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| Anatomy of a Minature By Pat Bird, 1990 During recent years the manufacture of miniatures has become not only an art form, but a modest engineering achievement as wall. The skill and expertise evolved and exhibited by a few companies has taken the hobby a long way from the toy soldier days, and I am continually amazed at the skill of some collectors in the painting of the fine-quality miniatures available. However, from experience I know that not many collectors have any idea how much work is involved in the process of manufacturing a miniature. Hopefully, the following will give you a deeper insight. A miniature is much more than a reproduction in scale of a character from history, it is rather an amalgam of many separate skills. No one of the following processes in itself is more important than another. For, obviously, the finest original or master figure ever sculpted can be ruined with bad casting techniques, or, for that matter, poor packaging. RESEARCH The master figure maker and hobbyist is indeed fortunate today in the wealth of information available, and the manufacturer should try to make the models that have the most information, or at least offer it with the kit. The manufacturer must also make sure that the figure he wishes to make is one that the important person, namely, the customer wishes to buy. However, this decision is made less difficult by the retailers who often pass on the wishes of their customers. A certain amount of agonizing is involved with the decision as to the position of the model, whether standing casual, leaping, running or sitting. This is dictated, often as not, by the limitations of production capabilities or cost. It would be fine if we could produce figures on large bases leaning against enormous walls, but, the eventual cost in materials would be prohibitive. Having made the best educated guess, we pass on to the original or master figure. MASTER In our case we have found that the most economical and professional way to make an original is in a hard metal, such as tin. Generally we start by sculpting a rough “dolly” with torso, head, arms and legs spread-eagled, but with the proportion of the anatomy as near perfect as possible. We then obtain a casting of this and alter the positions of legs, etc. to match the desired position. Bearing in mind the skin and muscle changes, the dolly is then “dressed” by adding tin or solder with a soldering iron, much as a sculptor would add clay to build up the desired rough shape. Then, with the use of a dentist-type grinder and engraving tools, etc. the finished shape is gradually achieved. Whether the finished model is a good reproduction of a soldier or not is obviously a matter of innate skill and experience. We feel, however, that an accurate and realistic model is made when the master figure maker bears in mind that he is not making an object, but rather a living person. It is a rule of Series 77 that if a detail can be seen on the original then it should be, if at all possible, reproduced on the miniature. There really is no excuse for slipshod work, especially with the state of the art. During the process of producing the master, decisions must be made as to which parts should be separate from the body of the figure. This is again dictated by realism and limitations of production. For instance, if a coattail has a large undercut or hollow between itself and the body of the figure, then it must of necessity be made and cast separately. And assuming that the joint fits well, it should be possible for the collector to glue, fill if necessary, and paint out any sign of a joint. By this method we are able to produce more realistic models than had been the case in the past, when most figures were one solid piece. Now, a very important part of the process, making molds for the quantity production of fine metal castings. MOLDS Although a few basic rules apply, the art of mold making is rule of thumb, experience and a little luck. Basically the method we use for producing a mold is as follows. The original or master parts are placed between two round flat discs of unvulcanized rubber. Then with the discs enclosed in a tight-fitting mold box they are submitted to heat and pressure in a vulcanizinq machine for a period of time. The rubber becomes soft, and with the pressure moves into all the detail, even the finest scratch or hair will be reproduced. When this process is complete and the mold cooled, the box is opened and the two halves of the mold separated, the master pieces removed and the mold checked. Channels or sprues must then be cut from. the center, or pour hole, to the cavity. Always exciting is the casting of the first sample, really the first opportunity to see just how well the original was made. CASTING After many thousands of castings and molds completed during the past ten years, I still cannot believe that the following works so well. The reproduction of many thousands of identical castings from one original is a most fascinating experience. As the metal casting is the first stage of the manufacturing process that reaches the cold hard world it must be as fine a piece of work as possible. It is not enough that a casting be as faithful a reproduction of the original as possible, but it should be a clean crisp object. How often have we seen in a kit a set of castings made of two or even three different types of metal, an extremely cheap metal for figure and base, and very expensive metal for the small parts. The cheap metal casting showing rounded lack of detail, and the expensive metal castings pitted or so brittle that they fracture when touched. None of this is necessary with professional casting. Using the best possible metal developed for the subject it is possible to produce a kit of castings with the best appearance and quality. And more importantly to keep the eventual cost within reason. The actual method for casting is to fit the rubber mold into a centrifugal casting machine, start the machine and pour molten metal into the pour hole in the lid of the machine. The metal passes quickly down into the mold and is then spun outwards with force into the cavities of the mold. As with the other parts of the process, experience counts. A combination of correct mold and metal temperature, amount of pressure on molds and the number of revolutions of spin per minute will produce any casting, large or small. But a mystic sign of two sevens made over the machine with the first and second fingers is guaranteed to solve any problem. GENERAL It is unfortunate to place the following under the heading of general, as the final stages of a fine miniature are very important. The castings are checked, first by the caster, then again by the person who packs the kit. But before any quantity of stock is made we have a final way of checking the quality. We have a sample painted by the best painter we know, for it is only when the model is in it’s painted form that we can tell for sure if the figure is a success. We do not feel that it is too late to alter the miniature. For if there is a mistake it is best to alter it before we have produced too many. of course painting and assembly guides, labels, etc. have to be printed, advertising and samples sent out to magazines for review. But, essentially the process is complete except for casting and packing stock so that we can fulfill orders promptly. However, the last and most important and interesting stage is in the future. That of public response. Will the figure sell well or better than others? Will we receive valued constructive criticism from the collectors so that we may do much better on the next Series 77 miniature? |
