Poses & figure form

[Bone]

hi guys,

I've noticed a lot of the newer figures have pretty idealised poses and body build. Lots of muscles, abs, very grand looking etc. Trim and lean is fine by me but I do feel some of these are exaggerated even though you need to exaggerate a little for smaller scales. You don't see such a trend in sculptures done by individuals but rather those produced by companies.

But being a soldier at war must be a pretty weary affair. I would personally like to see what I feel is a more natural, worn look. Even if they are not necessarily weary and at war, I would like to see the figures look less posed. And I would like to see some ugly faces (not from bad sculpting ) or 'out of shape' (not out of proportion) bodies for a change.

How do you guys feel?

Cheers
Basil

 

[tonydawe]

G'day Basil

I agree with you. I know there are many Planeteers who also share your view.

Some modellers, prefer to sculpt and paint military figures that showcase their superb artistic skills and talents, and as a result they produce beautifully pretty men standing in "heroic" poses that allow the figure to be displayed in its best possible light, even if that means it becomes unrealistic and stylised. These types of figures are instantly eye-catching, commercially popular and deservedly attract great praise and awards at shows.


Other modellers, particularly those with military training and experience, tend to prefer to "keep it real" when it comes to sculpting and painting. They know from their own experience that most soldiers are dirty and tired looking most of the time, and they know that standing around heroically is a good way to get yourself killed. These modellers like to show soldiers "in their natural state"; dirty, muddy, tired, dishevelled and miserable and try to convey some of the horror, the comradeship and the emotion of war.

I'm not saying one type of modelling is better than another, but I am definitely from the "Keep It Real" school of modelling, and I don't like "pretty little soldiers", no matter how well painted and sculpted they are. I can admire the skill it takes to paint beautiful figure, but if it doesn't have mud on the shoes and pants, sweat stains on the clothes, and dirt on the face; it's not finished!!

Basil, I think our hobby is big enough and diverse enough to accommodate a wide variety of different approaches and opinions on this subject. For those who want beautiful "parade ground soldiers" to show off their prodigious painting skills, there are plenty of kits to choose from and there always will be .

For those who favour "realism" (for want of a better phrase) there are fewer commercial options, but the much greater opportunities for conversion.

I'm not saying that one group is better than another. I think we are free to choose what subjects we want to do, and how we want to model them, and that is one of the reasons why this is such a fantastic hobby.

Cheers

 

[vergilius]

There 're some manufacters who seem to be using the same head over and over, or the same ol' dull poses. I guess there's a market for those and they 're off course free to do so. But when I was in the army, my comrades didn't look so polished like most of those figures.
I won't give too much critics 'cause I'm not a sculptor but I must agree with Basil on this.
What I remember most are lots of hours of drill exercise, making up camp, standing in line at the fieldkitchen... Things like that. Why not making a drill instructor who's giving a recruit a hard time? Or some soldiers at a field kitchen just talking and eating? I'm sure those things happened more than actual fighting, even in war.

 

[ciospy]

Looking at latest products, i see historical figures confined to standard poses, and no dirt at all in painting -not to say about exaggerately colored lights and shadows on folds in clothing otherwise almost flat surfaces-
Box arts influence the modelers, and clean figures are easyer. My experience in speaking with modelers in italian market places is that the most paint trying to match the box art at all...
In fact, some producers told me that excessively beautiful painting, full of details, heraldry, etc, often slows the sale of a piece. People feel afraid to simply "try-and-learn", or to sarch documentation and try different lay outs.
In contrast, i see much more experimentation in dynamic poses on fantasy figures (like the latest Andrea releases).
However, i ask if some modelers have ever walked on a dirty road, before painting a roman legionary...

 

[blaster]

Hi all,

Interesting topic.
Have you all seen the latet pics at EuroMilitaire on another thread? The pics of figures are really nice. Based on this topic, I counted about 3 figures with dirt represented out of about 20+ figures in the scratchbuilt section.
The reason why I did the above was to remove the consideration of "sameness" in poses in the painted section.
Generally, all the scratchbuilt figures are clean and matt painted (I suspect mostly acrylics). Surprisingly, not one WW2 Germanic figure in this selection? I don't think that this section represented the whole of the entries.
I think that this scratchbuilt section is somewhat refreshing in showcasing alternative and original figures.

Rgds Victor