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So, proof that I've lost my mind is that, with less than 2 weeks to go before university exams, I've started my first serious original sculpt ('Zeke doesn't count, most of the detail was epoxy casting).
I saw a piece of SoB fanart online and decided it would be a great idea to try and sculpt this as a mini for my GF's Witch Hunters army. Mostly because I'm sick of seeing the same 4 Battle Sisters.






Absolutely all my own work, I felt GS casting would make the whole thing cheap (that, and I want to cast it both for my own use and to send one to the guy who drew the picture). Boobs are a bit big, but I'm trying to be faithful to the source image here. As someone who previously hated GS as a sculpting material, it's definitely grown on me. However, I still prefer grainier milliput type putties for some things (like hand smoothing the legs, which then needed sanding).

For casting, I'll probably do it in resin, without any Sisters iconography etc on it. Then I can add it to suit taste, as well as not abusing the GW IP so much.


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I don't suppose you have a link to the source pic?

It's linked in the OP. "a piece of SoB fanart online" is a hyperlink.

Ha ha heh......... . . . just pretend I never posted and made an idiot of myself.

Interesting piece, a bit on the cool side of the palette.

It struck a chord with me. Possibly because I was debating alternative SoB haircuts at the time. I think she'll make for a nice Heroine when the model's finished.

It's looking good... One bit of advice though - work your edges more and make them a bit sharper. At the moment they are a bit too round and undefined. Try working the edges until the putty is almost cured; they should stay sharp this way. If you sculpt anything in GS then just leave it to cure by the very nature of the putty it will 'round out'.

If you want to improve your sculpting skill I would recommend switching to Grey Stuff/Procreate as it is much more forgiving than GS and easier to work with (it's less sticky). Alternatively, you can mix in a bit of FIMO polymer clay into your GS (about 1/5 to 1/4 the volume of GS) to make it a little less sticky and much easier to spread/smooth.

Hope this helps!

Stuart

Thanks for the advice! I'm pleasantly surprised at how well this is turning out though, even with all the flaws. Part of my problem with the GS is patience; sculpting the basic shape then layering slow, thin layers of detail drives me mad. So instead I want to try and define the detail with the second layer or so, before it's really ready. Also, how does a mixture of GS/Milliput-a-like (I have Milliput, Aves APoxie, and Magic Sculpt + others availible) compare to Grey Stuff/your GS & Fimo mix? Not that I'm lacking in Fimo, come to think of it, an art shop near where I used to live was closing or something and sold all theirs off for 10p a pop.

I usually use a mix of milliput and GS to make weapons (guns, blades etc), anything that needs a sharp edge on it - mainly because you can file/sand/scrape the mix after curing (basically reductive sculpting, more like traditional methods of removing material to create the image and form). I wouldn't recommend using the milliput/GS mix to sculpt full figures from as it is much more difficult to get the desired results.

Also, with regard to your 'patience' issue, have you tried using formers on your figures? Basically sculpting the bulk bits underneath then using a thin skim of GS over these to put the detail into? It can be a bit challenging to start with as you need a strong mental image of how the finished piece will look (unless you are working from pictures or concept art).

Stuart

Funny you should say that about "formers", I basically just taught myself to do that with this piece. I've been doing it with the various face/head sculpts I've been trying on toothpicks. I'll give it a shot with the next full figure. I find "traditional" sculpting easier for lots of kinds of parts though, from my mis-spent decade+ of Gundam modelling; I'm happier sanding and filing harder putty to shape than I am working with wet GS still.

Got some work done on this last night, after handing in my last essay for the year. Not happy at all with the texture of the GS, I might have added a little too much fimo. :/ About 1/6 or 1/5 of the amount of GS? Also learned to be much more careful when curing stuff in a tin under a lamp; lots of unpleasant bubbling going on here. Probabably going to scrape down a lot of last night and start over.

thats coming out really nicely.. i wish i could sculpt.. but i have no patience what so ever for learning..

amazing
im no where near that good, but im working on my sculpting abilities, so maybe one day...

Sicarious85 wrote:thats coming out really nicely.. i wish i could sculpt.. but i have no patience what so ever for learning..

He Who Stood wrote:amazing
im no where near that good, but im working on my sculpting abilities, so maybe one day...

You guys are too kind, seriously. It's a long way to go before it's finished, unfortunately, and it might have to wait till exam season's over. Thanks for the encouragement though.

in its current form, looks like something from a tool video