Questions for Bill Horan

[y_wong]

Dear Bill,

I have no question for you, just to say that I have always admired your work since I started with the figure modeling. You have a way for posing the figures which makes them look so natural and interesting.

regards

 

[Robin]

Thanks for answering the questions Bill. One Quaestion I have is do all your figures turn out like you want them too, we all have such high expectations(never disappointed in my case) of your work.
Robin

 

[Calvin]

Hello Bill,
no remarkable questions for you, your figures are the answer.
But be careful, when a deity like you comes down to the earth between humans, strange things happens... :lol:

Seriously, you are the reference for most of us.
Luca

 

[Billhoran]

I think staying away from commercial work has actually been an important reason that I have avoided burnout. My attention span is usually limited per figure to about 7-10 days, and I never seem to run out of things I want to do. I think if I had routinely got bogged down in 7-8 week master sculpture and engineering projects, haggling with mfrs over design and subject matter, etc., it all would have started to seem too much like hard work.

My love of golf definitely results in figure burnout for short periods during the summer months!

I did a few jobs for the Franklin Mint in the late 1990's. They paid well, but they kept me away from painting so long that my eyesight deteriorated, requiring me to wear glasses. The projects seemed to drag on forever (8-12 weeks each), and ultimately were never released by the Mint. One of the two - Buffalo Bill on horseback chasing down a very large buffalo was one I was quite proud of. For me, giving up control often means giving up the fun as well.

I got into this for fun, and keeping that sense of fun and pleasure is the key to longevity. If making masters is fun (and it is to many), by all means do it. If it isn't, avoid it and stick to what you enjoy.

Bill

 

[MarkL]

Hello Bill,

thanks a lot for sharing your work on the internet. As always simply amazing.

Just one more question regarding your painting:
Humbrol changed the formula of their paints some years ago and I used to have a lot of trouble with covering power etc. How do manage to overcome those difficulties and do you use any other enamel-type paints apart from Humbrols?

I managed to see some of your work "in flesh" at Ingolstadt Show in Fabio's collection. So that I can only stress, it would be a real pleasure to have you visit Germany.

Best regards

Mark

 

[Billhoran]

Mark, you're right about Humbrol's changed formula. The paint is thinner generally, tends to dry up faster and the white in particular is really awful - like white water with powder in it! They also dropped Insignia Blue (Matt 189) which was a superb dark blue color. I heard a rumor that they were so disgusted that Tony Greenland dismissed them in his Masterclass book in favor of some other more airbrush-friendly paints, that they decided to rework their formulas to compete for the plastic model crowd. Don't know if any of that is true.

I am using more and more Testor's and ModelMaster enamels. The ModelMaster white is very good (dries very flat and is opaque), and I also lilke the Testor's Royal Blue and Red colors.

Aside from these, I am using all the other old Humbrol colors. Most of them continue to do the job.

Bill

 

[MarkL]

Thanks Bill for your detailed explanations and the inspiration.

Mark

 

[Guy]

It does seem Bill, that everytime the paint manufactures change their formula, I add another brand of paint to my desk as well. Floquil sold out to testors and changed their formula and Humbrol, which I also use, changed their formula. I have added Model Master in some colors and use acrylics for some detail work.

Keep up the great work.

 

[gforceman]

Dear God (I mean Mr. Horan of course),

first of all I too would like to thank you for all te great things that you have done for the hobby. I believe that you are one of the most important persons who have turn figure painting into a art form. What I really would like to ask is if you do sculpt and then selling the figure without painting it, so the buyer can paint it himself. Not that I think you don't paint good (I would give both my legs to be half as good as you) but I would love to paint an original Bill Horan. How much would it cost me more or less?

Many thanks in advance for taking the time to answer,

Best wishes,

Gino Poppe

 

[Billhoran]

Thanks for the kind comments, Gino. Sorry, but I don't part with unpainted sculptures. Mike Good, Greg DiFranco and Mike Blank and I have all at times toyed with the idea of swapping unpainted sculptures for each other to paint, but I suspect that will stay just that - talk.

Bill

 

[Alex M.]

Bill,

Just curious if Beneito's 3 figure Balaclava vignette (two hussars carrying a wounded comrade) was yours as well...i don't own a copy of your book (unfortunate) but i was looking through it today, and saw a very similar vignette...and couldn't remember if they were the same or not

-Alex

 

[Billhoran]

Alex,

No. The Beneito piece was a rather crude copy of my "Casualty of War" vignette. One of many I am afraid.

Bill

 

[Jason W.]

Bill,

Do you have any plans for a diorama or vignette in the future? If so, can you give us a hint as to the subject?

Jason

 

[Billhoran]

I'm planning a Civil War box diorama depicting General Hancock's attack on A.P. Hill's troops in the woods alongside the Orange Plank Road in the early morning hours of the second day of the Battle of the Wilderness. It should be a challenge, but I hope to have it done in time for Boston.

Bill

 

[Automata]

Bill,

I don't know if you noticed some of the recent dicussion here on Planet Figure about the possibility of aquiring a reaction to epoxy putties over time, but I was wondering if you have had any adverse reactions to the putties. Do you wear gloves when mixing epoxy putty?

Also, when you say that your attention span for one figure is about 7-10 days, I take it you mean for the sculpting alone? How long does it usually take you to paint a foot figure?

There have been a lot of figures from a lot of different painters that I have admired over the years, but there were exactly 2 moments when what I saw stunned me and I thought "How can this be possible?". The first was when I saw my first "How to build dioramas" leaflet by Shep Paine in the mid 70s. The second was the first time I saw your work in a magazine in the late 80s.

I appreciate your approachability and your willingness to share your techniques. Thank you for the constant inspiration.

Barry

 

[Billhoran]

Seven to ten days includes sculpting, painting, groundwork, photography - everything. After that my level of interest in a figure declines sharply.

As for adverse reactions to putties, I have had quite a bit of contact with putties over the years and I have not seen any adverse reacion of any kind. I think the microscopic exposure we get to putty orally (licking the sculpting tool from time to time when applying putty) is just too limited to really be a problem. These days just about everything can be proven to cause some sort of malady if you consume enough of it!

Bill

 

[Joe Hudson]

Bill,

I have a question as to what materials do you use to make your canteens stay up in the air. I have seen many of your figures that are in motion and always wondered what the straps were made from.

Thanks,

Joe

 

[Billhoran]

I make my canteens from putty, so sheet metal - lead, tin or copper - easily suspend them "in mid- air".

Bill

 

[Joe Hudson]

Bill,

Thanks for the reply.

Joe

 

[Ernest]

Hello Bill could you tell me what kind of material do you use for your groundwork, tell me about the epoxy, vegetations, trees,water,snow...etc for me you have excellents dioramas and your terrains are really amazing...
Thanks

Ernest