A question for Atavus

[fsn]

(I'm not at all hurt you didn't ask ME for help    )

Thanks Techno. Sorry. Was just trying to give the new guy a bit of encouragement. 

Yeah. A few comments after the painting comp would be useful.   

[Atavus]

Hey Fsn.

Sorry I haven't replied until now.  Figured I should spend some time with the mrs today, and I've neglected the interwebs.  Anyhoo, I'm flattered that you should ask for some advice from me.
You're doing very well already from what I can see, and funnily enough, the thought of 10mm supers had crossed my mind today, so I have a vested interest in helping you out if I can!  Ultimately confidence and experience are the best things to have with sculpting, and they will come with practice.  You certainly have nothing to be ashamed of with your work so far.  In the meantime, I hope that this little lot is of some use to you.

Budget-wise, if you skulk around craft shops and are not ashamed to check out beauty products (make up brushes are pretty good for drybrushing, and make up sponges great for applying weathering/rust effects to vehicles for example), you can pick up some useful tools cheaply.  Apart from the clay shapers and scalpel, most of my tools were between £1 and £2.  Always look out for something that will make the right shape in a bit of soft putty.  You never know what will come in handy.  For example, I have a variety of bottle tops that I washed up and refuse to throw away.  If I want to make an ammo belt, I simply roll the bottle top along a piece of putty, leave for a few minutes to firm up a bit, and cut to size.  The texture on the side of the bottle top makes perfectly spaced bullets (on one side of the putty, but the other side is not likely to be in view, anyway.

I have a box full of sculpting tools, including the obligatory wax carvers, but almost always end up using the same ones for most work.  They tend to be a wedge-tipped and a round, point-tipped clay shaper (medium firmness), a sharp pointed decoupage tool (also, a slightly blunt decoupage tool: great for chainmail) and a modelling scalpel with the ubiquitous 10a blade.  Often, a cuticle pusher with a rubber/plastic tip finds it's way into use as well.  The clay shapers were the most expensive tools, but worth every penny.  Here's a photo of the usual suspects (the cuticle pusher is the last one on the right):



Instead of a dremel, I tend to use a battery-powered manicure tool, bought from a company in China on ebay for about £2.  Probably the best tool for filing down putty I have ever found:



I find the trick is to become comfortable with the tools you are using, and learn patience with the putty.  Remember to build things up in layers.

Smoothness is mainly due to using the clay shapers (sometimes with just a tiny smear of lip balm), and gently "buffing" in a circular motion on flatter surfaces, or continually teasing something into the shape I want.  Don't be afraid of redefining something that may get slighly blurred by the smoothing process.  As long as you are being gentle, it shouldn't destroy the detail.  My favourite tool for redefining details is the decoupage tool with the green handle.  It's surprising what can be achieved with something that looks like a needle wedged into the tip of a pen.  The sides of the scalpel blade can also be used to flatten areas on the model (for example, areas like the pouches on the belt of your model).  Again, I would lubricate the side of the blade with a bit of lip balm to stop it pulling the putty away from the model.

For weapons, I mix green stuff and milliput together (I find that miliput takes a nice edge, but is a bit crumbly, so mixing in the gs mitigates that problem), flatten it out (either by smearing some lip balm on two old credit card-type things, and sandwiching the putty in the middle, or by sprinkling some talcum powder on a smooth surface, and rolling the putty out like pastry), and leave to cure.  Then I carefully cut the shape out of the cured putty, and use the manicure tool to shape or add an edge.  The weapon is then pinned or attached in some other way, to the model (for example, guns can be made pretty secure against the chest of a model, but swords can be a bit trickier, so I always pin them).  Having a framework underneath is often useful.  My powerfist, for example, has been built over the original pointing finger in stages.  First, a rough shape of the clenched fist, then a little wire was added, and the pointy finger and it's three brethren detailed.  Then the "cowling" of the powerfist was added, and finally the thumb.  Each stage supported the next addition.

Phew!  Didn't mean to turn this post into a lecture, but hopefully you've gotten answers to your queries, and maybe picked out a few tips from my waffling.  Look forward to seeing some more examples of your work! 

[FierceKitty]

Compromise. Get a door with a large glass window in it. Easy to replace.

[FierceKitty]

p.s. Chainmail? What might that be?

[Ithoriel]

p.s. Chainmail? What might that be?

It's mail made of linked rings, rather than, say, scale mail, splint mail or banded mail 

[FierceKitty]

In other words, it's what is called mail in English?

[Ithoriel]

No, it's what's called chainmail in English. Only pretentious academics insist on using the antique term mail.

[FierceKitty]

Sure you aren't from California?

[fsn]

Wow! Thanks Atavus!

What a helpful response!

[getagrip]

Wow! Thanks Atavus!

What a helpful response!

I'll second that, useful tips for when I'm pulling putty.

Only happens about once a year mind 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

No, it's what's called chainmail in English. Only pretentious academics insist on using the antique term mail.

You know its wrong to pull the Kat's tail...fun though.

Must change my signature some time to "It's called Chainmail"

IanS

[Atavus]

Glad that I could be of assistance Fsn.  Make sure you post some photos of the supers!

Oh, and have I unwittingly stumbled into the middle of something with the chainmail/mail issue?  Both terms are of course, rife with ambiguity, being references to both a form of armour and postal or email communication, but I didn't mean to set a cat (Kat?) amongst the pigeons on this issue.

[FierceKitty]

There are a number of issues on which you'll end up taking sides in this forum. Try to be on the side of reason and decency. It'll protect your sanity a bit.

[jchaos79]

FSN your figure looks great!

[FierceKitty]

His eyes are unforgettable too.