THE SHEP PAINE EDUCATION FUND

Established by the Military Miniature Society of Illinois and administered by Joe Berton, the Shep Paine Education Fund has been set up to continue his invaluable work as an educator and proselytizer for the art of miniatures via classes, seminars, and other projects. Tax-deductible contributions can be made via PayPal at MMSIChicagoShow@gmail.com or by mail to The Shep Paine Education Fund care of MMSI Treasurer Tom Surlak, 3136 Secretariat Dr., Aurora, IL 60502.

The world of miniatures loses a towering giant

Howard Sheperd Paine, who for six decades tirelessly worked to spread the popularity of the art of miniatures worldwide, died on Saturday, August 1. An extraordinary artist, prolific author, widely respected military historian, and renowned collector of military artifacts, he was 69 years old.

Universally known to his many friends simply as “Shep,” the artist suffered a stroke at his home on Chicago’s Northwest Side on July 27. Though he never regained consciousness, he spent his final days in the company of loved ones—a small group representing the countless others who came to consider him a friend and mentor through his four books for hobbyists, how-to tip sheets, classes and seminars, co-founding of the tri-annual World Model Expo, and championing of the Open System of Judging for his beloved Military Miniature Society of Illinois and other organizations devoted to the art of miniatures around the world.

In addition to the MMSI, Shep was a driving force in the Company of Military Historians and several Napoleonic historical organizations. He served as president of all of those groups at different times, and was a dedicated recruiter to their ranks.

Immediate services will be private, but the MMSI is planning a “Celebration of Shep Paine’s Life” where all will be welcome following the group’s annual Chicago Show on Sunday, October 25. Details will be announced soon.

The son of Dr. Richmond and Mary Paine, Shep was the first child born to American parents in free Berlin after the end of World War II. His family, which was completed by younger sisters Emily, Martha, and Diana, all of whom survive their brother, settled near Boston after their father’s service in the Army Medical Corps.

After a year spent in London, where he attended Eaton House, Shep completed his early schooling at Saint Paul’s Boarding School in Concord, New Hampshire. He then bucked his father’s wishes to follow in his footsteps as a doctor by delaying college to enlist in the Army himself. He served with the 3rd Armored Division in Germany from 1965 to 1967, rising to the rank of sergeant and for a time overseeing the company arsenal. “That cured me of any desire to ever have a gun collection,” he said.

Following his military service, Shep benefited from the G.I. Bill to enroll at the University of Chicago. There he earned a B.A. in General Studies in the Humanities—“a classic liberal arts degree,” as he said, reflecting interests in art, history, and culture that were many, varied, and wide-ranging. That plus his encyclopedic reading—in English as well as French, which he could speak fluently—fueled his abilities as a great raconteur and orator.

Shep’s interest in scale modeling began as a pre-teen, shifting from a fondness for model railroading to converting and painting Marx and other plastic toy soldiers and building miniature tanks. He continued to pursue the hobby throughout his time at boarding school, in the Army, and into his college years, when the friends he made in the MMSI introduced him to a community of like-minded historical enthusiasts and scale modelers, and convinced him to stay in Chicago.

“I had no idea of what I wanted to do in life, so I started painting figures in my spare time between classes,” Shep said of his time at the University of Chicago. “When I graduated in 1971, with nothing of greater interest on the horizon, I thought I’d try doing that for a living, at least for a while.”

“Shep and I have a thirteen-year age difference, and I don’t think I really got hip to what he was doing until I was in college,” said his sister, Diana. “I was like, ‘Oh, Shep does this weird miniature thing, isn’t it cute?’ I had no idea about the level of artistry until he sent me a copy of one of his books, and then I went, ‘Whoa, there’s a lot more going on here than I thought!’ But, frankly, I think Shep’s greatest achievement was avoiding a nine-to-five job; that’s where he really escalated in my eyes. Yes, he had to work for a living, but he was doing something he loved.”

Indeed, Shep proudly boasted that he never held a “real” job. From his earliest finished plastic figures through the end of his active period as a scale modeler in the mid-1990s, Shep sold every piece he completed: expertly painted stock metal castings; ambitious conversions of plastic figures; original sculptures of his own scale historical or fantasy subjects; impressive armor, aircraft, and ship dioramas built on commission for the Monogram and Tamiya model companies and various museums, and the 100-percent scratchbuilt box dioramas that he considered the pinnacle of his artwork.

Though he spent several years sculpting 1/32nd scale soldiers for Valiant Miniatures, Shep said he disliked being part of the hobby industry, preferring to follow his muse by working on one-of-a-kind pieces that sprung from his unique imagination and vision. Among his best-known collectors were painter Andrew Wyeth; financier Malcolm Forbes, and industrialist Ralph Koebbeman. The Wyeth pieces remain on display at the Brandywine River Museum dedicated to that painter in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, while other works can be seen at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry and the Pamplin Historical Park and National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in Petersburg, Virginia.