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Hey all

This log is going to intersperse with my 40k Conquest log, filling in the lulls between deliveries.

I've long loved kitbashing and converting models to make them unique, and I've often used green stuff for gap filling, converting and so on. Nothing too elaborate, just press moulding details, adding cloaks etc. However I've never been brave enough to try sculpting from scratch - until now. I've decided to try to teach myself to sculpt, and to use this log to motivate me and document my progress. Hopefully over time improvement should be visible.

I've read lots of online articles and watched a lot of YouTube videos, especially the excellent tutorial series from Tom Mason:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwuFJ2v_GEkLOoJEY1oQh2A

I originally planned to dive in and start with a full figure, however the fine brass rod I was trying to use as an armature proved too brittle and just snapped when I tried to bend it too far, so instead I decided to curtail my ambitions somewhat and start with just a head until I could get some steel wire.

Here's the results of my first attempt:





It's supposed to be human, but unfortunately the features are pretty crude and so it looks more reminiscent of a LOTR orc. Still not too bad for a first attempt I reckon.








Automatically Appended Next Post:
Once my steel wire arrived I decided to crack on with my first full figure sculpt. I decided to make an attempt at a 40k Imperial Navy officer based on Jes Goodwin's famous sketches:



Having made the armature, I put on the first layers of green stuff and built up the main anatomy of the figure:



So far, so good. Quite happy with the proportions at this point. I let this cure fully before moving on to the next stage.

That's a pretty great first try! Other than the ears being a little big and the forehead slightly too small you nailed the rest of the proportions. Good stuff

Thanks. I was quite pleasantly surprised how reasonable it was. I know what you mean about the ears though. They were probably the hardest bit and the ones I'm least happy with. I have trouble manipulating small enough bits of putty. I expect I that more control will come with practice.

And it was going so well...

I've had a go at adding clothing and doing the head, and things have started to go downhill somewhat:





I started working from the feet upward. The boots and legs went reasonably well, and the shape of the jacket isn't too bad. The problems really seem to come with the head and when I tried to add the details over the jacket (after letting it cure). I had real trouble getting the putty to behave and stick to the cured surface, and I couldn't keep decent edges, everything became rounded because I was having to push it onto the surface, and I couldn't get them to neaten up again. I originally wanted it to have turned back cuffs on the jacket but they just looked awful as I couldn't get them thin enough so in the end I removed them.

The head is also too round. I think when I bulked up the "skull" of the anatomical layer I made it too close to the final size, giving myself not enough working room to sculpt the flesh layer in proportion. I also got terrible rounding on the features, and yet again the ears are too big - partly a consequence of trying to get them to stick.



I hoped that adding the stiff high collar might help hide some of the dodgy head, but if anything it makes it seem even wider. I also began to add weapons - a sword and pistol, both of which are pretty crude. I made the structures of these separately then glued them to the hooks I'd left in the armature at the ends of the arms. Again I had trouble getting hard enough edges, and green stuff is hard to file. I've ordered some brown stuff as apparently it cures harder than green stuff and is therefore easier to file and sand meaning flat surfaces should be easier to achieve.





Unfortunately, I appear to have made him look more like a Sontaran than a human! Not really what I was going for.



The final stages were to sculpt the hands and the pommel of the sword, and I added a couple of pouches to his belt. Unfortunately they suffered from the same rounding effect as the other details and I just couldn't recover the crisp edges. Possibly I was working the putty when it was still too soft or something.





So this is my first fully sculpted figure. Somehow he seems to have grown to almost 35mm (even though the armature was pretty much dead on 28mm when I started) and I'm not remotely happy with him. However, at least I've made a start and I've got a basis from which to measure my progress.