Next project

My next sculpted bust project is Major General Romeo Dallaire, portrayed as he would have appeared as Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in 1994, during the genocide. Dallaire is now a Canadian with international stature following his performance in command of that failed Chapter 6 UN peacekeeping mission.

I settled on Dallaire as my next project because he is a change of pace for me (before this the most recent historical figure I had modeled had been from WWII}. Also, I admire him and he presents a challenge with his fascinating craggy face. Finally, the colours of the uniform appeal to be - khaki shirt, green epaulettes, light blue beret. Getting the stressed looked that I see in many pictures of Dallaire will be an additional challenge.

Dallaire had the misfortune to be dumped into a command role in Rwanda immediately prior to the re-ignition of a brutal civil war, one that morphed into the worst genocide since WWII. As a senior Canadian officer, he was presumed by the UN to be an expert peacekeeper as well. Sent in to command insufficient troops (none who were Canadian) drawn primarily from former colonial nations, such as Belgium, and neighbouring African countries like Tunisia and Ghana. Dallaire was admittedly not prepared for the political and cultural minefield he found in Rwanda.

He is his own strongest critic, freely admitting his own failings that led in part to the disaster. The worst failing in his eyes was his inability to convince the UN and the international community to intervene.  I still recall hearing him pleading for support and to "send me troops!" every week on CBC radio as a country died around him. The West ignored his pleas, afraid to trigger another Somalia fiasco.

He also made a decision on the first night of the genocide that he could not use force to free 10 Belgian para-commandos under his command given insufficient forces and constraining and unrealistic rules of engagement. He had few troops, virtually no ammunition and unarmed observers spread all over the country. As a result, any armed assault to free the hostage Belgians would have breached his orders and resulted  many more deaths. In addition, he had only seconds to make the decision. Many Belgians are still bitter that Dallaire did not forceably free these men as they were subsequently brutally murdered.

His book "Shake Hands with the Devil" is a wrenching read and the section where he is ordered to leave by Kofi Anan and to abandon the Rwandans to their own devices is compelling reading. In concert with his African second in command, he refused orders to leave and managed to save perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 souls who had taken refuge with his UNAMIR troops.

As Dallaire's Assistant, Major Brent Beardsley said: "We could have packed up dead bodies, put them on a Herc, flown to New York, walked in the Security Council and dumped them on the floor in front of the Security Council, and all that would have happened was we would have been charged for illegally using a U.N. aircraft. They just didn't want to do anything. ..."

Asked how he can still believe in God after Rwanda, Dallaire responded that in Rwanda he shook hands with the devil and for that reason knows that there is also a God. A fascinating man who is now an international campaigner against genocide and the employment of child soldiers, Dallaire was deeply scarred by his experiences, being diagnosed with PTSD and later attempting suicide three times. You can see his sadnesss and the beginnings of the "1,000 yard stare" in the first photo at the top of this post.

"Rwanda will never ever leave me. It's in the pores of my body. My soul is in those hills, my spirit is with the spirits of all those people who were slaughtered and killed that I know of, and many that I didn't know. … Fifty to 60,000 people walking in the rain and the mud, you know, to escape being killed, and seeing a person there beside the road dying. We saw lots of them dying. And lots of those eyes still haunt me, angry eyes or innocent eyes, no laughing eyes. But the worst eyes that haunt me are the eyes of those people who were totally bewildered. They're looking at me with my blue beret and they're saying, "What in the hell happened? … My failings, my inabilities, not taking advantage, lack of skills, all of it is there. What could I have done better, well, we can discuss that for hours. But there's one thing for damn sure: I was in the field, I commanded, I did not convince, I lost soldiers and 800,000 people died. And there's no way of taking that away. …"

Major Heinz completed

Here is the completed Major Heinz bust. The label was computer generated and the base was procured at Michaels' Art Supplies. He now has a new home with the Heinz family, where.I hope he will be enjoyed for many years to come.

 

Painted EMI Marshal Murat in 54mm

Murat by Gerard

I don't paint a lot of commercially available figures but as soon as I saw this 54mm figure a few years ago I knew I had to have it as I love doing Napoleonic personalities based on paintings and I love hussar uniforms. Its a repro of a famous portrait of Murat by Gerard. The figure was sculpted by A. Laruccia. The painting is currently housed in the Musee de Versailles. Who could resist painting a portrait of Murat.

Joachim Murat was Napoleon's most famous cavalry commander and was married to Napoleon's sister. Based on nepotism and his military successes, Murat was made King of Naples by Napoleon. The painting shows him in the uniform of a light cavalry general, perhaps of the Neopolitan Guard.

 Murat was the Herman Goering of his day: overly confident and flamboyant; ambitious; fond of cosmetics and of designing his own show-off uniforms; leader of a critical arm of his master's military forces; and a member of the inner circle who ultimately let his leader down.The model is true to the painting and includes Murat's boy servant holding his master's colpack (fur cap). The sculptor did a great job in turning the 2D portrait into a 3D rendering.

Murat was born into the family of an innkeeper. During the French Revolution he entered the army, and soon became a colonel. He served under Napoleon in Italy and in Egypt, rose to be a general of division (1799), returned with Napoleon to France, and on 18th Brumaire (9 November 1799) dispersed the Council of Five Hundred at St. Cloud. Napoleon gave him his sister, Caroline, in marriage. In command of the cavalry at the Battle of Marengo, Murat covered himself with glory, and in 1801 was nominated Governor of the Cisalpine Republic. He contributed to the victories of Austerlitz (1805), Jena and Eylau; in 1806 he was made the Grand Duke of Berg, and in 1808 he was proclaimed King of two Sicilies as Joachim Napoleon. He took possession of the Kingdom Naples (encompassing most of hte southern half of Italy, though the Bourbons, supported by Britain, retained Sicily, and he won the hearts of his subjects.

In the Russian campaign he commanded all of the cavalry, and indeed, the whole army after Napoleon left it during the retreat from Mosclow. He crushed the Austrians at Dresden (1813), fought at Leipzig, and concluded a treaty with Austria and truce with aBritish admiral; but on Napoleon’s escape from Elba, he threw his weight behind Napoleon again and commenced war against Austria and was twice defeated. With a few horsemen he fled to Naples, and thence to France. Napoleon rejected his services for the Waterloo campaign due to his fury at Murat for launching an attack on Austria before Napoleon was ready. There is a school of thought that, had Murat rather than Ney commanded the cavalry at Waterloo, the outcome may well have been very different.

After Napoleon’s final overthrow, Murat proceeded with a few followers to the coast of Calabria, and proclaimed himself king; but he was captured by some customs officers and a mob, court-martialed and shot by firing squad.

His last words were in character, to the effect of  "Shoot for the body, save the face!"

Painting Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz

I decided to paint the bust in acrylics. While I have a large selection of Vallejo hobby acrylics, in this case I decided to experiment and use bottled Liquitex artists' acrylics. I did use a few Vallejos mixed with the Liquitex and of course I also used my Citadel inks. While I hated Games Workshop's hobby paints for being over priced and for their propensity to dry up within 2 months of purchase, their inks have an indeterminate shelf life and are awesome for staining, glazing and washing figures. They are a key tool in my face painting technique. However, in true Games Workshop fashion, they discontinued their only good paint product to replace them with what I am told is a vastly inferior line of washes. Apparently artists inks from Winsor Newton and other suppliers fill the void but I won't get the chance to find out until my GW inks finally dry out or get used up.

The following photos show the bust painting in progress.

Sculpting the bust

Once FWH's head was done to my satisfaction, it was time to proceed to sculpting the rest of his bust. The general chest shape was done in a single session and took only 1 hour. I decided to sculpt the bust onto its support, a turned wooden shape from the local hardware store. Sculpting the chest onto this spindle provided good support for the finished product. Also, having this spindle implanted in the bust allows me to sit it on top of an upside down Tim Horton's coffee cup with a "X" cut in the bottom for photography and simple viewing.

Once I was happy with the chest shape, the head was attached and the upper arms added. I then proceeded to flesh out the detail of his uniform tunic including the basic shapes of the collar and pockets.

Its very important when sculpting uniforms not to overdo the depth of creases and folds as these will look even more exaggerated when paint is applied. Testing the sculpture by taking photos of it is one way of getting a fresh look. One finds that when looking at the model constantly, one becomes blind to obvious imperfections that will sometimes be glaringly obvious in a photograph. Another useful trick is to look at the model in the mirror. The reversal of the image offsets the effects of familiarity that come with looking at the model for hours on end. Viewing in a mirror allows previously unseen flaws to jump out at the sculptor.

Once the bust was sculpted, it was time to add the uniform detail - and this is the part I love. I look forward to detail work so much I have to guard against rushing the completion of the basic form so I can get to the detail stage. I love sculpting medals, buttons, lace etc. In this case, I decided to add the details in Magic Sculpt epoxy putty as I was not sufficiently comfortable that Sculpey firm had ability to take and hold detail (this was my first use of this material). Based on subsequent experience, I need not have worried.

In the photo to the right you can see the separately added details. They appear as a light greenish yellow putty. Magic Sculpt was not my first choice for detail sculpting but it would do for my large 1/5 scale portrait of Heinz. I prefer to use a two-part yellow and blue epoxy putty that is sold by Games Workshop. It has the consistency of chewing gum when mixed for use and it dries with a still flexible consistency. But it takes and holds detail very well. Sometimes called Duro, this is the epoxy putty of choice for many wargame or "mini" sculptors. I have to say that I admire anyone who can sculpt a full figure in the stuff as its infuriating to work with. Anyway I had no Duro on hand so the issue was moot.

I chose not to sculpt the national symbol (i.e. breast eagle and swastika) or the collar detail (litzen) as in this scale the risk is that they are too thick. Given this was to be a one of a kind original, there was no need to sculpt on detail that a casting would need to enable other painters to colour.

Infantry Major's epaulettes

I was a little worried about the epaulettes though. As can be seen by the photo of the actual items to the left, an German infantry Major's epaulettes are a major (no pun) pain to sculpt. I did the basic epaulette shape and cooked the model. Then I added a layer of putty, cut the outside shape to roughly approximate the lace laying on the epaulette, and then scored in the cord detail with a # 11 blade. It actually came out quite well -- to my surprise. I added buttons and was done this challenge.

Heinz was a heavily decorated officer in both world wars.

He earned the following major decorations:

• Iron Cross 2nd Class - 1917
• Wounded badge in black - 1918
• Wounded badge in silver - 1918
• Iron Cross 1st Class - 1919
• V Corps badge
• Silesian Eagle
• Merit badge of II Marine Brigade Ehrhardt
• Clasp Iron Cross 1st Class clasp - 1941
• Clasp Iron Cross 2nd Class clasp - 1941
• Infantry Assault Badge in silver - 1941
• Wehrmacht 4 year service medal

I applied these either as individual medals and decorations or as ribbons on the medal bar. My expert contacts at a militaria website called the "Gentlemen's Military Interest Club" ( http://gmic.co.uk) were very helpful with advising me on the placement and appropriate order of the various decorations. Here's what I came up with:

 But I made a critical mistake that I didn't realize unitl after the model was undercoated for painting. The EKI (Iron Cross) spange or clasp was sculpted over the breast pocket opening. The medal would never be worn in this manner as it would prevent the pocket opening (and look pretty stupid). I didn't pick it up because I was too involved with having fun sculpting medals to check my references. This could have been big trouble as removing cured epoxy putty from sculpey under an undercoat of paint could have left a big mess. Luckily my Xacto blade came through and the putty cut clean away from the clay. To the left one can see a shot of the revised medal.

With that last minute revision, the bust was ready for painting.

Sculpting tools and materials

I neglected to note that I sculpt most of my portraits in super sculpey firm grey clay. This is an oven-dry polymer clay that is much firmer than standard sculpey. While a little more expensive, it has properties I really like. Once baked it can be drilled, cut, sanded, and shaved more effectively than othersculpies. It also results in a much stronger, dense and smoother sculpture, somewhat similar in finish to some epoxy putties like Magic Sculpt. Most important, its strong and will take being dropped without shattering.

Most of my sculpting is done with colour shaper rubber tipped brushes (also known as clay shapers.) These come in 3 different colours/textures and in several different sizes. White is softest, grey is the middle firmness and black is the densest rubber. All have their uses. They can be used to apply oil or acrylic paint to a canvas or to sculpt clays and putties.

The two most useful shapes I find are the round chisel and the cone, at least in my experience. I also use the flat chisel a fair bit. I usually start using the colour shapers as soon as the major planes of the face have been established by carving an orb of wet putty with a # 11 Xacto knife blade.

In additon to the colour shapers, I also use a selection of other sculpting tools I have acquired over the years. I have about 30 cheap wooden tools from Michael's Art Store that come in very handy from time-to-time. The tools look something like those shown to the right.

I also have a large number of relatively inexpensive steel wax sculpting tools, mostly acquired from a major jewellery tool supplier here in Toronto. These tools are useful in certain situations but I use them sparingly. The photo below to the left shows some examples of such tools.

Much of my sculpting, after the basic shape of the face is established, is done with a paint brush and varying amounts of sculpey dilutant. Sculpey dilutant is an oil based substance that softens sculpey and, if enough is used, actually dissolves it, sometimes reducing it to a clay slip. The dilutant also serves as a glue, enabling wet sculpey to be added to the base cured sculpt, When additional sculpey is added, dilutant applied with a brush allowing the added material to be smoothed in with no seams or joins showing. For example, one can add muscles, tendons, hair, brows, nose details etc. to the base face shape. Don't get it in your mouth as its bitter as h**l!

Once the sculpt is done and baked, rough patches and excess material can be removed. The sculpt can be sanded but I prefer to scrape the excess off with Rio Rondo's carbide scrapers. These little known tools are among the most useful I own. They are superb for removing mold flash from resin, plastic or metal castings. They are also excellent for carving cured epoxy putty and sculpey. While major carving is done in the early stages with a dremel motor tool, the carbide scrapers are my detail tools of choice. They remain extremely durable and remain sharp after years of use. These tools are available from: http://www.riorondo.com/

Sculpting F. W. Heinz's portrait

I hadn't sculpted a model in 5 years due to work pressures and stress. I was daunted by the prospect of breaking out the putty. But I had promised my friend Michael that my next model would be a portrait of his Dad. A small thank you gift for a valued addition to my German Resistance autograph collection and my own little salute to the memory of a man who put his own life, and that of his family, at risk to take on Nazism in Germany.

Sculpting a portrait is not easy. Sculpting a portrait for a surviving family member is that much more difficult than it would be for the general populace as the viewer has actually seen the subject in life, not just in a period painting or a 2D photo. It took me 3 tries to render an acceptable likeness of Michael's father.

The hardest part was to get the profile right. As can be seen from the photo, Heinz had an unusual profile that was not evident from frontal or three quarter pictures. One advantage of of having contact with the family is that additional information is available that is not generally known. For example, Michael provided me with a fascinating array of unpublished family photos, as well as information on his eye and hair colour that I would never otherwise have had access to.

The following pictures show the final head as I sculpted it in my favourite 1/5 scale.

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz c. 1942

A new and very generous friend recently provided me with a wonderful gift - his father's autograph. It fit right into my collection of signatures of Germans who did their best to rid Germany of Hitler and his criminal cronies, starting at a  time long before it was evident that Germany would lose the war.  Contrary to the common view that the German resistance only took action in late July 1944, once the die was cast after Stalingrad, many members of the resistance were actively plotting against Hitler prior to the outbreak of war. Most of them were driven by Christian values, humanistic morals and/or a sense of personal honour. Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz was no exception.

Friedrich Wlihelm Heinz was a major figure in the German Resistance movement that eventually resulted in the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. For some reason, Heinz is often overlooked or marginalized in scholarly studies of the anti-Hitler resistance. Most of the attention goes to the headliners such as Ludwig Beck, Claus von Stauffenberg and Henning von Tresckow.

Heinz with his wife Hedwig

Like many of the resisters, Heinz served in the trenches in the Great War, where he was wounded multiple times and well decorated. Post-war, he was a member of various Nationalist groups including the Stahlhelm and the Freikorps Ehrhardt, where he took part in the Kapp Putsch. He was heavily involved in politics as a right-wing monarchist throughout the inter-war years. He was also a poet and author, developing skills that he later directed to the political arena. He was an early National Socialist party member but he soon balked at Hitler's dictatorial style. He instead aligned himself closely with the Strasser wing of the party. There is evidence that Heinz was to be murdered in the Night of the Long Knives.

In the mid-thirties, after he was known to be anti-Hitler, Heinz joined Admiral Wilhelm Canaris' Abwehr intelligence service as a safe haven from the attentions of the Gestapo. He was heavily involved in several of the plots against Hitler. By 1938, Heinz was working actively against Hitler as a member of Hans Oster's group within the Abwehr. Heinz was a key planner in the "Oster Conspiracy" that was planned for September 1938. With others, Heinz planned to forceably arrest Hitler before he could trigger an apocalyptic world war over the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. To arrest Hitler, Heinz recruited a band of approximately sixty men from the Abwehr, the Stahlhelm, various universities and socialist organisations. All were issued machine pistols and hand grenades at the HQ of General von Witzleben's Army District III (Berlin). The raiding party, or Stosstruppe, was positioned across the road from Hitler's Chancellory. Foreign service officer Erich Kordt volunteered to open the Chancellory doors to allow the raiders access to Hitler. Minimal resistance was expected as only a few guards from the SS Leibstandarte were posted to protect the Fuehrer at this time.

L to R - Admiral Canaris, Heinz & General v. Phulstein

The official plan was for Hitler to be arrested and put on trial as most of the conspirators had not yet reached a stage of rage and despair where they were willing to adopt gangster methods to fight him. Abwehr officer Hans von Dohnanyi had established a secret archive of evidence chronicling SS and Gestapo crimes that was to be introduced as evidence at Hitler's trial. A professional opinion on Hitler's state of mental health was to be provided by Dietrich Bonhoeffer's father, preeminent psychiatrist Dr. Karl Bonhoeffer. This was a high risk gambit, as taking time for a trial gave time for the SS and party to stage a counter-coup. However, it must be remembered that Hitler was far less popular in 1938 than he had become a year later after the Munich accords.

Heinz (L) and Oster (R) mid-war

Nevertheless, Heinz and Oster thought the risk to be unacceptable. After the last planning session was done and the senior plot leaders had departed, Heinz asked to speak to Oster alone. He forcefully made the case that just arresting Hitler would not do and that he must be killed. Oster agreed and a plot within a plot was designed. Without telling the other members of the Stosstruppe, Heinz and Oster agreed that Hitler's death would be engineered during his arrest.

History tells us that this raid was never launched. Instead, against all expectations, Neville Chamberlain flew to Munich and gave Hitler everything he requested, thus virtually assuring a future world war. Chamberlain also pulled the rug out from under the plotters, who could hardly expect public support for eliminating a leader who had just won such a resounding bloodless victory. The best opportunity to remove Hitler before the outbreak of war disappeared.

Heinz supervising MG practice

During the war, Heinz commanded the first battalion of the Abwehr's Brandenburg commandos and later the fourth regiment of the Brandenburg division. He was wounded multiple times and was eventually invalided home to take command of a watch battalion in Berlin. On July 20, he was present in the Bendlerstrasse for Stauffenberg's famous coup attempt. He left the Bendlerblock building empty handed as orders to the various police and security units were slow in coming. He survived the coup without more than a single Gestapo interrogation.

Heinz in his final years post-war

After the suicide of Heinz's close friend and Abwehr co-member Werner Schrader on July 28, 1944, the Gestapo found Hans von Dohnanyi's detailed archive of regime crimes, as well as prior coup plans in Schrader's safe. In addition, the Gestapo learned that the archive had for a time been kept in Heinz's brother-in-law's bank vault until Schrader and Heinz had moved it to his office at army high command in Zossen. The archive detailed Heinz's personal involvement in the 1938 Oster plot and an arrest warrant was issued. Heinz went to ground in Berlin and, unlike many of the conspirators who went into hiding, managed to stay hidden until war's end.

Post-war, Heinz emerged as leader of the Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz Service, a small independent West German intelligence service directly reporting to the Adenauer's government. The fledgling spy service was technically in breach of the surrender protocols but was tolerated by the western allies who were already realigning to counter the eastern threat. Thus, Heinz can be considered one of the fathers of the German secret service. Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz died in 1968.

Now I'm a blogger

I've seen some nice blogs out there done by various types of collectors and modellers. I always thought a blog was a place for frustrated authors and politically active grumblers to get attention for their work and positions. But based on some of the hobby blogs I've seen recently, a blog looks like it can also be a great way for me to post progress on my models from inception through to completion. And of course it looks like a good a good place to post additional historical background, research data, links, in-progress photos and technique descriptions. So I will be putting a combination of my past projects and current efforts on this site. At least it will allow me to post all my work, in detail and in one place - sort of a virtual hobby resume.