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Did Juan Diaz do work for Avatars of War?

Or am I getting him mixed up with another Spaniard?

The Spanish and French both have some great sculptors.

Avatars of War was founded by a Spanish ex-GW sculptor, Felix Paniagua (who sculpted some of the best Trollslayers, then started with trollslayers in his own company). Juan Diaz never sculpted for them.

Avatars of War is Felix Paniagua.

Doesn't bode well for GW, losing their best sculptor. Jes is still the master but he doesn't really sculpt anymore. Maybe he'll start again.

Nocturnus wrote:
Doesn't bode well for GW, losing their best sculptor. Jes is still the master but he doesn't really sculpt anymore. Maybe he'll start again.

I thought he designed most of the new Dark Eldar range?

Designers don't always sculpt as well. It's more to do with coming up with the overall themes and nailing down how units will look in concept art... also things like how the models will actually fit together for certain kits, I still remember all the excitement when Jes' Vyper jetbike was the first GW kit with *fully movable parts*! :O

These themes then get sent off to the sculptors for them to "bring them to life".

 prplehippo wrote:

Nocturnus wrote:
Doesn't bode well for GW, losing their best sculptor. Jes is still the master but he doesn't really sculpt anymore. Maybe he'll start again.

I thought he designed most of the new Dark Eldar range?

Jes Goodwin designed most the Dark Eldar range. Diaz sculpted a large portion of it. Sad to see Diaz go, but feel that GW's designs as of recent have been far to timid and unimaginative of recent to take advantage of his talents. Personally think the Dark Eldar release was the last release to really pull out all the stops. But then it looks like most designs since are more done/inspired by John Blanche and not Jes Goodwin.

That being said, have not been too impressed with Zenit's concept art either and has never been to my liking. Interested to see what he does for them. Will be well done no doubt, but don't think it will grab me. More intrigued by this personal line he will be producing. Curious to see what work he likes to do by himself and not directed by others.

 Super Ready wrote:
Designers don't always sculpt as well. It's more to do with coming up with the overall themes and nailing down how units will look in concept art... also things like how the models will actually fit together for certain kits, I still remember all the excitement when Jes' Vyper jetbike was the first GW kit with *fully movable parts*! :O

These themes then get sent off to the sculptors for them to "bring them to life".

Exactly. Jes is the brains behind all of their good stuff. He just doesn't sculpt much. His concept art is what he does mostly now.

Nocturnus wrote:


Exactly. Jes is the brains behind all of their good stuff. He just doesn't sculpt much. His concept art is what he does mostly now.

I'm not sure he is even allowed to do that much these days. The Helldrake and the Wraithknight both seemed to have only a single rough sketch. He normally seemed to have far more detailed design art on older works. Think he is being forced to produce more figures with less art/thought which is sad. Have his Coffee Table book and always hoped there would be a second one.

Nocturnus wrote:
Doesn't bode well for GW, losing their best sculptor. Jes is still the master but he doesn't really sculpt anymore. Maybe he'll start again.

Yep, I agree. GW has lost a great deal of talent over the years from the design studio. It's questionable how much of an impact rules have on retail sales (Not that it doesn't--just what impact it is).

However, there is no doubt the aesthetic of a model affects sales of said model---and Juan was (IMO) their best. What a loss for GW.

So who's still sculpting for GW?

I know they have more digital sculptors now, but who are the traditional sculptors in the studio?

Regular, aka traditional, sculpting in clay is a dying art and for a good reason.

A digital 3D image can easily be transferred to machines that produce the molds. That image is less likely to have odd imperfections that show up later and is certainly much easier to reproduce consistent molds over time without worrying about a "master" sculpt.

I do wish Juan well; however, if GW's intent is to go full digital (as they should be doing) then if he doesn't have CAD skills he was probably in a dead in job anyway. Quite frankly when I got into this hobby a few years ago I was surprised that they weren't already doing CAD for everything.

 Super Ready wrote:
, I still remember all the excitement when Jes' Vyper jetbike was the first GW kit with *fully movable parts*! :O

It wasn't, though.

The original Predator and Land Raider had movable sponsons and turrets. And they predate the Vyper considerably.

clively wrote:
Regular, aka traditional, sculpting in clay is a dying art and for a good reason.

It really isn't and there is no reason it should. You are either misinformed or talking out your ass.

clively wrote:

A digital 3D image can easily be transferred to machines that produce the molds. That image is less likely to have odd imperfections that show up later and is certainly much easier to reproduce consistent molds over time without worrying about a "master" sculpt.

A mold can be tooled directly from the 3d file, true. There are few toolmakers who work in miniatures that do that, from what I've seen. Wargames Factory is the only one I've heard of doing it so far for certain. GW might, but I've not had any confirmation of that.

It isn't a magic "Good Model" button, in either case. Far from it. The sculptor needs to be able to use the software effectively, sculpt his models so that they are workable at wargaming scales (which is a good deal trickier than it sounds), then he needs to be aware of what will and will not work in either a 3d print, or tooled directly into a steel mold (two very different beasts).

If you are really interested, I suggest you investigate it more.

~Eric

Nocturnus wrote:
Doesn't bode well for GW, losing their best sculptor. Jes is still the master but he doesn't really sculpt anymore. Maybe he'll start again.

Aaragorn Marks would like to speak to you.

 Mathieu Raymond wrote:
Is there a particular reason his fiancee's nickname is of an Ancient Egyptian despot/ruler?

Well his name on the spanish forum is senor Massage, so i guess he is giving here a lot of "foot" massages

Looking forward to releases from his own company!

 cincydooley wrote:

Nocturnus wrote:
Doesn't bode well for GW, losing their best sculptor. Jes is still the master but he doesn't really sculpt anymore. Maybe he'll start again.

Aaragorn Marks would like to speak to you.

Any models he made for GW?

 Taarnak wrote:
A mold can be tooled directly from the 3d file, true. There are few toolmakers who work in miniatures that do that, from what I've seen. Wargames Factory is the only one I've heard of doing it so far for certain. GW might, but I've not had any confirmation of that.

The last I recall the GW studio saying about it, they were using 3D modelling to design the master models, but were printing them for final tweaking and still making the moulds the old fashioned way.

That may have changed by now, though. Cutting the mould directly from the 3D file would certainly be a time-saver.

Yes, but requires specialized personnel and software, on the other hand GWs recent sprews are way to cluttered to be done the old way so some computer assistance at least is used.

 insaniak wrote:

The last I recall the GW studio saying about it, they were using 3D modelling to design the master models, but were printing them for final tweaking and still making the moulds the old fashioned way.

That may have changed by now, though. Cutting the mould directly from the 3D file would certainly be a time-saver.

It's pretty obvious from how well the newest kits go together that they're tooling direct. Have been since the Necrosphynx at least, probably earlier.

 Taarnak wrote:

clively wrote:
Regular, aka traditional, sculpting in clay is a dying art and for a good reason.

It really isn't and there is no reason it should. You are either misinformed or talking out your ass.


~Eric

I was about to reply to clively but then I decided to not waste my time... but your post sums up perfectly what I had in mind...

 insaniak wrote:

 Taarnak wrote:
A mold can be tooled directly from the 3d file, true. There are few toolmakers who work in miniatures that do that, from what I've seen. Wargames Factory is the only one I've heard of doing it so far for certain. GW might, but I've not had any confirmation of that.

The last I recall the GW studio saying about it, they were using 3D modelling to design the master models, but were printing them for final tweaking and still making the moulds the old fashioned way.

That may have changed by now, though. Cutting the mould directly from the 3D file would certainly be a time-saver.

Maybe they don't have tooling with enough precision to do that or maybe it's too costly or time consuming to do the CAM to do it like that.

clively wrote:
Regular, aka traditional, sculpting in clay is a dying art and for a good reason.

A digital 3D image can easily be transferred to machines that produce the molds. That image is less likely to have odd imperfections that show up later and is certainly much easier to reproduce consistent molds over time without worrying about a "master" sculpt.

I do wish Juan well; however, if GW's intent is to go full digital (as they should be doing) then if he doesn't have CAD skills he was probably in a dead in job anyway. Quite frankly when I got into this hobby a few years ago I was surprised that they weren't already doing CAD for everything.

I think it's important not to confuse 'cheaper' with 'better'. Corvus Belli's Infinity miniatures are, what many would argue, some of the most detailed sculpts in the industry. With I believe one exception (a new boxset), their entire range is still sculpted using conventional methods.

Believe Studio McVey and the Kingdom Death ranges also?

The new TAGs are digitally sculpted and the new weapons IIRC are prototyped at digital level in order to have consistency among the sculpts but otherwise pure old fashion goodness.

Each sculpting type has its place in the world, its advantages and disadvantages and as always both can be used together for better results.

Some more background, as gathered from this Spanish forum: http://www.spanish-team.com/foro/
He said he had the feeling something would die inside, if he had worked much longer for GW. He thought of leaving GW for 2 years. Seems there is indeed more control on what sculptors and artists can do at GW, leading to more standardized products and harming creativity.

This is what I heard from someone reading it and not a literal translation. Anyone can check his posts under the name "Señor Massage" there. This thread especially: http://www.spanish-team.com/foro/viewtopic.php?t=16945 . They are in Spanish though.

 Pacific wrote:

clively wrote:
Regular, aka traditional, sculpting in clay is a dying art and for a good reason.

A digital 3D image can easily be transferred to machines that produce the molds. That image is less likely to have odd imperfections that show up later and is certainly much easier to reproduce consistent molds over time without worrying about a "master" sculpt.

I do wish Juan well; however, if GW's intent is to go full digital (as they should be doing) then if he doesn't have CAD skills he was probably in a dead in job anyway. Quite frankly when I got into this hobby a few years ago I was surprised that they weren't already doing CAD for everything.

I think it's important not to confuse 'cheaper' with 'better'. Corvus Belli's Infinity miniatures are, what many would argue, some of the most detailed sculpts in the industry. With I believe one exception (a new boxset), their entire range is still sculpted using conventional methods.

Believe Studio McVey and the Kingdom Death ranges also?

A fair amount of the kingdom death models are digitally sculpted.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kroothawk wrote:
Some more background, as gathered from this Spanish forum: http://www.spanish-team.com/foro/
He said he had the feeling something would die inside, if he had worked much longer for GW. He thought of leaving GW for 2 years. Seems there is indeed more control on what sculptors and artists can do at GW, leading to more standardized products and harming creativity.

This is what I heard from someone reading it and not a literal translation. Anyone can check his posts under the name "Señor Massage" there. This thread especially: http://www.spanish-team.com/foro/viewtopic.php?t=16945 . They are in Spanish though.

Is this really a surprise? But the trade off is, of course, job security and a salaried job.

 cincydooley wrote:

 Kroothawk wrote:
Some more background, as gathered from this Spanish forum: http://www.spanish-team.com/foro/
He said he had the feeling something would die inside, if he had worked much longer for GW. He thought of leaving GW for 2 years. Seems there is indeed more control on what sculptors and artists can do at GW, leading to more standardized products and harming creativity.

This is what I heard from someone reading it and not a literal translation. Anyone can check his posts under the name "Señor Massage" there. This thread especially: http://www.spanish-team.com/foro/viewtopic.php?t=16945 . They are in Spanish though.

Is this really a surprise? But the trade off is, of course, job security and a salaried job.

Job security still exists? I digress.
Yes, making a living of just sculpting can be a very complicated thing specially if you are looking for a certain level of life. I think its more aimed for those with a freelancer spirit and less for those looking for permanent jobs.

Asking an artist to sell artistic freedom for a 9-5 job is not a good idea. Or as Bryan Ansell said to Rick Priestley about Games Workshop's design studio:

Rick Priestley wrote:Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there!

That's why we now get so many copypaste sculpts, so many "just add skulls and candles to the storm talon", so many uninspired toy-like giant models. Because lawyers and managers try to tell artists how proper artistic work functions. Now compare the skullmower (July apocalypse release) to the creative explosion of the Raging Heroes kickstarter and you see a difference.

He maybe was the only sculptor at GW to make "realistic" models( well...realistic has can be).

Every single of the models he made are Real master pieces, would loved to see him do a new Kharn or Abby really...

 Kroothawk wrote:
Asking an artist to sell artistic freedom for a 9-5 job is not a good idea. Or as Bryan Ansell said to Rick Priestley about Games Workshop's design studio:

Rick Priestley wrote:Bryan always said that if the studio ever had to mix with the manufacturing and sales part of the business it would destroy the studio. And I have to say – he wasn’t wrong there!

That's why we now get so many copypaste sculpts, so many "just add skulls and candles to the storm talon", so many uninspired toy-like giant models. Because lawyers and managers try to tell artists how proper artistic work functions. Now compare the skullmower (July apocalypse release) to the creative explosion of the Raging Heroes kickstarter and you see a difference.

That's great and all. But having some business infrastructure and business acumen ensures debacles like Gates of Anteres don't happy.

And despite being very excited about the Raging Heroes stuff, I'll reserve my judgement until everything is fulfilled in a timely fashion. Their inability to properly update a simple KS page doesn't exactly bode well....