Customer Reviews

Modelling Scale Figures (Osprey Modelling)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As an armour modeller I bought this book looking to improve my figure modelling skills but I learned nothing from this book.
The chapters on construction seem to skip important steps, and not one figure is actually shown through all the processes from construction to finish.
Three chapters are devoted to painting clothing using essentially the same techniques just different types of paint.
The photos on the cover are deceptive, only one of those figures is somewhat featured in the book the others being gallery pictures of other peoples finished work.
The most aggregious omission in the book is any detail on how to paint faces, faces are the most important part of scale model figures and the hardest to achieve with any realism. Only one chapter deals with faces and this figure is a much larger scale than most figure modellers work in, therefore useless to most of us who work in the common scales.
I learned more about modelling scale figures fromModeling US Armor of World War 2 (Modelling Masterclass) and Shep Paines masterpiece How to Build Dioramas than this book. Dont waste your money.

I have to say that this book is a disappointment in terms of providing basic skills from which to build on.
There are numerous web based tutorials on face painting, uniform textures and basic re-working skills many of these tutorials originate from the Author of this title but that are skimmed over in this book.
In fact the whole series of Osprey books seem to be following a pattern of promising so much and delivering lightweight 'information lite' titles. The gallery showcases some stunning examples of figure painting but the background on these is limited to a name check for the modeller and appears to pander to the 'expert masterclass' that blights contemporary model making in all its genres.
If you are a novice figure modeller, then this title offers little solid guidance and is too general in its approach, if you are an experienced modeller, then there are a few nuggets of information but the title really does fall short.
In sharp contrast, Sheperd Paine who writes the foreword, provided much more inspiration and detailed instruction in his now seminal book, 'How to Build Dioramas' (Kalmbach Pub.) which dates from the 1980's.
Shadows, highlight control (i.e. painting white uniforms) and painting eyes are just some of the things Paine addresses in a book which is not directly aimed at figure modeling.
Osprey and the Author have dropped the ball with this one.

If your completely new to the hobby of painting scale figures than this book is an excellent introduction. Essentially an overview of the processes involved and the tools and materials that you will need. I found the book to be the key to my moving from thinking about to actually jumping into this hobby. Not such a bad thing if your on the fence.

This is a good purchase for anyone seeking to gain a better knowledge of figure building. The book is well-written, and there are tons of detailed pictures and step-by-step formats to look and learn from. One of the things I liked in the text was the use of different mediums used to paint figures. The author gives examples of painting figures with enamels, oils, and acrylics, and gives the basic pros, and cons of each medium. This is a good reference material that I find myself going back to over and over. Well worth the money. I highly recomend it.

good book. Starts with the basics, but talks also to the most experimented. It has helped me to improve my modelling.

I love this book. It's a step by step on how to improve your scale modelling abilities.

To be honest,the reason i bought this book is because i wanted more information on how to paint scale figures using acrylics,but this subject is somewhat overlooked here;the chapter on painting with acrylics gives you the description of basic techniques and a series of step to step photos but the writer ommits a lot and more important he does not tell you anywhere how to paint the faces of figures with acrylics and,for me ,the face is always the hardest part.In spite of my disappointment,I give this one three stars because it is very informative on how to use enamels and oils and because it contains the most superb article on how to paint small scale fantasy miniatures (Games Workshop,Reaper etc...) that I have read to date with three pages of step to step photos and captions.In conclusion I would suggest you buy it if you are interested in painting with enamels or oils and if you are a wargamer looking to improve your painting skills.If however you are only interested in learning how to paint figures with acrylics,this is somewhat useles.Thanks for taking the time to read this review.