weird. That's due to the process of zero-undercut sculpting. It's something of a science and GW have a few sculptors who are superb at this process to the point where it is not overly noticeable.

Seb has done a spectacular job of designing a figure that has little in the way of compromise for undercuts due to the complexity of the way that the figure has been cut into components. I can barely imagine the head scratching that must of gone on trying to work out the optimum way for this figure to break down and exactly where the detail compromises could be made and where they couldn't. This is as near to black magic as sculpting gets and I don't envy Seb and the toolmakers task at all.

But I wanted to publically write of the astoundment I experienced in assembling this behemoth. In it's concept it's always going to be a figure that divides opinion but technologically? This, my friends, is art.