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that's very nice...

Thanks Gits'.

Yesterday's work was all about finishing off the sculpted details in the wet clay so that I didn't need to cover any of it with a cloth that would require more cleaning up of the fouled surface and I can start the drying process (3-5 days remember).
I got everything done except the eyes. But I decided that they were going to involve carving into the clay and some sharpening of edges later with some putty (more on this below).

Mostly went well, especially when I found the right technique for adding the details:
Metal tool with straight edge, wet,
Press in point at deepest point of detail (or start of line),
Drag outwards in a straight line releasing pressure,
Reverse angle and repeat for other side of indentation.

Do this for every detail (with minor variations for odd shapes etc.) all over the bird.

Pause halfway through due to sore shoulder...

The lines on the back/wings were done with a round point clay shaper (sometimes called a colour shaper).
Use mostly like a pencil (for sharpness and depth), but occasionally drag at shallow angle to widen/soften lines.

I roughly "drew" in where the eyes would be and left it all to start drying overnight.

...

During the previous steps I had noticed a couple of cracks forming on the base and I expected these due to being clay (shinks) over wood (swells) and had planned to sort these out at the end as there's not much I can do about it during the sculpting process.

Also, while adding the details to the upper chest of the bird I noticed a couple of areas where I was pressing down to the polystyrene underneath. This meant that the clay here is quite thin. I know what to expect due to this...

So there are quite a few cracks across the bird.
I'm going to leave it to fully dry, asses the damage that occurs and then fix it all with milliput. It's going to be painted anyway, I can hide the sins.

Anyway, I set about it today carving in the eyes (these were already planned to be enhanced with the addition of milliput as well to get sharper features, so milliput was already going to be used).
And this is how it is now:


It will return next week once it's fully dry and I start on the milliput fixing and detailing.

Bloat drone will return to the building desk for continuation in the mean time...

Very nice Maltese Falcon

That's really cool dude. Fills my noirish heart with glee.

Incredible work. Really wonderful!

That is some nice sculpting!

Thanks Shas'.

Thanks Graven'. Good to hear, I nearly thought that was a typo but I get the "noir-ish" now I come to reply.

Thanks Gits'. Too kind. I just poke it until it looks about right. It's not as close as I wanted to make it, but it's as close as I can.

Thanks Aku'.

Now back to the bloat drone:
Added some pistons and musculature to the arms of the people-mower.

To add the putty without sticking it to the body I used some cling-film, attached the arms via the magnets and then sculpted about it.
Once cured and the cling-film removed the arms now fit the contours of the body perfectly but are still magnetised and removable.
The added putty also helps to strengthen the arms for repeated pulling when adding and removing the mower.


Not sure what's next on the jobs list, I'll have to look over the model and remind myself (It's been like, a whole week since I last touched it, like. You can't expect me to remember things for that long...)

I just love the details on that Dr H. The way the organic and inorganic elements fuze and blend is really special.

Thanks Gits'. More details below.

Nurglification done.
Added boils to the fleshy parts,
Added damage to the rest of it.

Also added the blades to the people mower and some wrapping about the goo gun's barrels (dental tape floss and superglue).


People mower:


All three variations:

Which would you prefer to be facing down...

And I think that's it done...
I'll prime up the weapons and see if I've forgotten anything, but this will be moving over to the painting desk.

However, the Falcon may well be dry by now, so it's time to have another look at it and start fixing those cracks and adding the final details.

In sprue news...
Have a look at something that popped up on my Twitter feed:
Someone had a lot of left over Gundam sprues, and made a Gundam

^I saw this and thought of you

Hope wewill get to see some paint on the lil critter


Also... haha love the gundam sprue gundam!

inmygravenimage wrote:^I saw this and thought of you

What a coincidence, I also thought of me...

Thanks Argive, Paint will happen soon...ish. I have to finish the Falcon by the end of the month, so that has priority, but painting of that will be quick and easy. The drone will return soon.

Stage... the next... for the Falcon is repairs.

First, lets assess the damage:

Well, that could have been worse...
Could have been better too.
Still, bigger cracks are easier to fill.

I focused on getting the milliput in as deep as possible to all the cracks, to make it as solid as possible. Tidying up can come later.


And while I'm at it, time to add the hidden compartment... well, no, the compartment is already there... the method for which the compartment is to be hidden...
Sliding hatch, with as minimal of gaps as possible (base will also be felted, which will help hide it.


Now I'm just filling in the shape of the base and will then move on the refining the features of the bird and smoothing out the surfaces.

Nice set of repairs. My jewelry instructor once told me that the sign of the true craftsman isn't being perfect, it's making your mistakes look like they were intended all along.

Good job on the Nurgly nightmare material.

Love the statue. Nice sculpt.

Don't let the falcon bogart all of your hobby time.

Ta Gits'. Yeah, I'm a believer that being an expert in a subject is not about being perfect all the time, it's about knowing what to do when it goes wrong (which can be making it look intended, as you say, or fixing it, or hiding it).
I do like doing things perfectly though.
But I know when I've reached my limit. This bird is as close to the original as I am able to make it.

Thanks Cam'. Good to hear. Definitely will need to get a good point-of-view / in-situ / "realistic" photo of the finished Nurgle-thing.

I see what you did there, Red.
And it has been. I have until Thursday to get it finished.

But...

...it's just painting to do.
Milliput work is done.
Sanding and smoothing is done.
Unless primer reveals any horrors that I must fix, it is done.



At least the painting is simple; it's black and it's 1:1. No shading, no highlights, just black and shiny.

Needs more eyebrows.

It's a Falcon, Theo', not an eagle...

Painted.
Varnish on today,
Photos tomorrow.

I promised photos, and photos you shall have.



Hidden compartment (I ran out of black felt):

As the fit is quite tight I decided (as well as time pressure) to not fully paint the insert.

A comparison with the original:

While I got the height about right, mine is not quite as stocky as the original. But it seems to be the thing with these; to make your own interpretation. So this is my Maltese Falcon.
It stands 24cm / 9.5" and weighs about a kilogram.

While I was at it, I also black-ed the Nurgle tripod:


Painting will start on that soon, but I have a second sculpture of another "must have" prop', that I will start soon too...

Very nice indeed, and very nasty indeed also.

Thanks Graven'.

And now to use up the rest of the clay I bought, by making something else ICONic.
Hands up when you know what it is...


Just bulking out the shape to save weight and keep the centre of mass towards the base, and a frame to keep me honest in the dimensions and angles of the limbs.

At the "oh god, what have I started" stage.
I shall start throwing clay at it this evening.

No idea what this is yet. I was thinking the toy story misfit toy erector walker with head attached until you said the limbs were only there for support.

I didn’t think the Nurgle thing could get creepier I was wrong.

The Falcon is beautifully done. Wow. Been a real pleasure watching it evolve. Well done my friend.

Reminds me of the statue from raiders of the lost ark

I have a guess, but I will refrain from saying it out loud.

Not the right shape to be an Easter Island moai, nor the Sphinx. I'll keep watching.

Lovely work on that falcon statue, Doc. Got some catching up to do, so I don't know what it's all about, but it came out really close to the original.


Those nurgle tripods are awesome too. Serious Dark Mechanicum vibes.

You all have such Fertility imaginations. You are probably seeing all kinds of false clues in everything you are Raiders in what I type. Icon not confirm or deny any guesses.

Theo'. The frame has proven to be causing more problems than it solved, but you live and learn.
Good to hear, painting will only help the creepiness more... when I get around to it.

Thanks Gits'. Nice to hear about the Falcon. It's not caught much attention across my many platforms.

inmygravenimage wrote:Reminds me of the statue from raiders of the lost ark

I can't imagine why...

Gitsplitta wrote:I have a guess, but I will refrain from saying it out loud.

Even if you did, we wouldn't hear you.

Lo Fifty. I do like those Easter Island statues though. Might have to make some in a terrain piece... one day.

Thanks Snrub. The Falcon just... is. Made as a present, no further use than that. Although you could slap down something similar on a gaming table.
Thanks.


Progress has been slow and painful. Just getting the size and shape right for the body has been really tricky.
Coupled with the frame for the legs coming loose under the weight of the clay, so I have to reposition the frame and then smooth over the clay when it pokes out.

Two main things to keep in mind about the Icon:
1:It's bigger than you think.
Remember what it looked like as Indy picks it up of the plinth?
Picture that in your mind, imagine holding it and how large it appears in your hand.
...
Wrong. It's 20cm tall, and 15cm deep and wide. That's 8 x 6 x 6 inches.
It's a huge lump of ugly.

2. Which brings me to... It's uglier than you remember too.

So far I've only worked on the body.
I keep thinking it's turning out too big, but I have to believe my measurements. and that the head is going to be much larger than the foam I have there to bulk out the space.


Just feeling out the shape and size at the moment. Finer sculpting details will be done later.

And to show the scale to what the head will look like, here's a mock-up:

The head will be about the same width as the shoulders, and the hair sticks out quite a way out the back too.
The face also looks up at about 45 degrees, so that sticking out bit on my foam is for the chin.

Interesting fact about the actual film prop. It was hollow plastic and the eyes were originally intended to follow Indy about the room, but that was cut from the film.
If that thing was actually solid gold, Indy and co would not have been handling it with one hand either. A bag of sand would not have done the job replacing it.

Whoever you made the falcon for is a lucky bastard. Some Moai on a terrain piece would be epic.

Thanks 'Tom. Recipient was pleased with a pretty statue indeed.

Apologies to you all. I've been neglecting DDakka recently. This Icon has really been kicking me where it hurts and I've either been working on it or thinking about working on it. I've just not had the time or energy to check DDakka or the threads I follow. I will sit down and try to catch up this weekend.

Progress.
Just still poking at it and adding more and more clay.
I think it's now at about 2kg of clay on it, with the chin still to do, but some may be removed here and there for detailing or re-shaping. And that's with quite a lot of PS foam within (see below).
Getting this looking "right" at the right scale is proving really hard.



Eyes, jaw, and mouth still to add. Then I can refine the shape and add the details.