An Interview With Evan Allen We take some time to talk to Evan Allen, Battlefront Miniatures’ talented in-house sculptor to find out what goes on behind the scenes where the putty hits the armature! This Article first appeared in Wagames Illustrated 262. Wargames Illustrated: How long have you been sculpting? Evan Allen: It seems as though I have been doing it for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up it was plasticene and modelling clay, then as I got older I moved on to balsa wood and whatever I could get my hands on.

WI: What made you get started in the first place? EA: There were two things that really made me start. Firstly there was a lack of stuff to buy here in New Zealand all those years ago. There simply was not the range of figures available back then and mail order was problematic for someone with little money to spend. I also discovered very early on that gluing together something someone else had made wasn’t as satisfying for me as making something from scratch. WI: Did your interest in sculpting come hand in hand with miniature wargames? EA: Absolutely. I have been gaming for about 38 years all told with a few pauses while other things took my interest temporarily...but I always came back to it! I started originally started when I was about 10-11 years old. My Dad brought me home two boxes of Airfix plastic soldiers – the original British Paratroopers and 8th Army figures – for my birthday.

WI: Talk us through how you would sculpt a single figure, from research to its completion. EA: I usually work on batches of figures at a time in a production line system - it helps keep the items of equipment and uniform etc in size and style. I’ll spend a bit of time making sure I’m completely positive of how the end result needs to look uniform and weapons wise etc.

Then I’ll spend some time trawling through period photographs looking for figure poses that catch my imagination. All the poses I create come from photos of the real thing, plus my own training and experience with firearms in the Air Force. After I’m happy with all that I will bend up the armatures and add the heads. I have a range of pre-sculpted heads and sometimes helmets, so the rest gets done in stages: legs, torsos (at this point any poses that don’t work or look right get modified or replaced) then arms and weapons, and finally the soldiers’ personal equipment. WI: How does the process differ for vehicles? EA: The first thing is to track down scale drawings and as many photos of the actual AFV itself. Cross checking recorded measurements against the scale drawings — you’d be surprised at how often those ‘Scale drawings’ are anything but! The next step is to make the basic shape of the hull and turret ignoring any external details — you really need to get the shape correct and all things in the correct proportions before worrying about any detail. The tracks are next as certain items like wheels are sculpted and sent to the metal mould makers to be cast in sufficient numbers. Once back I spend quite a bit of time assembling the bits need to get the tracks looking right and fitting the hull as closely as possible. Photos of the real thing are useful to make sure what’s been done looks right as well as checking the measurements several times. Once the tracks are done they are check fitted with the hull and turret as a complete assembly then the detail starts to be added. Lots of steel ruler and set square work to make sure of nice straight lines and correct angles. Sometimes the putty has to be removed and rebuilt up to add detail like vents and grills. Any barrels and hatches are created and suitable holes or cavities are added to suit. Detail like rivets are immensely time consuming and are done in small stages to prevent me from going mad! You can also destroy a lot of fine rivets by forgetting where you’ve put soft putty... Once all that is complete a check of overall measurements is done again and any adjustments carried out if necessary.

WI: So other than sculpting putty, a steel ruler and set square, what else do you need in terms of tools to keep up with Battlefronts release schedule? EA: I work in a well-lit area with both natural, fluorescent and halogen lighting. A clean and tidy area that has plenty of handy storage for small bits and pieces that I constantly use, like heads and guns. Being tidy is really important for me. There’s nothing worse to me than having to constantly search for small bits and pieces in amongst extraneous junk and dried bits of putty. It allows me to focus on the task at hand and, if I’ve got more than one project on the go, I’ll keep the others, including any reference material, in a self-contained area so they don’t get mixed up.

My Air Force technical training conditioned me to clean up at the end of each job and put all my tools away ready for the next job — I never have to hunt for stuff (unless the kids have been in the workshop on the weekend!). My tools are pretty basic really, I find only a few are in constant use and the rest are only used only on the odd occasion. A Stanley drywall cutting knife is my cutting tool of preference, most hobby knives are too flimsy or don’t give enough tactile control for my taste. The other tools I use constantly are pencil, steel rulers, basic set square and calipers. Also I use a set of cheap jewellers screwdrivers along with darning needles for most of my soft putty work. Over time I’ve also developed some small custom tools like specially shaped pieces of hard putty or bent metal for shaping and smoothing internal areas that are hard to get at after construction has started. WI: So what did you do for the Air Force prior to becoming a full-time sculptor? EA: I worked in the engineering and maintenance side of the things. I worked on a wide range of things like life-support systems, flying clothing, (stuff like helmets, O2 masks, G-suits etc) parachutes, (emergency, paratroop and supply drop) and aviation surface coatings (application and removal of aircraft/automotive surface coatings, upholstery and other useful stuff). Plus everyone in the RNZAF tech world does flightline duties like aircraft dispatch/receipt and refueling etc.

WI: Did this time help you with your current career? EA: Immensely, the exposure to lots of exciting experiences along with training in the aviation technical world to develop both the knowledge of tools, hand skills and academic principles combined with a natural leaning towards art and sculpture means I can utilise the best of both worlds. I’m fortunate in that being able to make both freeform and straight edge subjects means I can use both disciplines to create just about anything. The technical background is also an advantage in that I can look at a machine and pretty much work out how it works then think of a way to recreate that action in miniature – problem-solving becomes a second nature.

WI: What is more interesting, doing a range from scratch, or jumping from project to project filling gaps – and why? EA: I prefer doing complete ranges, it suits my more methodical train of thinking and it’s nice to have a beginning and an endpoint (of sorts) in a project. That doesn’t mean a project will be the same at the end as was planned in the beginning though — in fact I don’t think any project I’ve ever undertaken with Battlefront lasted more than the first week or two before changes or improvements and the like were incorporated. WI: Obviously you have a passion for World War II. What periods do you game other than Flames Of War? EA: My favourite period to game, after WWII, is Horse & Musket, I love to paint as well and probably look forward to that pastime these days more than actual gaming.

WI: Do you have a favourite piece that you have sculpted over the years? EA: I don’t really have a favourite – they all are enjoyable to make and each one is a challenge. The satisfaction for me is seeing them as finished items on gaming table. If anything I probably enjoy making aircraft models as they were my first love in the modelling realm and the main object of my previous career in the Air Force.

WI: If you were not sculpting 15mm WW2 models, what would you like to be sculpting instead? EA: It would have to be larger scale figures. I’d like to be able to spend some considerable time working on adding to my skills as a figure sculptor, and not necessarily just military subjects either. Also aircraft, lots of aircraft, especially ones with working bits and pieces — not actual flying models just ones with things that work. WI: Last of all, what do people say when you tell them you are a sculptor of miniature soldiers?

EA: Usually it takes a little bit of explanation before they get their head around the fact that I don’t buy them and paint them for other people, or that I don’t hand make each individual one and sell that. Some people, with any kind of artistic bent, appreciate the creation and others glaze over with faint thoughts of toy soldiers and grown-ups and others are surprised that it could be part of a successful business enterprise as well as being something you enjoy doing as well – most people never manage to combine their hobby with their way of paying the bills.

WI: Thanks Evan, appreciate you taking the time out to give us a glimpse at what you do.