Francois Verlinden: The man behind Verlinden Productions company

[tomifune]

Francois brought the products and tools to modellers that didn't have super skills, so they could make the same scenes that Shep and others had done. He also brought subjects like Viet Nam and the Arab-Israeli wars out for everyone to enjoy.

Bob

 

[Paul Kernan]

My first figure was his Arnhem para and until I discovered Shep's books and Phil Kessling's magazine articles, I used his 'method' to get started in oil painting. By today's standards, the anatomy of the Verlinden range can be a bit on the stiff side but the extensive offering and the quality of casting was impressive.

 

[Babelfish]

Good old Frankie Verlinden - what more can I say that hasn't already be said by others many times over! Just a shame that the products that his company continues to put out are still rooted firmly in the '80s and '90s and are not up to today's standards.

But that said, we still owe him and the late, great Shep Paine a huge debt of gratitude because without them the hobby would not be what it is today. Of that there is no doubt.

I only have 2 of his figures remaining in the cabinet now, and I'll share these here. I actually revisited the Hun 3 or 4 years back in order to improve the extremely boring base that comes with the kit. I was going to do the same for the Anglian Warlord as well, but never got round to it.

I still have a three or four more of his figures in the stash, but with so many more newer pieces that I want to paint now, it's very doubtful that they will ever see the business end of a paintbrush. But you never know!



Steve

 

[CGS military figures]

His original pieces are still available and at at reasonable price, with the passing of the master Shep Paine, God bless, it shows how influential these men are and were.
Yes some of the commercial pieces were hit and miss.
I don't buy wall art but I am buying verlinden pieces, my number 4 arrives this week, a great man

 

[Ferris]

This has been my all-time favorite Verlinden 120mm figure. It's on par with some of today's releases and at very low cost comparably.
Painted the Verlinden Way, offcourse (25 years ago roughly).

Cheers
Adrian

 

[Mat Lambert]

His original pieces are still available and at at reasonable price, with the passing of the master Shep Paine, God bless, it shows how influential these men are and were.
Yes some of the commercial pieces were hit and miss.
I don't buy wall art but I am buying verlinden pieces, my number 4 arrives this week, a great man

View attachment 205399

It must be a great thrill to own some of this masters original models. I thought it interesting to note that the AFVs in your collection havent still got the figures and diorama bases that they were photographed with in the books - is that the way it goes in the AFV world, they get moved and reused or do collectors just prefer the vehicles displayed on there own? I'd be interested to know.

I recently had a bit of a nostalgia trip and bought myself a copy of the Blandford book Model Soldiers in Colour.

This was one of (if not THE) first figure modelling books I ever saw and was fascinated by it , getting it out of the library often or sneaking a look of a friends copy whenever I was around theirs - but I never owned a copy until now. A lot of the examples in it look a bit dated compared to the advanced work done today but for me they all still have a period charm. I mention this because Francois Verlinden has a few in the book and they still all hold up really well.

For me his products were never as good as his own models - other than the plaster buildings and detailing accessories. The large figs and historical just looked too clunky even then - but I never thought he sculpted these himself, I could be wrong. His real strength is in the Ww2 (and other) dioramas combining AFVs, figs and scenery with real atmosphere and brilliance for detail - as in the Tamiya catalogues of the 80s

Cheers
Mat

 

[CGS military figures]

Hi mat,
Although a figure modeller at heart these were so iconic to me as I started with AFVs,I only bought the vehicles as its all I could get.
It seems many of his dioramas got used for many many photo shots and I think francois is underrated for at the time, along with Shep and later Bill horan, one of the pioneers of taking great pictures on real photo film.
That said, I did ask if any figures of box art are available and unfortunately not. I wonder what happened to all those dioramas of the 70s and 80s we saw, probably in bits now and going off what I have I think I have the remaining bits of at least 2 here is my SPG used at least once after the dio for box art

As to figures,Francois never sculpted, but there was one member on here who sculpted quite a few (the good ones)

 

[CGS military figures]

It must be a great thrill to own some of this masters original models. I thought it interesting to note that the AFVs in your collection havent still got the figures and diorama bases that they were photographed with in the books - is that the way it goes in the AFV world, they get moved and reused or do collectors just prefer the vehicles displayed on there own? I'd be interested to know.

I recently had a bit of a nostalgia trip and bought myself a copy of the Blandford book Model Soldiers in Colour.
View attachment 205400
This was one of (if not THE) first figure modelling books I ever saw and was fascinated by it , getting it out of the library often or sneaking a look of a friends copy whenever I was around theirs - but I never owned a copy until now. A lot of the examples in it look a bit dated compared to the advanced work done today but for me they all still have a period charm. I mention this because Francois Verlinden has a few in the book and they still all hold up really well.

For me his products were never as good as his own models - other than the plaster buildings and detailing accessories. The large figs and historical just looked too clunky even then - but I never thought he sculpted these himself, I could be wrong. His real strength is in the Ww2 (and other) dioramas combining AFVs, figs and scenery with real atmosphere and brilliance for detail - as in the Tamiya catalogues of the 80s

Cheers
Mat

Sorry mat, got ya, yes that is exactly why I grab these, nostalgia. Francois did some nice Napoleonic dios for the time for historex but they wouldn't stand now. I'm 43 and he hit me at just the right time, I see from the film posted he is 63 now.

 

[Martin64]

Yes, Mr Verlinden deserved that tribute very well. For me the bigger WW II-figures weren`t so attractive but I got hooked when he started with the historical series. For old times sake I post some of my projects from back then. This post was nostalgia in another meaning as well: Because I currently don`t have access to my digicam I had to scan old pictures. Some of them were sent to Verlinden Productions and Mr. Verlinden supported my early efforts always in a nice way - sending me some surplus parts for conversions etc - a true modeller beside the clever salesman.
Cheers, Martin

 

[Babelfish]

I see from the film posted he is 63 now.

He's 69 now Gra, that video dates from 2009.

- Steve

 

[MrBMB]

I have so many verlinden figures and magazines he got me into modeling . I remember going into my hobby shop and there was a large resin base with a ship/sub going through the waves. It was amazing. So so great as a kid growing up.

But........yes but whoever has been handling there web page needs to leave. I remember when I visited it years ago and the camo colour web page went and it looked like an accountant was designing the webpage........ Boring as batshit

Verlinden needs to bring out a large book of all his dios in one book, it would be a classic
I have a lot of his old quarterly mags and they are great

 

[Babelfish]

I have a lot of his old quarterly mags and they are great

I've got the entire set from issue 1 until the very last issue, and I still dig them out occasionally and have a flick through. Wouldn't part with them either. Some of his techniques are a bit dated now, and there are a few schoolboy errors like "magnetic" stowage on the vertical sides of vehicles, and shell cases littered all over the place. But he was (and presumably still is) a great talent, no question.

- Steve

 

[Stelios Demiras]

Hello everyone,
It is nice to see so many comments. It seems that most of you have felt the same with me when I saw the interview. So I must add that back in 90's here in Greece Verlinden products (mostly conversion sets, figures 1/35, some military 120mm) were very popular and perhaps the only available to the modeler. I remember also that was the first that he introduced replacement heads 1/35 (If my memory did not trick me were about Israeli para, Italeri) in metal. I think I still have them. And most of 1/35 figures were very very good with details and excellent sculpting. I can say all of these as my comeback in the hobby was in the military diorama (about in 1985) and Verlinden resin figures were a revolution in the hobby at that time. Yes I remember Belgo, Ara, but there were made from metal and about 54mm…So Verlinden 1/35 figure range was very popular….And as far as I remember was the first one explained the oil painting in figures with color photos and some SBS…In a AFV book, in SYSTEM and How to Paint Historical Figures later…Of course most of the models were from his line… And aVerlinden figure with a lot of modifications for a collector. It is still a good one!!! And a nice radio operator for an AFV.

 

[Stelios Demiras]

Hello again,
The face of this Young Miniatures bust Panzer SS Tank Crew was painted using the base principles for caucasian flesh of the oil color mixes that Verlinden included in his book (the System) and in most of his books. I found that his mixes are still very useful and give very good result even with the todays standard if you are using oils and enamels. I think was the first one that mentioned that you can mix oil with enamel paints…And of course I first saw the washing and feathering technique in 120mm figures with enamels giving a very good result….

 

[Indy]

I still purchase and enjoy Verlinden figures.