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That does indeed seem to be an excesive amount of work to create a base.

Let me guess, are you going to turn your tiny base on some kind of makeshift lathe? or is that just too complicated

that would be the sensible decission here...but who knows where this will need exept ambull himself^^

so this is whats called bevels...a new active word for my dakka increased vocabulary^^

thanks for sharing, vik

Moving along: the laminated section (which I left in the clamp a few days) is now essentially one piece of plastic. I measure to find the approximate center (the piece is well oversize) and I've drilled a tiny hole there to mark it:


and the radius is marked out, giving a little bit more space as I'll be grinding in (I'll explain in a moment):



I drill out a hole to fit a small bolt:


Fit the bolt in:


Make sure it's secure:


...and then the silly part begins: I chuck the thing into a regular old battery powered drill (I haven't got access to a lathe otherwise this project would be much simpler!)


In motion, I use a pencil to more accurately describe the lines for the actual width of the base (the inner shows the top edge and the outer shows the bottom edge):


Now, I could tell you that I did NOT clamp the drill to a sturdy work-surface and use a tool-rest and simple pointed metal tool to gently scribe a line into the surface of the plastic to create the appropriate circular cut, having made sure that I had protective eye-wear on throughout, but I might be lying. That is to say, you can gather how I've made the circular cut but be cautioned it is a real punk way to do it and if you don't have adequate experience with, and confidence in, the tools used it is extremely dangerous. I'm not telling anyone to do it, just sharing how I've done it.

A decent circular cut is made with the drill, but it's completed out-of-the-drill with a hobby knife (completing the cut with the make-shift pseudo-lathe would have been too dangerous):


Excess breaks away nicely but leaves a rough edge:



So back on the bolt...



...and this guy comes into the story: a piece of wood with a bit of medium grade sandpaper glued to it:


Which is used to gently work the rough edge out into a very nice smooth edge (again this is quite dangerous):


A nice bevel is obtained, and I'm able to sand right down to the original lines to achieve the appropriate diameter for the figure (higher grade paper is used to give it a really smooth finish):


Thickness if good (looks a bit warped in this photo but it was spot-on perfect all around):


And that's the master for the base finished. A bit of Green Stuff in the hole (which would be covered with basing material in the end anyway) and it will be molded and cast in tandem with the figures themselves.

More soon - assembling Ambulls for gap-filling and priming. I'm getting there!

you are a real man when it comes to your handyworks...^^

but one thing tho, ever heard of a criclesaw? thats a bit device you can put in your drill and just drill a circle out of any wnated material. different sizes and so on provide you with lots of timesaaving and it is way more secure...and since you have drilled out a hole for your bolt it wouldn´t be aproblem at all to use one ....



your local hardware store should provide lots of different versions of that....they even come in multiparts so you can choose for each version you want to do...

but i really like your craftmanship shown here

cheers, vik

Haha, yes I'm very familiar with hole-saws and plug-cutting tools. I like that idea, but hole-saws are pretty renegade and tend to destroy the material they're going through, that is to say they do not create a delicate hole or plug, they're more useful for electrical work in construction and general contracting, not to mention issues with the plastic melting from friction. The pseudo-lathe method offers more delicacy with the final sanding.

You're officially a nutter - that's the most ludicrous way to make a base I've ever seen

Well done, I say

Ambul your right, friction and heating up i ahven´t thougt about...but if i might add another 5 cent of my know how^^ then i would point you into that direction here...:



as then at least you wont have the problem that you might have with a twitching hand and then loosing some fingers when this might get whaoony shaped...
again i like your commitment to your project its really speaking volumes of how your attached to your wonderful work.

had to add that picture as i see it it would be a way to protect your craftsmans hands better as i want them in good condition cause i´d like to see much more of your good work around here^^

vik

nothing like giving the finger to health and safety - far to much of that in crafts classes and workplaces yet we still manage to injure ourselves anyway.

The base looks really smooth. Proper job.

Thanks Vik, I appreciate that - I tend to approach things in a convoluted way when I don't have the proper tools to get something done, but never without full confidence in a safe outcome. I've seen some weird and nasty wood-shop and machine-shop accidents - Always be safe!

"You're officially a nutter" is the greatest thing I've read here!

Now that the base is out of the way I can report back in on the actual figure itself. Soon!

Primed casts, will be assembled and painting begun soon. Workspace in which to do this is now almost completely ready for action. Been away from the bench for a long while here.

cool looking, this will be so much fun!

vik

That is easily the most ludicrous, convoluted, dangerous and fantastic method I have seen to form a base Well done sir!

Ambulls are looking very sweet. Good job Ambull.

I remember catching this thread in its infancy, you inspired me to make my first sculpt! His name is Dave, and he's my own species of squig.

They look amazing. Perfect compliment to the original.

Have you thought what you'd do next? Astral Hound would be cool...

But...what about a few types Jokearo? You could even save a lot of time using a Discworld Librarian as a base...

OOOK!!!!!

I have just come across this thread. Its just Awesome, i can not wait to see them Painted.

Been ages but I found this incredible blog and wanted to share it. Great stuff, very inspiring.

http://sculptingtools.blogspot.com/

Good things come to those that wait.

yep ambulls look cool ... man your a patient fella , would be biting at the bit already!

That blog was awesome, thanks for sharing Ambull! Really nice work as well!

WAS AWESOME? It isn't finished yet!


Say not, such things!

c0un7_z3r0's writing about the sculpting tools blog, THIS blog definitely isn't finished yet!

Back from the dead. Winter has been brutal.

Started painting - glued a set together, Green Stuffed the gap (which wasn't bad at all), re-primed it to cover the Green Stuff gap fill and started a simple paint-job, sepia, browns and tans, nothing too fancy. But it does give some life to the thing. I'm going to shoot for another soon, with more variation between colors on the different body parts, make it a bit more scary.

Really makes the texture pop, a nice little sepia wash over the details. Toenails are just blocked in a flat color for now, I will dress them up a bit more soon.


Remember this is all preliminary painting, nothing too fancy.
I'm proud of the Green Stuff, working well to fill the gap between the cast pieces, not noticeable at all here:

Amazing sculpting! They look awesome.

I think they look even more fantastic when they are painted. Im waiting to see what one looks like when every vein is painted a different color from the skin.

1. Don't feel bad about the delay....


2. The quality is really showing through. Bar a slight alteration in the paint you cannot tell it is not a original...and I don't think you had a original to base on?

3. You must do a conversion...perhaps ripping something up...

4. You might want to look at models to do next that were never released....I think a Imperial 40K Minotaur would be awesome...or some jokeareo...oh. wait.

Marvellous!

Wonderful!

Huzzah!

yep all that wait really paid off!
though i am not a huge fan of the blue teeth i have the fondest feelings for the body of that ambul...it looks alive!

I really enjoyed reading about your progress. Thanks for sharing.