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I want to start doing more custom work on my conversions instead of just glueing seperate plastic bitz together. In particular I need some advice on sculpting with greenstuff (or other mediums). I know there are many techniques depending on what army you're building so let's start with the basics. I'm a complete novice at this so use small words!

Start small! When you first get Green Stuff, you probably want to go right away and make capes and fire floating out of your Librarian's eyesockets or any number of things, and you'll end up mixing too much together and waste a majority (I did, at least, uhurr). I cannot hardly stress this enough. Before I got around to modeling arms/legs/heads/whatever out of Green Stuff, I cannot tell you how much of the stuff I wasted by cutting and mixing too much together and never getting around to using it.

Also, let the Green Stuff harden fully before adding on more. If you don't, when you press down on a new blob, the Green Stuff you are building ontop of will get smashed down too, and that is not a good thing if you are trying to add hair to a head, let's say.

If you use petrolium jelly as a lubricant, be sure to wipe it off the area you are applying to the model, otherwise it won't stick (or will in some cases, but it won't be much of a bond). Also remeber to wipe the excess lubricant off the face of the Green Stuff'd whatever after making touch ups or what haver you (I forgot to once, came down in the morning to prime, and I got this weird gunky stuff all over the model's new heraldry :< )

Tool-wise, I use a pin and a hammered-flat paperclip set in some spare dowels I found laying around in shop class; the pin is good for making small details, and the flat paperclip piece is good for smoothing down areas and cutting or scraping extra Green Stuff away.

Nice one. Couple of questions:

Why do I need a lubricant?
Should I let the green stuff harden before I etch detail?

Just a guess, he may be using the petroleum jelly to keep the putty from sticking to his fingers. I dip my fingers and tools in a cup of water.

You need a lubricant because green stuff will stick to absolutely everything but itself. I use spit. Also, because of it's obnoxious non-stick-to-itselfness, I also put down just a tiny bit of superglue to anchor the GS to the model before I start working with it.

As mentioned, the best piece of advice is to start small. For freestanding things, start by making some purity seals. For applique, try adding hair (facial or otherwise) to a model. It's these tiny things that you do that will build your familiarity with GS and your skill set with sculpting in general. Only then will sculpting be easy enough for you that you can scale up, or combine multiple skills in a single project.

Personally, I let the GS harden a little before trying to add detail if it is something like armour or the like so I don't screw with the shape too much. With everything else, however, I just go in a and mess with it while it is as workable as possible. What you do is really up to your personal prefference; I know a friend who uses really light pressure and so works best when it is fresh, whereas I use far too much and work better when the GS is firm.

As Ailaros said, Purity Seals and hair are the way to go at first. Starting out, the symbols in seals on purity seals themselves might look a little funky, so that takes some practice too if you want something other than a flat disk with a bit of parchment hanging off it.

When you get to working with GS, I would sure like to see the results! I am always glad to see that people are interested in the (damn near always frustrating) aspect of modeling.

go check a guy out on you tube called retribution angel..!!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/242387.page

whatwhat is the man.

I would look into rubber tipped modeling brushes. I have a set of 5 or so with various shapes and tip sizes and they are completely non stick and work great for working details and shaping your green stuff.

Agree w/ all the above. Start w/ small things first, I personally use water (fingers, GS, table I'm working it out on, tools) to keep it from sticking to everything, and I detail in stages according to hardness. To keep track of how stiff the GS is I keep a small ball of the same batch separate so I can check that instead of mucking with the model.

I don't think anything is more personally rewarding in this hobby than creating something unique that is distinctly yours and receives acclaim from your contemporaries. Good luck on this next step and remember that mistakes are just opportunities to improve.

Here is a great tip (i reckon) i learned: If you have mixed too much greenstuff get some cellophane (the stuff dvds, videogames and GW boxsets etc are wrapped in) flatten it out, put down a bit down a bit of water then flatten the GS. You can flatten it by sandwiching it in the cellophane and rolling it with a hobby knife or pencil. Why do this? Well although it is impossible to save greenstuff once its mixed (Sorry if you thought that is what i was gonna say) a thin sheet of green stuff is an incredibly useful hobby resource. Uses include: Armour plates, gun straps, banners, tarpalins and many other things, it is actually better than plasticard due to its flexibility. Even the best sculpters (i am not one of them) end up with spare and if you do this everytime at least it ont end up as a useless 'Lump'. Phew.... That was a mouthful. I am currently using a sheet of greenstuff to armour the feet of some of my Dark eldar.

Huh, funny. I was just thinking of posting this same topic.

I am just a novice as you and would like to ask to all you other people, How could you make straps? Like, simple straps runny across a torso to be used for a multitude of purposes.

For simple straps, I would roll out a thin sheet and let it cure partially, then cut off thin strips for the straps. With a partial cure, the GS should be stiff enough to cut cleanly, but still pliable enough to mold around the necessary surfaces.

I'm going to echo the 'start small' sentiment.

I started out just using little bits of green stuff to fill gaps in old metal model joints. After doing that a few times I had a good enough feel for the stuff to start working with it. My first attempt at modding was a bit nasty, but it doesn't take long to get the hang of it.

I use cocktail sticks and some old dental tools to my sculpting, and they work fine. also, I use felt tip pens to roll it out flat- flat sheets of green stuff can be left for a while to stiffen a little then cut into all sorts of awesome stuff- parchement for purity seals, straps, banners, drapes... the stuff is amazing!

Drapes will look great on my Khornate Landraider! lol

I cannot reccomend the citadel modelling tool enough- it is very useful for gs modelling. I also coat my green stuff with superglue after I'm done.

^^^^ This and get color shapers from Dick Blick online store. extra firm smallest size is for a pack of 5 is 21 bucks. Completely worth it