Hi guys,

I've recently received this yet-to-be-released casting of a 1/5th scale 3D printed bust of my favourite Australian military hero, General Sir John Monash. Monash was the Commander of the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) following the Gallipoli campaign and widely considered one of the finest Generals of WW1. His theories on combined arms operations were considered to be the origins of the German Blitzkreig tactics used in WW2.

The bust is 3D printed and has then been sanded and smoothed and then cast in resin. The level of detail and the facial likeness is superb. The ridges created by the 3D printing process are visible with an optivisor, but hardly noticeable with the naked eye.

For those of you who may remember, my first and only attempt at sculpting was a bust of John Monash (probably 5 years ago). Unfortunately I dropped and damaged the bust on the way to a competition, so its never been seen in public. I'm happy to say this new bust is so much better than mine.

I've primed the bust and started to lay down the base flesh colour in acrylics and outline the eyes.

Hope you like it and I'll keep you posted as I go.

He looks really good Tony.
Very pleased that you will SBS this big boy.
Happy painting Mate
Keith

Amazing likeness!
Brilliant looking bust, mate, just don't drop this one.

Superb looking bust Tony & a great likeness. Please can you tell us your medium & colours used with your updates. Your blocking in looks better than my finished article.
Many thanks.
Peter.

Great stuff Tony. Amazing work on the 3D sculpt by these guys as well. I don't mind the looks of their Kingsford Smith bust as well.

Very cool!!

All the best,
Dan

Hi Nap,

During and after WW1, Monash was awarded a range of military and civilian honours and awards. The major decorations are Knight Grand Cross of the order of St Michael and St George (KGCMG), Knight Commander of the order of the Bath (KCB), Mentioned in Despatches (six times), Grand officer of the Legion of Honour (France), Croix de guerre (France), Grand Officer of the order of the Crown (Belgium), Croix de Guerre (Belgium), Distinguished Service Medal (US).

Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery wrote, "I would name Sir John Monash as the best general on the western front in Europe".

In addition to his military achievements, Monash was a noted academic, earning a Masters of Engineering, a Bachelor of Arts degree and Bachelor of Laws degree and a Doctor of Engineering. Fittingly, one of the enduring legacies of Monash's life is Monash University in Melbourne.

Today he is remembered as a national hero and his face adorns our currency, facing the $100 note..

I got stuck in last night. A couple of hours of shading and highlighting on the flesh areas and work around the eyes.

Once I start stippling I expect to see some green, blue and purple tones come out.

Peter, I use Josonja acrylics to paint the base colours and the basic shading and highlighting. Once I've done that, I apply a series of dilute washes of artists oils mixed with Artists White Spirits over the flesh areas to enhance the colours.

Below is just acrylic so far. Still a long way to go.

Thank you Tony. Looking amazing already.
Peter.

Looking fantastic so far Tony. Can't wait to see more progress.
Phil

Hi Tony,

Great work as usual.

I have to disagree, however, about Moanash's theories on modern combined arms warfare. Monash developed little tactically during the Great War, and the claim he invented the modern combined arms theory is a myth touted by Roland Parry and Tim Fischer. Both have been discredited by several historians, including Peter Pedersen, whose biography " Monash as Military Commander" is regarded as the standard work. Combined arms warfare has been as old as the history of warfare itself, and the beginnings of use of tanks and aircraft with other arms was developed by the much maligned British and French well before Monash became commander of the Australian Corps in May 1918, 12 months after the first Australian to achieve corps command - the largely forgotten Chauvel who arguably was every bit as good as Monash. Birdwod, not Monash, commanded the AIF from 1915, after Bridges died of wounds, until he took over FIFTH Army in May 1918.

Cheers
Chris

Brilliant work Tony.
As on all of your work the face treally is your trademark. Superb flesh.
All the very best
Keith

Hi Chris,

I'm not familiar with the standard work of Pedersen that discredits Monash's achievements in developing (rather than inventing) a form of modern combined arms warfare.

It's not difficult to see examples of combined arms warfare in Ancient Rome, Greece and Persia, however the specific achievement of Monash was to update the theory of combined arms to incorporate new technology such as tanks and aircraft with existing artillery and infantry tactics to combat the trench warfare stalemate on the Western Front. Others may have developed similar theories , but it was Monash who successfully put the theory into practice.

Hard not to see the origins of Blitzkreig in the Monash battle plan from WW1, especially as the German's acknowledge Monash's battle plans for Hamel as one of the sources of inspiration for the development of their own "Lightning War" tactics.

Regardless of the hero worship mythology or the revisionist historian critique, I'm comfortable in my admiration and respect for Monash both as a military commander and as advocate for returned servicemen in the years after the war.

Hi Tony,

Thank you for your reply mate.

I agree Monash was an excellent general. I and other historians believe, however, much that has been attributed to him has been overblown, largely through our narrow, nationalist view of the Great War, rather than looking at it though a broader lense and in the context of what occured beyond the limited focus of Australian achievements. The hyperbole and Anzackery that has grown over recent years has led to the mythology outgrowing the reality. From my fairly extensive reading and research of the Great War, I cannot find anything to suggest Monash added much, if anything, to the development of combined arms operations, and certainly not blitzkrieg. (Listening to a guide at the AWM one day he asserted that the charge at Beersheba was the initiative that led of blitzkrieg which shows just how much hubris surrounds our military history). Much of the theory and development of combined arms operations with tanks during the war was led by the British and the French, and especially Major General JFC Fuller.

This probably is not the place to discuss the issue further, as we all want to see your work on this fabulous bust, but let's do it over lunch when I next visit Perth. Although I do want to see the collection of the excellent work you have produced since we last met in 1999, if that is possible. I still have a very clear picture of the wonderful light horse conversion you did.

Keep up the good work mate, and all the best for footy this coming weekend.

Cheers
Chris

Hi guys,

Here's the latest WIP pics on my progress with the Monash bust.

I've spent the past couple of nights stippling the flesh areas with a variety of dark flesh colours ranging through to light flesh. Some of the variations in tone are pretty subtle and don't show up in the photo, but they're there.

I'll do a bit more on the light skin tones and then start work on blending the moustache and eyebrows into the flesh, and adding some grey hairs.

Hope you like it.

Impressive work Tony!
And an excellent sculpt as well.

Cheers,
Adrian