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I am teaching myself to sculpt and thought that I’d post WIP shots here as a way to motivate myself. I’ve dabbled for years but never build up enough momentum to really improve. I’d make one model and then go back to painting because I find that much easier. I know I’m really not great a sculptor but I enjoy it when I get it right or, at least, not horribly wrong. So I’m giving it a go again in the hope of improving. To mangle the words of a man with great hair (until a visit to Dallas) “we sculpt these things not because they are easy but because they are hard”.
The plan is to make three or four whole miniatures in a row before I chicken out and pick up the brushes again. I’ll post WIPs of my progress and a few little “How to” posts.

First these are some of my older sculpts.


An Empire-type fellow with a great 'tash.


An Imperial governor or technocrat.

And there is what I’m working on now.


The wire armature.


The armature with green stuff as a base and the start of FIMO over the top of the still sticky GS.


Legs and boots all but done and a start on blocking out the rest.


And this is where we are at now. Starting to add details and build up the arms.

More here: http://beneaththemirehobby.blogspot.com.au/

That’s it for now. If you have any questions ask away. I’ll try to answer as best I can but I’m not exactly an expert.

Lookin good so far, I'd like to see where you go from here.

Wow. These are really great.

I wouldn't even know how to start on sculpting a figure from scratch.

EDC

Off to a good start!

With some refinement I'd be interested in buying Baron Skullhed. I remember the bit of art he's based on.

@Brennonjw: Thanks. I'm curious to see where I go from here too. Total failure is still (always) a possibility!!

@evildrcheese: Cheers. Working out where to start is a problem. I've found it's best to start at the feet and work up ;-) (that may be one of the worst jokes ever posted on Dakka. Sorry.)

@Kid_Kyoto: I'm glad you picked the art he is based on; it means that i must have done something right with it!! John Blanche is a huge inspiration for me and I'm pleased that i can pay some recognisable homage to his art. The model that I'm working on is based on some partially used Jes sketches in The Gothic And The Eldritch. I but walk in the footsteps of giants. What refinements would you like to see? A slottabase strip?

Your older stuff looks great and this new figure is coming along nicely, too! Looking forward to seeing more.

These are really good, loads of character. Keep doing it, especially if you enjoy it!

Right, after a few days I've made a little progress. I find this sculpting business slow going so daily WIP shots would far too closely resemble grass growing

I'm away from my regular computer ATM so these pictures are poor. There should be better ones -- and some more progress -- early next week.



The vest and the arms are all but done. They just need some more work to iron out the wrinkles and small imperfections.



I'll move onto the head and hands next.

You'll all have guessed what it is going to be by now. I have to say I'm excited by the prospect following the Specialist Studio announcement of plastic multi-part versions. I think its probably a pipe dream by a boy can hope, can't he?

I came in here expecting a procession of green blobs in vaguely humanoid shapes... BUT

Your stuff is awesome! Great job so far, looking forward to seeing your progress and fine tuning your skills!

I love the little spike on the need. It's quite novel seeing a character start to develop out of grey blocks...

EDC

Slow progress over the last few days. I've been mainly been smoothing out and sharpening the details and adding a few small things like belt loops and arm-guards.

One of the problems that I've found using FIMO is that it it is hard to quickly get really smooth even surfaces. With Green Stuff or ProCreate you can buff it with rubber tipped clay shapers (http://www.amazon.com/Extra-Firm-Color-Shapers-Wallet/dp/B0043GWDQ6) as it hardens and this gives you that glossy almost manufactured look that you see on miniature greens. With the softness and texture of FIMO you can buff it in the same way. I've found the best option is to leave the clay for a few days and then slowly work or buff it with smooth metal tools. It just means that it takes time to get the desired surface texture. I remember reading or hearing somewhere that on a couple occasions the Rackham sculptors, who were somewhat pioneers in using FIMO IMO, needed to produce a whole model in a day, and I have no idea how they did it! Damned impressive stuff, even if by their own admission those were not their best sculpts. Using Green Stuff I think that a number of historical sculptors get five to ten miniatures done in a week. I need to pick up my game!!


Here is a quick family shot. I'm using the Necro models as size references.

Next, after the tidying, is the head and the hands.

Great 'family' shot. They're looking really cool. I like the big skull hat guy, I think he has alot of character.

EDC

Just a quick breakdown on how I sculpt faces. I haven't done many of the last few years so this one is a slightly larger practice piece.

First I bent over a bit of wire, put a roughly egg shaped lump of green stuff on it and cover it with FIMO. This I let dry over night.



I added more FIMO and marked out roughly the eyes and temples. Then put on a sasuage for the nose, mouth and chin. Awful picture. It was really had to get good ones of this stuff.

Now, at this point I've gone and lost a picture to explain the next step. Sorry. This step is just smoothing the sausage into he rest of the face so that the nose gets it's rough shape and the chin and mouth are in place.



Next is starting to define the features. The lump of the mouth is cut and shaped to make lips. More putty is added to make nostrils and the shape of the eyes and brows is deepened.


Two small balls of FIMO are added for the eyes and this is worked into the face to make the eyelids.

The final stage is just refining details and working the face to create emotion and character.





That's it. Easy I just need to get on and do the same for the Orlock. I'll try to document that too.

I've now got his head, with sideburns, all but done.


This is the green stuff base for the head.


And with a thin coat of FIMO that I put over it when it was still sticky.


Now a bit of a jump with the face blocked out and the hair done very quickly to give me a sense of how it is going. The ability to do these quick "sketches", leave the model overnight and comeback and change/improve things is one of the things I really like about using FIMO.



This is where I left it last night (sorry about the dark and grainy images, i was trying to control the exposure with less light and it didn't work that well)

The next step is to do some more tidying work before the first bake. I'll then go on to finish the loin cloth, add the hands and weapons and finally put on cool details like chains and studs.

Overall I'm happy with how it is going. Far from perfect but I confident that once it has all the detail it will be a reasonable miniature. I just need to decide what to do next.

The last week's work had been fairly dull but for a half hour of fear at the end of it. Most of my hobby time on sculpting of late has been smoothing out and sharpening details. It's not interesting and doesn't look as if I've got much done but I was able to get him to the point where I could bake him. Last light I started adding some details to his vest and making in loin cloth more dynamic. Some of these details are not final and are just place holders.






I'll post again when I've made meaningful progress. At this point I hope to have it finished in the next week.

Almost done now. Just the eyes and a few details left to complete. There are problems -- that I am probably focusing on too much -- but it's come up ok.



Not sure what to do next. Maybe a viking berserker or a chrono-gladiator. Suggestions welcome.

Why not a chrono-viking? Or a cyborg wrestler?

Looking good. Really appreciate the breakdown f the processes even if it is waaaay beyond my skill level.

Still, it's really interesting to see the steps.

Since you're taking suggestions, how about some kind of pdf / enforcer character?

EDC

Oh, thanks for the ideas. I'm still not sure what's next. So many options...

Cyborg wrestler: huge comic Bane-like arms, little head and lower arms/hands like the new adeptus mechanicus kastelans. Cool idea. Not sure I've got the skills to pull it off just yet. :-)

I've been thinking about how to make an Arbite/enforcer. The pictures of them in the Inquisitor rulebook were so much better than the 54mm miniature that was made. Another option is Judge Dredd or a Carl Urban movie Dredd.

Thanks for your 'how to sculpt faces' post!

I've always had difficulties building up the nose and mouth on my face sculpts; putting the sausage for the nose, mouth and chin seems like a brilliant idea

Cheers!

The necromunda Orlock is finished and I'm happy with him. Sure, there are problems but that's all part of the learning process.









Next is an anatomy study that I'll give some pants, an axe and call a viking.

Space Corsair
Post 2015/12/12 20:35:39 Subject: Rerone21c Sculpts (or dies tryin')
Thanks for your 'how to sculpt faces' post!

I've always had difficulties building up the nose and mouth on my face sculpts; putting the sausage for the nose, mouth and chin seems like a brilliant idea

Cheers!

Glad that I could help!! I'm not sure where I learnt that trick but I'm happy to pass it on.

More work on the viking/barbarian. Not sure that the head is right but I plan on giving it a beard and masked helmet so it may not be important. I'm happy with how quickly he is coming together.

Viking bloke all done. It's ok. Better but not there yet. I feel like I can now see clearly where I need to improve.

Next is an oldhammer 40k-style models straight from the pages of Rogue Trader.

Great job on that Orlock.

If you're planning to go retail there seems to be a high demand for Necromunda and Sisters of Battle type miniatures.

There's other stuff out there but your sculpts seem to follow the style and proportions of 90s GW better than other alternatives.

Ganger looks really awesome. The barbarian looks much better with the beard.

EDC

definitely subbed to this thread...
the sculpting looks amazing! love to see what you come up next with!

Imperial Army trooper from a picture on page 163 of Rogue Trader. I'm working on the helmet now and think he needs a bigger neck or collar. He has a real Dredd or Strontium Dog feel.

Not much else to say. My hobby is fully switched over to sculpting now with no plans or urge to pull out the brushes. I'm just plugging away at it and trying to improve. That bodes well for the future IMO. It may be time to start thinking about casting some of my stuff. That's scary and exciting at the same time!