Episode 16: Talking painting in acrylics and the benefits of modeling clubs with Pat Vess and Joe Berton

As you might have heard in an earlier episode when we played a “Help! I must be doing this wet palette thing wrong!” voice mail from our pal Pat Vess, after decades painting figures in oils (“the Chicago school,” a term that always cracks us up), he is shifting to acrylics, and since he had questions, we figured many of you might, too. Neither Barry nor (Lord knows) Jim claims to be an expert acrylic painter—we’ve talked to some artists who are, and plan to feature others on the podcast soon—we at least have gleaned some tips to share, while another pal, Joe Berton, talks about why he sticks with oils in favor of what he calls “eye-dropper-bottle paints” (another term that cracks us up). Joe, the president of the Military Miniature Society of Illinois, and Pat, the chair of the annual Chicago show in October (and we’ve just added the link to book your room for 2022!), also talked about the benefits of being a member of the club, and how they joined, which prompted Jim to ask Barry about his local club, IPMS Salt Lake City. (And yeah, we know we said the podcast was going monthly, but Barry had time to edit this one on President’s Day weekend, and we have another great show in store for Episode 17, so consider this one a special/bonus treat!)

Joe Berton (left) and Pat Vess at an MMSI gathering.

Battle of Britain poster by Mike Sanches, the talented Utah modeler and artist who’s always an inspiration to Barry (and, second-hand through Barry, to Jim). Contact him at spikeprod@gmail.com. And we’re saving the photos of Joe Berton’s legendary work for the full interview we plan to do with him about his modeling career, while Pat told Barry that he has already stripped the bust he was working on in acrylics, ready to start over, so that picture will have to come in the future, too. Hang in there, Pat; you’ll get the knack of these eyedropper paints yet!

Episode 15: Dennis Levy

Given your hosts’ special passion for box dioramas, like Nick Infield (Episode 11), Philadelphia-area modeler Dennis Levy has been a huge inspiration to the two of us for years, and he was high atop our list for interview subjects from the day we started this podcast. We had a blast talking with Dennis about boxes and more, and we barely even scratched the surface of his long-standing work with the annual Miniature Figure Collectors of America show, which is scheduled to happen in person once again on May 13 and 14, 2022. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed doing the interview. As always, we end the show by talking about some of our favorite Dennis boxes—and all of them are shown in his artist’s gallery on this site, and then we chat about a few other things, including circle cutters (Barry can always suggest the right tool for the job!) and aborted projects. Thanks for listening!

Photo by Penny Meyer

Barry pick #1: Napoleon in Egypt

Jim pick: Faithful Unto Death

Barry pick #2: Raus!

Circle cutters from DSPIAE and Shadow Hobby; now that Barry hepped Jim to ‘em, he can’t believe he ever lived with one! Same with photo-etch Prop Blurs, an excellent idea and a great mom-and-pop business with fair pricing and fantastic service.

Jim’s latest 75mm original sculpted figures, a vignette built around that scratchbuilt piano, salvaged from an aborted box diorama (and, hopefully, put to good use here). It’s vaguely Bogie and Bacall, but not specifically meant to be—just that vibe.

Episode 14: Bill Horan

It’s a cliche, but sometimes, cliches can be true: California modeler Bill Horan needs no introduction, at least in our small world, having given us two essential books, (Bill Horan’s Military Modeling Masterclass and The Complete Bill Horan), and for four decades been a welcome exhibitor (and judge, and seminar-presenter, and gold-medal-winner, and often a key organizer) at miniatures shows around the world. In this episode, Barry and Jim talk to the master painter and sculptor, and, as always, discuss some of their favorite pieces from his extensive and impressive canon. Pictures of those follow below. Enjoy!

The “Duro” putty that Bill talks about in the interview is now known as Kneadatite Green Stuff .
This is the A and B putty he mentions.

Oh, and a public service announcement: The Atlanta Military Figure Society is on track to host its annual show from Feb. 18 to 20) at the Atlanta Hilton/Marietta Conference Center. Visit one of the friendliest clubs (and consider attending one of the best shows) in the U.S.; more info on their Website soon, no doubt, but the club Facebook page tends to be more up to date, so click here first. And Happy New Year, everyone—let’s hope it’s a much better one!

Barry Pick 1

Barry Pick 2

Jim Pick 1

Jim Pick 2

Jim Pick 3

Episode 13: Bill Merklein

In this episode, Barry and Jim talk with veteran East Coast painter, sculptor, educator, and miniatures enthusiast Bill Merklein, a thoughtful artist and great raconteur. A towering figure in the world of G.I. Joe collectors, he brings a truly unique perspective to the world we cover in Small Subjects.

You can visit Bill on the Web here, find a thorough examination of his G.I. Joe work here, and watch him tell some more fine stories in the video here.

Below, you’ll find a few pictures of Bill’s work. Thanks as always for listening, and we’ll “see” you next year!

An example of Bill’s military painting. Barry traded him one of his box dioramas for this canvas.

An ad from Campaigns magazine, featuring a figure Bill sculpted as a subscriber bonus.

One of Bill’s G.I. Joe sculpts, “Thrasher” from 1986.

Some examples of Bill’s sculpts from our world of miniatures.

Bill Merklein, self-portrait.

Episode 12: Game-Changers

On this episode, Barry and Jim discuss some of their personal “Game-Changers,” pieces they saw that blew their minds, inspired them, and got them thinking in different ways about the possibilities for miniatures. As always, images of some of the pieces they discuss follow below, and they also answer a question from their pal Pat Vess about wet palettes and give a shout-out to some of their colleagues in the burgeoning model podcast world. Thanks for listening!

Barry Game-Changers #1: Two of Shep Paine’s Sherman dioramas and their accompanying Monogram Diorama Tip Sheets.

Jim Game-Changers #1: Shep’s Devastator diorama and “A Whiff of Grapeshot,” an example of extreme Historex conversion and animation.

Barry Game-Changers #2: Ray Lamb’s Historex Chasseur after the famous painting by Géricault.

Jim Game-Changers #2: Figures Bill Hearnes sculpted for the 1/9th scale ESCI motorcycle kits.

Barry Game-Changer #3: “Pride of the Warwickshires” by Bill Horan.

Jim Game-Changer #3: “Last Stand at Gandamak” by Bill Horan.

Barry Game-Changer #4: Raul Garcia Latorre’s article on painting bust with acrylics from Military Modelling, 1996.

Jim Game-Changer #4: “Construction” by Marijn Van Gils.

One more Barry Game-Changer: Greg DiFranco’s Napoleon in Egypt flat.

Episode 11: Nick Infield

Chatting with California-based modeler Nick Infield represented a couple of firsts for the podcast: Two of the three of us were in person (Nick was in Chicago working on a TV set, thanks to his day job as a focus puller or second assistant cameraman), and we got to dive deep for the first time into an aspect of the hobby your hosts love most: box dioramas! Nick has earned an international reputation for his boxes—many of which touch on his other passion for film—and his was one of the first artists galleries we added to boxdioramas.com. You can see all of his boxes here, but as always, several photos follow of specific pieces we discussed in this episode. (Since we also mentioned Shep’s box dioramas, all of them can be found on this site in his gallery here.) Finally, we offer some useful tips when sculpting or converting for scaling your work. Thanks as always for listening!

Nick (at right) and Jim in the Chicago “studio”; photo by Carmel Carrillo, who also designed our logo.

Jim pick #1: “Elvis Has Left the Building.” As befits someone from the film world, where collaboration is key, Nick occasionally works with other artists, and Elvis was sculpted by Mike Good.

Barry pick #1: “Robin Hood”

Jim pick #2: “Five Minutes, Mr. Karloff.”

Barry pick #2: “Casablanca.”

Scaling your work: Alas, these helpful cards and rulers are no longer in production, but you can find images on the Web and create your own, as well as resizing photographs to the scale of the figures you’re working with to match the anatomy and poses, easily done in Word, as Barry and Jim discuss at the end of the episode.

A fantastic product, these see-through scale cards are, sadly, no longer manufactured. Posted below is an image of several Jim has, scanned at full-size so you can print them out on your own. (We would not do this if they were still available; respect creators’ copyrights!)

As we discussed, it is also very useful to find images of the poses you want to sculpt or convert, save them, paste them into Microsoft Word, and scale them to the size of the figure you want to create. We both do this a lot. Some very useful (and not always safe for work) sites that host images of models in many poses can be found here, here, and here.

Episode 10: Michael Kontraros

Michael Kontraros is one of the top sculptors in the world in the fantasy realm. For years, he won gold medals and wide renown for his one-off sculpts, which are painted by some of the top artists in Greece, and which are greatly sought-after by collectors. He now runs his own company, Michael Kontraros Collectibles, from a 1,200-square-foot space in his native Athens, where he also teaches. Visit him on the Web here. (Michael also will be launching a Kickstarter campaign for his Cthulu busts, going live the day this podcast becomes available; click the link from his site.)

We talked with Michael about his art, sculpting, manufacturing, and much more, and, as always, we discussed some of our favorite Kontraros pieces after the interview. Those photos follow below.

We wrap up this episode by talking about wet palettes, offering tips from our experiences, and recapping the 2021 MMSI Chicago Show. Membership in the MMSI is free and includes an electronic subscription to the club’s quarterly journal, The Scabbard, including the forthcoming year-end double-issue 2021 Show Special. Email jimdero@jimdero.com, and visit the MMSI online here, where Bob Sarnowski has fantastic photo galleries of recent shows, including the latest.

Thanks for listening and reading!

Barry Pick: Oz

Jim Pick: Jules Verne

Barry Pick: Thanatos

Jim Pick: Quasimodo

A Masterson wet palette, available at most art and hobby stores.

The makings of Barry’s D.I.Y. wet palette.

Episode 9: And Interview with Joel Glass and Thoughts on Collecting and Selling Your Work

An attorney in Manhattan, now retired, Joel Glass has had a passion for miniatures since he was young, and while he turned away from sculpting and painting himself, he has never stopped supporting the hobby, as a collector, and as an organizer of the Military Figure Collectors of American show in the Philadelphia are, in addition to World Expos around the globe. We thought Joel would be the perfect person to start a conversation about collecting miniatures, and to prompt our own chat about the idea of selling your work.

Here are some links to some of the artists Joel mentioned: Dennis Levy; Greg DiFranco; Doug Cohen, and Raul Latorre. The MFCA can be found on the Web here: https://www.mfcaclub.com/. And some additional images follow below.

Joel Glass in his element 1: At an MFCA Show.

Above: Chris Hall

The Michael Kontraros “cards” Joel considers the prize of his collection.

An extraordinary piece by Kostas Kariotelis, Best of Show winner at World Expo 2014

A John Rosengrant “Terminator”

Joel Glass in his Element 2: At dinner with friends during a show. That’s Barry and Joan Biediger and Greg DiFranco at left; half of Steve Malia, Dennis Levy, Joel and (if you start squinting) John Rosengrant and Lou Masses at right.

Episode 8: An Interview with Greg DiFranco

A master painter unmatched in his use of shadows, light, and color, as well as a damn fine sculptor and a champion of flats who has raised that aspect of our hobby to new heights, Greg is also, as Barry says, “a great guy,” and your hosts could not have enjoyed spending time with him more. We talked with Greg from his home in Long Island, where he is a driving force of the Long Island Miniature Collectors Society. Join them on Facebook here as they gear up for the return of their annual show, Nov. 19 and 20 (more info here). As always, photos of the pieces we discussed in this episode follow.

7th Bis Hussars in Egypt

Caesar in Egypt

Carthaginian war elephant

One of Greg’s caricatures used as awards by the Long Island Miniature Collectors Society at their annual show.

Barry and Jim’s tips and tricks: Barry favors tattoo ink caps for superglue (above; buy ‘em here); Jim saves the white plastic cap from half-pints of cream (below)..

Episode 7: An Interview with Mike Blank

It’s no exaggeration to call Mike Blank one of the leading talents in the world of military miniatures today. A consistent gold-medal-winner at every show he enters, he is also an author of several books of modelling tips (click here for his latest), and a tireless and passionate educator who shares his talents at seminars around the world. Despite the leather pants he dons when he rocks out behind the drums, he is also self-effacing. The simple bio he offers: “I was born in Stockholm in 1965 into an artistic family. My father was a photographer and my mother worked at the Royal Opera. I attended art school and later worked as a teacher in Arts and English in high school. In 1996 I formed my Company doing sculpting, painting and designing figures.”

We talked with Mike via Zoom from his home in Sweden, covering all of that and more. (Following below are the pieces your hosts Barry and Jim discuss after that chat.) We also talk about the recent MFCA “Virtual Show,” photos of which can be found here. Barry claimed a gold medal for his flat shown below, while Jim was awarded a silver for his latest box diorama. And we chat a bit about our current works in progress!

Barry Pick #1: Danish Infantryman, 1704.

Barry Pick #2: “The Emperor’s New Clothes (Louis XIV at Versailles).

Jim Pick: Coup d’etat

Jim Pick: The Pirates

Barry’s mannequin from Mike Blank’s sculpting class, fleshed out.

Barry’s Gold-Medal Flat from the virtual MFCA 2021 Show.

Jim’s box diorama “Samhain,” a silver-medal-winner at MFCA 2021.

Jim work in progress: 75mm Victorian upright piano.

Barry work in progress: Sherman Firefly for the Plastic Posse Podcast M3/M4 group build.

Episode 6: Our Favorite Books and Periodicals

In this episode, your hosts Barry Biediger and Jim DeRogatis talk about some of their most beloved, must-own modelling tomes filling their book shelves, as well as magazines present (some now available only as online PDFs) and past (which, we point out, you can often find wrapped in twine as stacks of bargain-priced back issues at modelling shows). Below are images of some of what we discuss, as well as links where applicable (click on the image) to copies available online—though, as always, we encourage you to support brick-and-mortar, mom-and-pop hobby shops and book stores whenever possible, or at least small businesses dedicated to our hobby on the Net. We hope you enjoy, and shoot us an email about some of your favorites; we will always welcome hearing from our listeners! (jimdero@jimdero.com, automata@comcast.net)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE

SECOND EDITION; STILL IN PRINT. CLICK THE IMAGE.

OUT OF PRINT, BUT YOU CAN FIND USED COPIES; HOLD OUT FOR A REASONABLE PRICE!

A GREAT E-BOOK; CLICK THE IMAGE FOR A LINK TO BUY NOW DIRECT FROM THE AUTHOR

SEEMINGLY OUT OF PRINT, BUT AN ESSENTIAL BOOK. START THE SEARCH!

ONE OF A SERIES OF FOUR; HARD TO FIND, BUT WORTH THE EFFORT.

PARTICULARLY HELPFUL FOR ORDNANCE MODELERS INTERESTED IN ADDING FIGURES TO THEIR VEHICLES.

A CLASSIC; THE NEWER ANDREA PRESS BOOK IS GREAT, TOO.

AMAZING AND COMPREHENSIVE; PRICEY, BUT AK DOES HAVE EXCELLENT SERVICE, AND THE BOOK IS BEAUTIFULLY PRINTED.

ONE OF THE BEST, MOST IMAGINATIVE STORYTELLERS IN THE HOBBY.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR THE SITE TO SUBSCRIBE ONLINE.

NOW ONLINE ONLY; CLICK THE IMAGE TO SUBSCRIBE.

THE LATE, GREAT CAMPAIGNS MAGAZINE; LOOK FOR BACK ISSUES AT SHOWS OR ONLINE.

DITTO HISTORICAL MINIATURE. WE MISS IT. Barry considers Greg Difranco’s article, reproduced here, a must read for those wanting to learn how to paint flats.

ANOTHER MAGAZINE THAT FELL BY THE WAYSIDE. BUT YOU CAN FIND BACK ISSUES AT SHOWS AND IN HOBBY SHOPS!

DEFUNCT FRENCH MAGAZINE; EXQUISITE COLOR AND GREAT WORK IN EVERY ISSUE.

DEFUNCT ITALIAN MAGAZINE, ALSO SADLY MISSED.

STILL PUBLISHING FROM OUR FRIENDS AT KALMBACH. IT CAN BE A BIT… BASIC.

LONG GONE, BUT THE ONE THAT GOT MANY OF US IN THE U.S. HOOKED.

THE MORE AMBITIOUS BRITISH EQUIVALENT TO MILITARY MODELER.

STILL GOING, AND IT OFTEN DIVES DEEP! CLICK THE IMAGE TO SUBSCRIBE.

ANOTHER FALLEN SOLDIER. WE REALLY ENJOYED THE HUMOR IN THIS MAG.

Episode 5: An Interview with Ben Komets

Born and raised in Berlin, Ben Komets is a full-time miniature artist who has painted box art for Nutsplanet, Mierce Miniatures and Thirdman Studios, done instructional videos at Paintingbuddha or Miniature Mentor, and now runs his own line, Ben Komets Miniatures, releasing models from painters for painters. Several things he stresses resonate with us: “The most important part of creating ‘miniature art’ is to stay open”; “A good project is always telling a story,” and “a good project evokes emotions.”

In this episode, we discuss what we like about several of his pieces, seen below. And here are some links of interest:

Ben’s favorite white, Schminke Titanium: https://www.amazon.com/Schmincke-PRIMAcryl-Titanium-White-60ml/dp/B008LW35QA

Part 1 of the shield maiden howto videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP3HCiHos_Q

Ben’s Web site: https://www.benkomets.com/

Ben’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ben_komets

Jim pick #1: “The Three Sisters”

Jim pick #2: “The Shield Maiden”

The prime example of Ben painting non-metallic metals that Barry mentions.

Barry pick #2: “Shaman”

Episode 4: An Interview with Penny Meyer

Based in Las Vegas, Penny has been painting since age 10, working in a large variety of media, including oils, acrylics, watercolors, gouache, pencil, pen, airbrush and linoleum printing. In the hobby, she is renowned for her gold-medal-winning flats. We talk with her about that unique form and much more. You can find more background on Penny here, here and here, and photos of some of the pieces we discuss in this episode below.

Penny mentions several other modelers who inspired her during our chat, and if you’re unfamiliar with them, you can read about and see examples of the work of Mike Taylor here; Ray Lamb here, here, and here; Bill Merklein here and here; Greg DiFranco here and here; Andrei Koribanics here; Bob Sarnowski here, here, and here; Kings Road Roscoe Turner here, and Fletcher Clement here, here, here, here, and here. More info about the Kulmbach show can be found here and here, and if you’re interested in buying flats in the United States, Jack Muldoon’s Little Tin Soldier shop should be your first stop. (It’s online here.)

Penny Meyer, “The Kid”

Barry Pick #1, “Sky Hunter”

Barry Pick #2, Edgar Allan Poe

Jim Pick #1, “Bucking Bronco”

Jim Pick #2, “St. George & the Dragon”

Episode 3: Some Tips for Modelers Who Are Reluctant to Paint Figures (and why they should try!)

Barry noticed something about some of the modelers in his Salt Lake City IPMS Group: They may be expert at finishing ordnance, but they’re reluctant (or scared to death!) to paint figures! In this episode, we discuss some of the reasons and why it seems so difficult to explain the process of figure painting. We try to convince a few more modelers to give it a try by talking about why figures can add something to your models, and offer Mr. Biediger’s patented 7 Tips for Beginning Figure Painters that will hopefully help take away some of the apprehension. Below are some of the images we discuss in this episode.

Shep Paine’s classic “stop sign” diagram.

Shep’s illustration applying the stop sign to folds in clothing (don’t JUST paint the inner fold dark!).

A figure from the cover of David Parker’s recent book CREW SCHOOL, and a good example of how Barry described painting simplified eyes in his list. (David’s book can be found here.)

Barry’s example a face primed black with white sprayed from above. And here are the Life Miniatures step-by-steps he mentioned: https://www.lifeminiatures.com/step-by-step.

Episode 2: John Rosengrant

In this episode, which you can find here or on any of your favorite podcast platforms (including Apple, Spotify, and Overcast), Barry and Jim interview John Rosengrant, who is not only an excellent modeler and figure sculptor, he has one of the coolest day jobs as a special effects artist. John has created some of the most memorable and iconic characters in movies and television. Here are some links to learn more.

Legacy Effects, the special effects company John co-founded:  https://www.legacyefx.com/

A lot of John’s modeling work can be found on the following thread at the Planet Figure forum: https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/101st-airborne-normandy.117700/

John wrote a full article about building his diorama “Leave No Man Behind” in Shep Paine's Armor Modelers Guide (edited by none other than co-host Jim DeRogatis)

Below you’ll find images of the specific pieces Jim and Barry cited as some of their favorites in this episode.

Barry's pick #1 - The True Face of War.

Jim's pick #1 - Calm Before the Storm.

Barry's pick #2 - George Preddy.

Jim's pick #2 - Valley Forge.

Leave No Man Behind.

John sculpted his own face on this rifleman from the American War for Independence.

Episode 1: Entering Your Work In Model Shows and Accepting Critiques

Welcome to Small Subjects!

In this first episode, Jim and Barry share their thoughts on accepting critiques and having your models judged at shows. Also, some thoughts on the different types of exhibitions or competitions.

You can listen here, or on any of your favorite podcast platforms. And, if you want to see examples of Jim and Barry’s work, including some of the box dioramas mentioned in this episode, you can find Jim’s artist gallery on this site here and Barry’s here.