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Hello guys, are miniatures sculpted by piece or sculpted whole then divided before being casted and molded?

I don't think that this is a yes or no question. I suspect it depends on the model size, on the used armature inside the model, as well as on the used material and the grade of detail.

Cuttin through an on part miniature will always mean that you will damage part of the model. Those areas need to be rescultped. And you also need to saw through the armature. I use a rather sturdy wire that can't be simply cut without propper tools. And a wire cutter will also squish the model in question.

Doing everythin in parts is also tricky and you can get quite easily proptions of parts wrong. You have to know before how the parts are supposed to connect. What I did for my multi part approaches is build a master shape for the central body and design tne rest of the parts based on this mostly finished piece.


But you also have to consider that nowadays the models are often designed on the computer in 3D where it can be divided into matching parts much easier.

Hi there... I'm not a professional sculptor yet I have some experience (you can see my thread here Tupavko's Madness).

Usually I tend to sculpt my models entirely and only at the end I study where and how to cut them into pieces in order to get good copies.

But this is not the rule. Complex models, or models that have add-ons that are separate from them (grots for orks, or special weapons and so on) can be easily sculpted and casted apart!

wow! both very helpful comments guys! thanks. i guess ill have to see what works best for me.

Mhhh never tried casting, molding or sculpting before. Anyone got any links to a good set of guides? Sounds fun for creating conversion bits.