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.