Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I wanted an Ambull mini (the cute and cuddly nasties from the original Rogue Trader book), but they are sadly quite rare. After looking for some time I decided it might be a good opportunity to learn the properties of Green Stuff (which I am new to) and make my own interpretation. I got some pics together and dove right in.

Posted here (and bear with me if something doesn't work as I'm new to posting as well!) is a pic of the aluminum wire armature, the first layer of Green Stuff, followed by the beginnings of some details. I started with the eyes first as they exhibit a lot about the 'personality' of the figure.

So far I am very satisfied with Green Stuff, great product. I'm also using it to do some fills and details on an old Grenadier Miniatures figure and it is very versatile stuff. Enjoying it a lot.

Crap thats good sculpting for a first try.

ghosty wrote:Crap thats good sculpting for a first try.

This.

Looking forward to more posts! Ambulls are super awesome, I'm glad that someone else appreciates them! Also if you want to cast some, that'd be pretty cool too.

I tried to concentrate on what I thought the 'harder' parts would be first, this included the vein-like texture of the upper legs. While using what few photos I found online as a guide, I decided to break away a bit and see how it went for me.



It went well, and I was pleased to have 'checked off' one of the harder parts. It gave me confidence to continue on.



The tools I've been using are home-made, carved and sanded pieces of wood. It actually works well, as I work I keep the tools somewhat damp because it's a good 'release' against the inherent stickiness of the Green Stuff.

NICE!
Ambulls are one of my favorites.
Would you like me to post pictures of mine? I have an unpainted one.
If you do, shots would you like?

Thank you very much for the offer, but I won't impose on you to post, I've got a couple of decent pics online to help with the basic form, and as long as I can keep the proportions reasonable I should be fine. I'm putting more of a personal feel on the textures while keeping as much of the Ambull-ness as possible.

You should definitely hang on to that unpainted Ambull though! I was thinking of casting 2 or 3 copies in order to cut and re-position the arms for variety. I know I want to at least finish this one, but further than that I may want to make a little 'herd' of them, to give some different opportunities for painting schemes.

Dental Work: The fangs: I drilled two holes into the bottom of the 'face' area, to accept small lengths of brass rod.



Below: A basic foundation of Green Stuff was put around the brass, this was left to cure before any real shaping began.


Below: Shaping begins, making sure to get a nice little curve inwards. Adding the saw-teeth to the interior of each fang will come only after the final form looks good enough. In this case I figured more was better for the Green Stuff and I could shave off excess to get the shape right. It cuts pretty nicely, but sanding is a bit of a trick as it is not brittle enough - but this may be my ratio: I tend to use a little bit more Yellow than Blue in the mixing.

It gets better and better.

Looks awesome dude! You're going to have to do a Zoat next...or possibly a rogue trader era Tyranid!

It's curious you should mention Zoats, I was actually thinking about them lately, a very strange, almost awkward figure design. Still a classic though. That would be a neat project, I'll see how the Ambull shapes up. I should be able to post a few more pics soon.

Added a minor detail, they kind of resemble ears, or where ears might be on such a creature. I may may them larger at some point but for now they are in place.

Barely visible as an addition to the 'face' region:


The upper-inner arms have a ribbed-hose texture to them, which I applied in a very organic fashion (that is to say, I wasn't hung up on the segments being consistent, as long as the overall texture was conveyed). This shows the texture at the back:


and the front:


So far I have fallen into trouble several times when I've become enthusiastic about how the Green Stuff is handling and I try to apply too much in one sitting. I wind up handling the piece too much and a fingerprint winds up on a still-soft spot. Lately I've become more disciplined at doing a small bit, and leaving it when it's looking good before going on to something else.

What makes it so attractive as a medium is the fact that there is no baking of any kind, as with polymer clays. I'm hooked. I need more subject matter though, I'm a bit scattered as far as ideas go (although I am thinking more about the Zoats!)

Next bit to come is some fang detail and more texture-details on the arms.

More dental-work: Added serrated nubs to the inner edge of the fangs with tiny little dots of Green Stuff. After it cured I was able to go in there with a very thin circular file and make them a bit sharper and define the spaces between the nubs a little better. I'm fairly well-pleased with the results, it was a trick handling those tiny bits of Green Stuff though...


I'll probably sand it down a little to make the transition between the little serrated additions and the fang itself better:


- - - - - - - - -

The more it looks like a legitimate Ambull the more enthusiastic I get to add to it. I started to add the texture on the outer arms, which also contributes to the final shaping of the arms.




The other arm, which I sculpted the following night:


and a front-shot showing how it's slowly starting to come together:


I'm realizing how dull and dark these photos are, I'm going to take some steps to get a better contrast and brightness whilst shooting them (currently just shooting under my fluorescent desk-light).

It's looking really good
Keep it coming!

Thanks, I intend to do a bit of work tonight. I want to get this completed so I can get down to painting it.

I just read a few of the Dakka tutorials on photography, I'm very motivated to take some fresh shots of the recent work using some of the techniques, so you fine folks don't have to strain your eyes!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Some detail added to the back:

You can see I've got some feet-type-toenails in there, I've since trimmed those off because they weren't feeling right. They'll be redone with better proportion.

And brass rods fitted to the stumps of the arms to start forming the claws around:

Keep it up!

This is an inspiring sculpting blog! I really want to get to grips with GS - and I think my main stumbling block so far has been a lack of patience. Like you said, I try to do too much in one sitting and end up ruining something.

Great work man - keep it up. I am loving this.

That is brilliant work! I've currently got one of the original Ambulls sitting undercoated on my desk ready to be painted, and you have captured the model brilliantly so far!

Please keep posting pics!

You're doing an amazing job, certainly a thousand times better than my own efforts!

If you're still searching for future subject material, it might be fun to try some of these guys:

That's a great selection of Other Dangerous Aliens, thank you for sharing that!

I hate the skill you have.

Looking awesome.

Please, consider working for GW and bringing back the Ambulls!
You would be perfect to do it, in my opinion.

This shows a very promising future with sculpting for you.

Thank you very much for the responses, it keeps me going!

Not too much activity the past two nights, added a base layer of G.S. on the claw-wire supports:


The biggest lesson I've drawn from this project regarding Green Stuff is to be patient, I don't work on too much at once, it serves me better to apply a little here and there then to try to get loads done in one sitting. After all, it's the details that are going to 'speak' more on the final finished fig.

A little activity: I added a little to the claws, that will require subtle additions, I want to make them more massive by adding thin layers- this picture is pretty bad but you can see the basic addition:


Further on the legs and feet, I started the 'toes' or claws on the feet over. the originals were not so hot and not really positioned correctly - these are the old ones before I shaved them off:


and here's the start of the new ones, I did a forward claw and a back-claw to start with, the claws sticking out at the side will be placed relative to these:


the stance of the figure is improved...


and the back:

Oh my, looks very good, Man I wish those skills were mine... Oh well will be looking forwards to more posts from you

Outstanding so far. You've managed to get it to look amazingly like the original.


As this is not really a tutorial, though, I'm moving it over to the Blogs section where it will fit in better...

Very good work; looks a lot like the original, and the sculpting's nice and neat. Well done!

Great project.

Ambull steak yummy! You read Caves of Ice?

Didn't read it, has it got Ambulls in it?

The Ambull is coming along great, though from the description of the Ciaphas Cain novels I always pictured them being slightly genestealer-ish. I think your next project should be some Hrud, you never see those guys....... because they're practically extinct has nothing to do with that fact