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Thank's guys for being my "welcoming committee" I'm glad to find my loonie-bros still around and well

I've been tinkering with my "Plankton"-guy to finish it ASAP and finaly I can call it a "release". This is quite a moment to remember for this is my FIRST EVER FULLY HANDMADE miniature... no bits used, no plasticard work - just sculpting.
So here is a bunch of pics and if any of you got some ideas of how to improve it - speak your mind! 'Cuz I'm going to cast this guy for I came to like it more than I anticipated and I'd like to make some copies for friends.

And here I must ask you for a favor, I'd like to know your opinion one one important topic - does this miniature qualify for a commercial use? I mean, would anyone buy it if I'd choose to sell copies? I'd like to here all the serious CC stuff on this as future of my investments rely upon this decision

Enough talk, pics now!







A shot to compare his size



A base I made as one of possibilities




And the whole composition



Waiting for feedback!

oh my!!! that base is so hillarious looking! i like everything...tho you asked for needed works...and under the left arm...straight at the armpit there is a bit of armature wire still seeing through... i bet that when the model sees paint or that it will be casted this will cause problems...no big one tho...

as for the commercial use... i bet there are lots of spongebob fans out there but if you reach them and get them to buy this fine mini is out of my knowledge... i think it would be cool to make the whole plankton family as a small horde army^^

Funny bit of work, can't wait to see it painted. The burger base seems perfect.

@ Vik
I checked the armpit, seems like Magic Sculpt mixed with water can become almost transparent when the layer is extremely thin O.o I tried to catch any defects but the arm is smooth. Thanks for warning bro!

@ Baiyuan
Glad you liked it m8 =) But painting will have to wait till I'll get the resin and other stuff to cast and re-cast him. Though I tried to make everything as smooth as possible some parts were to fragile or hard to reach and I don't want to walk in the "FAILCAST" (tm) shoes so I'm going to cast him, give the resulting copy some extra polish and make it a master-model for futher casting.

I checked the armpit, seems like Magic Sculpt mixed with water can become almost transparent when the layer is extremely thin O.o I tried to catch any defects but the arm is smooth. Thanks for warning bro

weird^^ but i honestly didn´t belief that you haven´t seen or felt that irregularity by yourself...when we work with such a sculpt we kind of bond so strongly with it that we get to know every nook and crease i think^^...of course after a while the effect of getting routine-blinded is always possible^^

@ Vik
I've just started to work with Magic Sculpt and it never herts to duble check things. MS properties are quite interesting and different from GS. For example if you put a drop of water on it it's surface begin to flow. It realy helps to smooth things up but it leaves a coat of greyish semi-transparent stuff on my tools I have to clean each time =\ Here at the armpit is the same case but it actually worked well for me =)

that is what actually for some jobs disqualifies the material... GS has its uses... i currently use GS and miliput and MS sounds a bit like miliput in that regard... though it is rather awful to mix (hand strain) GS has for some jobs just the right mix of characteristics... would you say you could do everything you do with GS in MS? (sorry to use so many abrevations by the way...but they keep the amount of typos down a bit )

for instance... sculpting hair? can it be pulled or pushed with a needle like GS?

OMG- That is amazing! Sculpting confuses me like stairs confuse The Stig..But you have done an amazing job, the Krabby Patty base just turns it EPIC! -The seeds (like a real burger bun) just take it the rest of the way!

@ Vik
I currently have GS, Milliput & MS at my disposal. Most of this guy is made of MP but then Ish talked me into trying MS and I used it for hands. It took me 3 attempts to figure how to manage it and now I can say that MS is vastly superior to GS in every aspect. Comparing to MP the difference is not so drastic but still there.
I can confirm that everything I've done with GS can be done better and easier with MS. MS properties greatly depends on the period of its "lifecycle and overal provides the widest range of useability among this 3 mats.

@ dsteingass
Thx friend! The meat texture and salad almost made me cry, but it was worth it

...confirming my confusion

@ dsteingass
You've got your plastic and rivets, why bother with all the icky-sticky goo

Exactly!!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
..Finally someone who understands!

well i like to collcet lots of personal expeirience form friends before i really head out to buy me such new stuff...

RS Jake too swears now for the MS... for me it is still a bit difficult to cope with the claylike characteristics of MP or for that matter MS then... if you want to fill a gap...make it smooth afterwards i am totally with you... but the MP/MS stuff is not so sticky as the GS...for some stuff i need that and the chewing gum characteristics can provide me that... but i guzess it is all in the learning process...

If by "sticky" you mean GS's ability to get attached to random unlubricated surfaces, than I agree But I had more than several situations where I repeatedly failed to stick small pieces of it to a specific point, where I needed it to remain. And when cured, GS is easily detached from almost any surface. This is a major problem when you work by thin layers and need to sand down joints between them - they are torn apart even by subtle sandpaper. With MP and MS I used my high speed Dremel tool for polishing without any damage.

Aye, small pieces of GS are hard to attach to a specific surface... I had to use Super Glue in order to get a strong connection. With MS I hadn't such problems.

ok...granted that i can uunderstand MS/MP creates a complete "body" of the material whenever you add a new layer...

i too have heard that smaller blobs of GS should beforehand aplied with a bit of super glue... in fact i heard that adding superglue for bigger portions of GS is also quite handy...keeps the substructure from shifting if you push and tear too hard...

If you're combining two uncured pieces then they will solidify as whole. MS is especialy easy to merge by watering. But they both tend to stick to solid surfaces better than GS.

Damned you Vik, now I can't shake the idea of a whole plankton army...

*big grin* told ya so^^

If you take a close look at my version of Plankton you'll see that I changed almost every detail so this is actually an independent character... I can try to adopt this visual style to make a small force of this cuties.
I think I'll make them as retro-styled alien invaders from the black&white movies Something tells me that villainy is in their eyes

storag wrote:If you take a close look at my version of Plankton you'll see that I changed almost every detail so this is actually an independent character... I can try to adopt this visual style to make a small force of this cuties.
I think I'll make them as retro-styled alien invaders from the black&white movies Something tells me that villainy is in their eyes

Mars attacks style alien invaders would be an awesome army

Obsidian Raven wrote:

storag wrote:If you take a close look at my version of Plankton you'll see that I changed almost every detail so this is actually an independent character... I can try to adopt this visual style to make a small force of this cuties.
I think I'll make them as retro-styled alien invaders from the black&white movies Something tells me that villainy is in their eyes

Mars attacks style alien invaders would be an awesome army

I was thinking of this very idea a day or two ago! Getting the ray guns to look right might be difficult, but it would be sweet!

Of course, you would have to model an old record turn-table as an objective marker!

Steampunk ray guns??

@ Obsidian Raven
Exactly my kind of thinking and maybe something of egg-guys from Jimmy Neutron

@ RSjake
Ray guns, absolutely, or this is a no go

@ dsteingass
Few rivets can't hurt

Guy's, I have to make a choice of how to give them individual characers: try to play with different body forms (like on the above pics by Vik) or concentrate on facial elements and poses. Personaly I prefer the second choice 'cuz i fear that otherwise they gonna look like a mad lego block party instead of an alien race. What's your opinion?

I think some minor body form variations won't hurt - after all, any race might have it's skinnies and fatties
But yes, poses, facial expression and some details, like armour, helms and different weapon will be the best choice.

i am totally with ish on the variety issue here... also it gives you then plenty of options... also you might think about a kit- model? you know with arms in diffrent poses... some with guns and some without?

heck...for this you could even do stick it on faces...like a mister potato^^... that also would givge you plenty of options... maybe three or four different body shapes, then some four or six arms and legs options...and the diffrent stick it on faces...if you keep the body surface flat that would be a great new idea...

by the way ...the egg-gun idea is so sweet!

The "stick it on faces" idea actually is brilliant.

*bows humbly*

I can imagine how to make a stickable eye+brow but mouth is actually carved in the body so there is a problem...

I'm now trying to draw a sketch of a retro handgun utilizing eggs as ammo...

i was thinking more like an eggshaped gun...Like this



shooting with actual eggs... yolk...er...yuck^^

Initialy I was thinking about the shape too, but then the idea of aliens invaiding earth to steal our eggs for they are their main power source came to my mind... and it was too hilarious to walk away