1:24 Delivery Driver 'Hank'

A figure that gives a car its scale

The delivery driver Hank is a civilian figure for the 1:24 size, in which the overwhelming majority of car models are made. He is captured exactly as everyone sees that job on the street: work trousers, a short-sleeved shirt, a parcel held in both hands and a stance leaning slightly forward, as if he had just set off for the door.

The point of a civilian figure beside a model is purely practical. A car on a shelf on its own has nothing to be measured against, and a viewer judges its size only from memory. As soon as a person is added to it, it is immediately clear how high the roof is and how wide the doors are. In scenes with a present-day city street a courier also sets the action going straight away, because delivering parcels is utterly typical of today's traffic.

Preparation and painting

The figure is supplied split into several pieces, which are freed of casting residue and lightly leveled before being joined. On the face and hands, oil or acrylic paints applied in thin passes prove their worth, because at this size the head is large enough for every hasty stroke of the brush to show.

The clothing, by contrast, takes a bolder approach. Drybrushing with a lighter shade will bring out the folds and the seams, and a dark glaze will sink them back into shadow. Neither the vehicle nor a base is in the package.

One small thing that lifts the work is turning the head slightly away from where the shoulders point. A few degrees are enough and the figure stops looking like a sculptural study and starts to look as if it had glanced round at something.