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"Plastic Pinoys": Gallery of Romeo Esparrago's Historical FiguresImages and Tips for Getting Started with Your Own Historical "Kitbashing" Project <Continued
from Part 1: Toy Hackers: The Art of Making Heroes
If you feel the hobby of 'kitbashing' and customizing action figures is something you want to try, the sample images from Romeo Esparrago's "In the Company of Plastic Heroes" gallery below provide links to instructions. In addition, AAV asked him to share some tips for how interested parents and hobbyists can get started with similar projects. He writes that you'll need three things to get going:
Attitude: The right attitude to start with is to have fun, be a little thirsty for knowledge, and have lots of patience. Research: Libraries, bookstores, and periodicals are great sources of information. As a voracious reader of military periodicals and books, when I see a mention of an Asian American, I try to determine whether there is enough historical interest and uniqueness to the person to kitbash a 1/6th scale version. Helpful online tools include historical databases such as SEAIT , personal websites, and bulletin boards with groups of fellow action figure hobbyists. Inspiration: Personal contact is even better as a source of information. Your family, oral histories, talking to veterans – these are wonderful sources of inspiration. I am encouraging my wife's father and aunt (his sister) to provide me with stories about her uncle Ko, who served in the 442nd Regiment. I have a friend whose great-grandfather looks to be a Philippine Scout who served between World War I and World War II, judging from his wall portrait; once I get more information, I hope to surprise her with an action figure of her ancestor. Coming full circle, I correspond with an advanced-level scale aircraft modeler whom I also hope to surprise with an action figure representing a 1941 pilot from the Philippine Army Air Corps.
More Figures from Romeo Esparrago's "In the Company of Plastic Heroes"
Sergeant Jose Calugas The Philippine Scout artilleryman who earned America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, in the early months of America's entry into World War II. For step-by-step details on how to create this figure, click here (launches a new browser window).
Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea This series of figures is my homage to the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea, inspired by Art Villasanta's PEFTOK web site. Already called "The Forgotten War", the Korean War's Filipino equation nearly became even more forgotten without Mr. Villasanta's intervention through his informative site. A number of other PEFTOK creations and an account of the Force's experience during the War can be viewed here.
Captain Frank Choy Captain Choy is a Chinese-American surgeon who served with the famous 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles". This WWII paratrooper division's exploits were made even more famous by its portrayal in the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg mini-series "Band of Brothers". I first found Choy in two photographs by Doc Lage (c/o the Mitchells), from Mark Bando's book, 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy. For step-by-step details on how to create this figure, click here (launches a new browser window).
Victorina Cabral This is a speculative kitbash based on two things: a late 1990's photograph of a Filipina guerrilla named Victorina Cabral in National Geographic, and a 1945 picture of an unnamed Filipina guerrilla I discovered in the Bentley Historical Library of American-Philippine Relations.
About RomeDome Web Site Romeo Esparrago's "Plastic Pinoys" and "In the Company of Plastic Heroes" are part of his larger web site, RomeDome.com. In addition to galleries of historical and imagined action figures -- both static and in posed battle scenes -- the site contains a Pilipino Planes of Plastic! section, dedicated to the detailed model reconstruction of aircraft flown by Philippine and Chinese air forces, and a wide variety of other information related to model-building. Outside of his already-mentioned hobbies and his focus on the family, Romeo Esparrago's other interests include pug dogs, digital art, science fiction, really bad poetry, and travel (the furthest trip being Kenya, Africa). These enthusiasms, a number of illustrated Filipino folk tales, and more are displayed on the site at www.romedome.com.
Related Readings from the Village Archives By Loren Javier, APA Toy Chest The wishlist of Loren Javier, avid chronicler of APA representation in toys Multicultural Gifts for APA Kids By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, AAV Contributing Editor Multicultural gifts aren't easy to find, so try these tips. Make Your Own APA Picture Books By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, AAV Contributing Editor Can't find any APA games, books, or crafts for the kids in your life? Part 2 of "Summer Activities for Kids" By Tak Toyoshima, AAV Artist-in-Residence Cartoon humor from the SAM series
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