| |
Translation : Daniel Serrano
I don't know how to
start my sory but well, it needs to
be done so the best is to start from
the beginning... well, as far as I
know because it was a long time ago.
I remember that when I was a child I
played with toy soldiers from
Montaplex and Comansi (bigger and
painted!). Being a history fan and a
drawing and painting lover we have
the necesary ingredient for this
hobby.
As far as I can remember the first
thing I painted was a plastic plane
in 1/72, a Japanesse Zero in a dark
green color from Airfix. I built it
with my cousin Roberto and we
painted it inmediatley. I also
painted my white jersey, getting my
mom upset.
In that times there were no internet
or consoles like today where it's
getting harder to paint instead of
playing online games. Some of my
friends have left this hobby because
of the online games.
I've built ships from Airfix, Tamiya...
civil vehicles, motorbikes, militar
vehicles in 1/72 and 1/35 scale... I
remember that with each tank I
messed up one or two brushes with
the drybrush technique because I
didn't have an airbrush.
What I don't remember properly is
when I turned into figures but I
know they were in 1/72 scale from
Airfix for a napoleonic era diorama
I was doing trying to imitate one I
saw in a local shop. It was the
battle of Waterloo with 300 figures
or so. I got tired of painting them
and I left it without being finished.
Then I was asked to paint 100
figures of roman soldiers in 30mm
and when I wanted to do an army in
15mm to play I got tired of such
small figures and decided to try
bigger scales.
In that times there was a lack of
information, we didn't know how to
dilute the putty and when we
discovered the use of acetone it was
like a national party.
My father had a shop where I founded
the Club Magerit 81 with Jesus
Carreras, a place to go at any time
to chat and share our knowledges. I
remember we had to pay a cuote of
200 pts. to celebrate our show in
May.
That was the beginning of people
like: Luis Gomez Platon, Santiago
Sánchez Domínguez, Jesús Carreras
Lopez, Manuel Marin Beato, Cristóbal
Vergara, Miguel Felipe Carrascal,
Ismael Rivas, Matias Ruiz Baena,
Miguel Jiménez Bravo, Diego Briones
Canosa etc.
Today we have a lot of info in
magazines, how-to-paint/sculpt books,
internet... there are also painting
and modelling classes, there are
seminaires in shows where we can see
the masters work... we have
everything!
Because all of that, in Spain
there's a high quality level in
painting and modelling. People like
Pepe Gallardo, Francisco José
Hernández, Raul Garcia Latorre, Luis
Esteban Laguardia, Luis Gomez Platon,
Agustín Pacheco, Rodrigo Hernández
Chacon, Pedro Ramírez Mateo, José
Palomares, Javier Garcia, Julio
Cabos, Samuel Perez, Blas Cuevas,
José Caballero Delso, David Romero,
Ismael Rivas, Román Navarro, J.M.
Masip, Miguel Felipe Carrascal,
Ángel Terol, Joaquín, José Alberto,
Juan Carlos Avila Ribadas, Juan
García Yugueros, Pedro Abreu,
Antonio Zapatero, Diego Fernández
Fortes, Jesús Gamarra, Dario Ruiz,
Jose Hidalgo Rojo, Carlos Andrea,
Marco Navas, Matias Ruiz, Gros
Mascarilla brothers, Iñigo Rodríguez
Carballeira ,Manuel Sanchez
Montijano, Joan Masferrer Despuig,
Jose Carlos Gallardo, Luis Tramon,
Rafael Cebrián, Mario Lopez Manso,
Cesar de la Peña, Luis Sanz Larrey,
Angel Pasos, Manuel Picatoste, Juan
Manuel Moreno Florez, Luis Angel
Ruiz, Carmelo Merino, Humberto
Garrido, Enrique Rubio, Joaquin
Palacios, Angel Garcia Pinto, David
Mencia, Luis Martin Espada, David
Lobo Reigada, Ivan Gil , Fernando
Garrido, Santiago Blázquez, David
Rodríguez, Salvador Ortigosa,Mª Paz
Ballesteros... and so many more I
could mention. Because of this
people, Spain is internationally
known.
And after this patriotic speech I'll
continue speaking about myself.
I admire those who have tried to
live by the hobby, sculpting,
painting or founding companies
Carlos Andrea, (Andrea Miniaturas),
Marco Navas(Fontegris), Pere(Art
Girona), Raul Garcia Latorre (Latorre
Model), Antonio Zapatero(Corso Model),
Manolo (elite), (El Viejo Dragon),
the sadly missed Fernando Martín
Beneito(Miniaturas Beneito), Vicente
Mayol(flat figures), Luis
(Alemany)... We all know how
dificult is trying to live from this
hobby, they all worked really hard.
My favourite scale for figures is
the 'big' 54mm, I mean, figures
between 54mm and 65mm, because I'm a
bit old for such details, but I also
love to paint flat figures in 30mm.
For those scales and for some
details I use magnifying glasses.
My favourite subjects are American
west, indians, cowboys, John Wayne (I'm
a big fan), American Civil War,
scottish figures with their amazing
tartans, british colonial lancers,
napoleonics in general and
particulary I like the spanish
Independence War. Oh and I also
collect Santa Claus figures, rounded
or flat ones. I use to paint one by
christmas that I then take pics and
send as a postal card for my friends.
And talking about flat figures, I
recommend you to paint them because
they are gratefull to paint and once
finished you can mark them and put
them on a wall. Here in Spain it's
hard to find them but there's a
company named Vicente Mayol that has
a lot of subjects (Asterix, Gnomes,
Santa Claus, classic ballet, romans,
egyptians... In Kulumback show,
Germany, you can find tons of them.
If you can't go, ask a friend to pic
you one!
I look first for the quality of the
kit, then the subject. These days
are releasing so amazing figures
that it seems they can talk.
Foreign painters and sculptors I
admire are Bill Horan, Doug Coen,
Diego Ruina, Eric Crayston, Cristian
Petit, Mariano Numitone & Danilo
Cartaci tandem, etc., and in flat
figures Gianfranco Speranza and
Caterine Cesareo.
About my painting, I started as many
more with the Humbrol ennamel paints
until Juan Manuel Flórez, that for
those years (1986) was managing a
figure shop with Fernando Marín
Beneito, taught us the acrylic
technique with Talens Decorfin and
Pelikan Placa. After that we started
to use Vallejo, Andrea and Citadel.
Now I use Vallejo, Citadel, Andrea,
Decorfin and Oils for some things.
I use Marta Kolinsy brushes from
Andrea, Da Vinci and Escoda, numbers
1 and 2, because the most important
thing in a brush is the tip, not the
number. For oils and drybrushing in
terrains I use flat shaped brushes,
either Kolinsky or synthetic.
I use two lights, one in each side
to avoid unreal shadows in the
figures, and using blue day light
bulbs .
Nowadays I work for collectors,
colaborate with several magazines,
work for the organization of the
Leon Rampante show and some expos
like Asociacion 2 de mayo, I'm still
in the Magerit 81 club...
Although it has been said, i want to
remark that the BEST THING OF THIS
HOBBY IS THE PEOPLE, the friends you
get in expos, shows, classes...
Today, on saturday mornings, we
still go to Beneito for chatting,
painting, building terrains... we
share our experience and all of us
learn something. Sometimes some
masters come to paint and teach us
some tricks, celebrating that event
with a nice dinner. Everyone is
invited to come.
Before I say good bye I want to
thank Pablo Roig for asking me to
write this for this website.
Mario Ocaña Carreño
Album Mario Ocaña
Galeria Mario Ocaña
|
|
