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Lindsay's scratch built and realistic minis blog: started face sculpting again  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

This here blog is where I'm going to blog my progress as I develop my sculpting technique and my historical, portrait and cartoon minis (anything outside of the established sci-fi & fantasy franchises, basically).

I've got a load of WWI figures, of which I've painted this one to a display standard:



This Imperial German Army Dragoon is based on a Renegade mini, with a lance arm taken from an antique Citadel skeletal horseman, and a helmet resculpted to have a sharper point and a crest.

I'm endeavouring to get my sculpting up to pro standard, and am currently making some roughly 1:35 scale busts (by which I mean heads, not chesticles). I'll be posting them in due course.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2016/07/18 01:00:41


   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

First update, showcasing my first attempts at face sculpting. Symmetry seems to be my weak spot at the moment. In particular, I seem to have a tendency to load too little material on the left eye/cheek area.

I'm using Gale Force Nine sculpting tools, scalpel blades, and pins to work the material. If anyone can recommend finer quality tools better suited to this

Once I've got portraiture down pat, I'll add heads to a number of human form sculpts I've done. Having studied human biology and having weight training as a second hobby means I've no trouble getting a body made, but the face is a whole different ball game. It's not like an Ork, where it can be very ugly and malformed and still look right.
THAT IS SPECIESIST LINDSAY YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED.

So, photos (the ruler measures mm):

Saint of Killers


Should have bulked up his right lower cheek a bit. Half-closed eyes are tricky with these tools.

Ugly shouty bloke


He's a cartoon, intended to be exaggerated.

Mark Thomas


His cheeks are a bit too chubby, and his hair could be more voluminous. Nostrils aren't so much too big, more his upper lip has an excessive recess.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2016/07/07 18:55:39


   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

Anyone know any good sculpting hair guides that cover spiky and buzzcut hair?

   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

Update: got the hang of spiky hair. Unpainted greens to follow soon.

   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

Two-Face



Not quite got the hang of photographing greens. Always liked Harvey Dent, being a comic character gave me leeway to freestyle and practice some cartoony features.


Commandant Yamauchi



Character played by Burk Kwouk in the 1980's. Want to develop my ethnic range from the get-go, rather than get good at sculpting Caucasian faces then modify that to others. The lighting makes his face look wonky, but that should be fixed by the painting. Also slightly added to his nose since the photo.

It's not recognisably Kwouk, but he seems recognisably East Asian. That's a start.


Henry Rollins



Larger scale than the others, my first 'scream' face. Pretty happy with this one. Finally figured out how best to make spiky hair at this scale: individual spikes pressed into place with a sculpting tool.


Paint jobs to follow.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/01/06 14:53:51


   
Made in gb
Maddening Mutant Boss of Chaos






That first pic of the Dragoon is great. I'm not good sculpting hair- I just attack the green stuff with a knife until it looks right. The head greens look good, I think two-face is my favourite.

   
Made in us
Fanatic with Madcap Mushrooms





Auburn CA

I am digging this blog and I am surprised more people have not preached your praise yet! That last head I would not mind owning a few if they were 28mm

 
   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

Johnny-Crass wrote:I am digging this blog and I am surprised more people have not preached your praise yet! That last head I would not mind owning a few if they were 28mm


I have a number of 28mm things - Tyranid-compatble weapons and bases - that I made to be castable, and my objective is to get myself to the all-round standard to apply for sculpting work with, oh, any old casting studio in the Nottingham area. Sure I'll think of one. That process will involve making heads that are castable, so watch this space!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Question for mods - where do artistic nudes fall in the posting rules? Working from nude models is IMO absolutely essential for any artist trying to master depicting the human form. I'm in the progress of sculpting some nudes, which are obviously relevant to the thread.

I'm going to point to Morathi and the Forge World Keeper of Secrets' exposed breasts and bum as a precedent, whilst acknowledging that fantasy elves & daemons (and, say, Doctor Manhattan) are not the same as naked people. And whilst I'd argue that these sculpts should be viewed in the same light as Michelangelo's David and Goya's La Maja Desnuda, I can appreciate the 'thin end of the wedge' argument that there are grey areas between this and artistic nude photography, and between that and pornography, which Dakka obviously isn't the place for.

I guess my options are:

- post uncensored photos of sculptures of nudes
- post censored photos, with links to uncensored versions on my deviantart where a login is required to see past devart's SFW filter
- post censored photos with no link to uncensored versions
- not ever mention nudes

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/01/06 11:33:24


   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka





6 foot underwater

Ooh, missed this. Some nice sculpts there Lindsay, Saint of Killers looks great, and liking the latest three. This should be interesting to watch your progress.

cyborks & flyboyz : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/300067.page
heretical ramblings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/302773.page
imperial preachings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/303365.page
Da Waaagh-ky Races : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325045.page
Briancj: You have the Mek Taint, MT, and the only thing we can do is watch in horror/amazement.

 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut







I got a huge recommendation for you, try out some Clay Shapers.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?client=safari&rls=en&q=clay+shapers&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5610472172653201621&sa=X&ei=qUcIT8eoHNPqtgfYzrjQBg&ved=0CFkQ8wIwAQ#ps-sellers

The rubber tips give you much more control and can make a lot more subtle changes in the clay. not that you need a lot more help, your stuff is really good!

If it helps, I saw the picture before I read your description, and said to myself, "thats the saint of killers!" So good job, instantly recognizable.

God sends meat, the devil sends cooks 
   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

I'll have to see where I can get Clay Shapers in the UK.

Whilst putting a basecoat on this batch, I realise I'd underbuilt Rollins' right cheek. That seems to be another blind spot I'll have to get self-aware of.

Fingers crossed they'll be painted and uploaded for Monday night.

   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut







All you need is the small flat chisel and the small round, I rarely use the other tips. On this side of the pond you can find them in the larger hobby stores (Michaels and Hobby Lobby) and in higher end art supply stores.

I just love sculpting with them, they are my number one tool. You are already doing the other thing I was taught, namely sculpting in a larger scale.

Do you draw too?

God sends meat, the devil sends cooks 
   
Made in us
Fanatic with Madcap Mushrooms





Auburn CA

I am not a mod but maybe put them in a NSFW spoiler would work?

 
   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

pox wrote:All you need is the small flat chisel and the small round, I rarely use the other tips. On this side of the pond you can find them in the larger hobby stores (Michaels and Hobby Lobby) and in higher end art supply stores.

I just love sculpting with them, they are my number one tool. You are already doing the other thing I was taught, namely sculpting in a larger scale.

Do you draw too?


I'll have a gander in Notts tomorrow, there's a number of large art & hobby stores.

I do sketches and paintings, I upload everything I'm happy with to my Deviantart gallery.

   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

Okay, I still suck at macro photography. This is all I got to show y'all so far:



As I get more result successfully snapped, I'll post them. Finished paintjobs yet to be posted are Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock; Two-Face; Burt Kwouk as Commandant Yamauchi; Bailey Jay; and a cheerful Amish guy.

Currently in the process of sculpting Otep Shamaya, Chuck D, and an Eldar Harlequin with Deathhawk.

   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

Commencing image dump!

Otep Shamaya WIP



Very happy with how she's developing. I think there's a distinctly female shape to her so far. In particular, this last round of paining made me realise the need to make sure eyes are correctly shaped.

Eldar Harlequin



Just mucking around, really. A Deathhawk isn't the easiest thing to sculpt; next time, I'll use more stages.

Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant)



Who else likes Deadwood? Perhaps needed a bit more body to the hair.

Commandant Yamauchi (Burt Kwouk)



Well, I wouldn't clock him as Kwouk, and the photo frankly sucks, but it's a start at getting the hang of sculpting East Asian likenesses.

Two-Face



Another bad angle. Damn this camera's tiny VDU.

Bailey Jay



Yeah, I sculpted Linetrap.

Cheerful Amish bloke



Again, just playing around and sculpting whatever came to mind. I need to make my beards look shaggier.

Henry Rollins again



Because he rocks.

More coming soon!

   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka





6 foot underwater

For 'just mucking around' I really like Happy Amish and Deathhawk Eddy there

cyborks & flyboyz : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/300067.page
heretical ramblings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/302773.page
imperial preachings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/303365.page
Da Waaagh-ky Races : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325045.page
Briancj: You have the Mek Taint, MT, and the only thing we can do is watch in horror/amazement.

 
   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

Hopefully get Otep sculpt finished tomorrow, Chuck D is ready. Having a crack at a larger scale Galvatron as well. Then, I may need to put things on hold for a bit... had an interesting proposition land in my lap. Not going to get into details just yet...

   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka







Very nice greenstuff work. I'm trying to improve my own sculpting at the moment, your stuff is much more advance but i do have a couple of pieces of advice that i picked up recently.

1) Colour/Clay Shapers - These things don't just make sculpting easier, they instantly boost your options without you actually gaining any ability. I got mine on Amazon.

2) This is something i figured out which, to me, is equally as important a breakthrough as colour shapers. Mixing your green stuff properly. If you are using strips of gs like i am this isn't as straight forward as cutting and squishing. Here is my technique:
a) Cut a tiny strip of your yellow and blue components. - It's easy to add to what you've got or make more but there are limited options for excess.
b) This is the important bit, remove a small area where the yellow and green components touch. The yellow area(the resin) is hardened by the blue(hardener). This will start to happen in the packet and a hard, unmixable area will form between the two coloured components. If you carefully pull on each colour it will be obvious which bit has hardened and needs removed.
c) Make sure the two parts are mixed perfectly. If you haven't mixed it perfectly you will see streaks of yellow or pockets/lumps of yellow or blue in the green. This is common if you aren't doing part b. I could be wrong but i thing i spotted the odd streak in your sculpts. Why is this bad? A hard lump in your epoxy can ruin a sculpt, also, if you have consistent greenstuff it is much easier to achieve smooth finishes.

Anyway, you might know all that already but since we are in the same boat i thought i'd throw my 2 cents in. Hope i helped.

   
Made in gb
Huge Hierodule






Nottingham (yay!)

Had a pretty long break from sculpting with health problems. Over the past year or so, I've been slowly regaining confidence and dexterity by doing conversions and painting, and now I've done my first face sculpt in a while, as a birthday present for my BFF:









I assumed she'd add her (some Astartes are trans, get over it) to a Dark Angel, but she's always wanted to start a Space Wolves army and so that's what's going to happen! I've offered to paint the face once it's in place and undercoated as well.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/07/07 19:06:09


   
 
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