Juan Manuel Villalba
I was privileged to work close to him for a few years, each one with our very own drawing board; I worked on my texts while he made his astonishing models in scale, tireless, orderly, surrounded by silence. Before every delicate step I merely looked askance to him. He picked a tiny piece with the tweezers, applied a drop of glue and unhesitatingly, with a steady hand, placed it in its exact location. When I noticed he felt relaxed, I approached just to a have a look to every single fragile detail next to disintegration.
He employed merely a dozen small tools, laid onto an always clean and tidy table, plus the assembly instructions and yellow plastic bits.
While other areas of the atelier were a real chaos of wasted paintbrushes, drops of paint and noise, Juanma’s one was bathed in white light, austerity, a sort of surgical environment where everything seemed to arise effortlessly helped by a relentless methodology.
Just before writing these few words I have watched his videos. He creates subtle painting effect with his usual Badger airbrush. Seems not to do anything at all. He is a “slow hand boy” just as Eric Clapton. These skills are achieved through hard work and quiet personality. In the course of time, the Juan Manuel Villalba’s robotic arm is still active and immutable. He has specialized in aviation model making and has become one of the well-known and most influential modellers.
Do not forget to have a look at his website