The last generation of figure sculptors

[GrumpyOldMan]

Hello

It's knowing where you have to 'cheat' and 'compromise' that makes up a fair proportion of the sculptor's armoury.

Shoosh You're giving away too many secrets 

Agree totally. It's the knowledge of what will work, both technically and visually that sets the sculptor apart. Sometimes this entails a bag of broken bits sent back from the mould maker and marking it down to experience 

Also look at the differences in body part and equipment ratios between a typical 3d figure and 10mm figure.



It would almost mean relearning 3d modelling to fit in with casting/visual requirements. Sometimes it's not the details, it's the impression of details that's important  .

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

[Last Hussar]

I don't dispute there are differences.  I have skytrex 1:200, and Pendraken look positively obese next to them.  I suspect the Skytrex is the more accurate - they just don't look as good!

Note I did say 'last generation' - its not going to happen over night.  Also point take re mould masters- vent points, robustness etc.  But within a decade or two rgw tech will be affordable.  I wouldn't be surprised if vehicles are the first- so called 'Hard modelling' (as opposed to soft - people).  A computer can already work out shapes from photos, and I would imagine they are the easiest to plan moulds for, and they are set shapes, no poses, no flapping cloaks.

The thing is if Techno or Clib want a second pose, they have to model it anew.  Same pose, different period - new model.  Once we have a basic maquette in a computer, you always have it.  It may well not be perfectly proportioned because of the needs of mould/scale, but it is always there.  The computer can work out the vents- that is just physics.

I don't think they will be out of a job, but I don't think they will have successors who specifically do what they do (which is what I mean by the post title).  SOMEBODY will be doing it, but they won't be chopping bits off themselves!

[Ithoriel]

SOMEBODY will be doing it, but they won't be chopping bits off themselves!

Where's the fun in that? BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!

[Last Hussar]

Beer for the Beer god

[Techno]

The thing is if Techno or Clib want a second pose, they have to model it anew.  Same pose, different period - new model.  Once we have a basic maquette in a computer, you always have it.  It may well not be perfectly proportioned because of the needs of mould/scale, but it is always there.  The computer can work out the vents- that is just physics.

I may well be getting the wrong end of the stick here, LH......But.......

Clib and I already work from a number of differently posed 'dollies'..(Each of our own individual 'style')....I'm sure the other guys do too.
These are relatively quick to make.

For myself, I've just made up a number of 'stick men', with  'finished' bald heads and faces...Bent the legs and torsos to the position I require, and then 'bulked out' each one out very slightly so that it casts a bit more easily.....Then stick those on  bases.

I've got a packet of these 'nude dollies' sitting on the desk, ready to be used for any period/uniform.

I DID have to make a smaller selection of poses, in a slightly bigger size, for the Warband figures.....As the fantasy range is slightly, but noticeably, bigger.

If I completely run out of dollies, before Leon has a chance to cast more up, I pick the green stuff from old masters, and reuse those.
I have to boil them in a saucepan, first...to loosen the greenstuff........and make sure they don't come into contact with the saucepan itself. I tend to put them in to a plastic colander as well, nowadays, 'cos the first time I tried 'cooking' them, I almost let the saucepan boil dry and one of the wee men started melting.

Like I said above...I may have got the wrong end of the stick here....But we don't make every new figure completely from scratch.

Cheers - Phil

[Wulf]

I've got a packet of these 'nude dollies' sitting on the desk, ready to be used for any period/uniform.

I've got completely the wrong image now... 

...I hope it's wrong... 

Wulf

[Techno]

 

There's no point in putting on anatomical detail on these particular little dudes.

Cheers - Phil

[Wulf]

You're not doing the Ancient Brits with Dangly Bits then...

[Last Hussar]

I don't know masses re the masters- I was under the impression you needed a new base figure each time; it sound like you use those dollies up as you do each new model.

[Leon]

The 3D sculpting is coming on in leaps and bounds, but it's currently still an issue of cost for us.  I've had a 28mm vehicle designed and printed in 3D at a reasonable cost compared to a traditionally modelled equivalent.  Having that same vehicle made in 10mm though would have only reduced the costs by about 10%, making it completely unviable for Pendraken to do.  The print quality was excellent, no striations at all, so the technology is there, just not at a price which we can work with.

[Last Hussar]

To be clear, I'm not saying 'now', but as you say - leaps and bounds.  10 years ago you couldn't have got that vehicle.

I am NOT suggesting Dave just pack up, and kick Techno out etc (Orcs, yes, not Techno! ) . Put it this way, if in 1996 you had said 'HMV etc are doomed, because music/books/stuff will be sent over the internet, and/or delivered by flying robots' people would have made the same sort of arguments.   Again, I am not saying mass market stuff, just the one off masters, though no doubt mass market is coming. Once the resolution is dealt with, then you print sprues- makes more sense than individual figures.  And then colour printing - the trousers tunic etc are already printed in colour, and the customer adds the details.

I think by 2030 (assuming there hasn't been a new Dark Age) you will be able to buy figure designs the same way you buy pdfs for buildings.  I would suggest that what you may well find is a business model where you don't download the design, but you connect your printer to the vendor's server, and his computer prints on your printer- this would allow licences to be sold- a purchase ID that gives you 'y' prints, thus helping avoid piracy.

As I understand it the process from idea to painting table is long and fraught with pit falls.  in 2030 this will be avoided - the seller will be paid for the right for you to make his designs- again like PDF buildings.

I'm sure Phill will be gracing us with tales of blade related accidents for some years.  I just don't think we will have a Techno replacement in 2030 (only 14 years away!)

Put it this way- You all sit on chairs.  When was the last time you heard of someone being employed as a 'bodger' - a skilled job before the word mutated into it's current usage.

[Ithoriel]

Put it this way- You all sit on chairs.  When was the last time you heard of someone being employed as a 'bodger' - a skilled job before the word mutated into it's current usage.

8 or 9 days ago, depending on whether this is "today" because I haven't been to bed yet or "tomorrow" because it's after midnight.

Friend does woodworking, metalworking and glasswork. The woodworking is largely chair making and he refers to himself as the Blackhall Bodger.

[Techno]

I was under the impression you needed a new base figure each time; it sound like you use those dollies up as you do each new model.

This is true, LH.

Having said that, quite a few of the green stuff/metal masters don't survive intact, once they've been pressed......So those dollies can happily be reused.
It doesn't really matter if I recycle an intact master either.

The master mould is really more important than the wee men themselves.

Cheers - Phil

[Last Hussar]

8 or 9 days ago, depending on whether this is "today" because I haven't been to bed yet or "tomorrow" because it's after midnight.

Friend does woodworking, metalworking and glasswork. The woodworking is largely chair making and he refers to himself as the Blackhall Bodger.

There's always one...

And they are usually here.

[Orcs]

Well the new generation of injection moulded plastic figure has been around for quite a few years and people are still making and  buying metal figures.

I agree some bulk out the army with plastics, but they are fiddly to put together as some are made up of 5 or more parts per figure.  I much prefer the weight and feel of metal figures. I also prefer painting metal figures to plastic ones.

I have bought them occasionally for the sake of cost but even this  cost is not quite so cut and dried. 12 plastic cavalry are around £22.  You can get 12 metal cavalry for around £24. There are still far more ranges and manufacturers making metal figures than plastic.

I for one will have to see a much bigger cost saving than we are getting now.