"Want to learn to sculpt." Topic

Since I first got into miniatures gaming I've loved the idea of sculpting my own.

I splurged a few days ago and bought some supplies, Green stuff, sculpting tools, wire for armatures, etc.

There seems to be some really good tutorials on youtube. Are there any other resources I should know about?

One specific question I have is scale? For instance I normally game in 1/72 and that's what I'd like to sculpt. Is there anything specifically different about working in the different scales? Or is it as simple as making the armature in the proper scale and getting to work?

I'd like to try it sometime, too. One piece of advice I read somewhere is to learn how to draw first . Might make sense.

I was told a while back to start off by learning the feel of the materials and tools and to leave the worry over anatomy and scale until later on.

In other words, start sculpting.

Dan
PS. As you can see I'm still just starting off:
link

There's no real difference in sculpting in different scales other than judging what to leave in an what to leave out. That comes down to taste and experience. Don't get frustrated. GS is notoriously unfriendly media to sculpt in. If you haven't done so yet, start by converting some existing figures. It will give you a better idea of you want and how to handle the putty.

Start with conversions, and don't be too ambitious at the start. Take some time to learn how the putty reacts to the tools. Get comfortable with changing hats, adding packs and other simple stuff.

Even more important in my view is get a basic handle on how to draw people. There are lots of books both cheap and dear out there on this. That will help you immensely with construction and proportion; which is the hardest part (not the pushing putty around). Paradoxically detail is easier than proportion,
Once you can draw a decent human you can sculpt them too. I don't mean anything fancy, something like this will do;

If you are in Arkansas, as your name implies, consider going to ReaperCon in Dallas (actually Denton), Texas. Reaper brings in their sculptors and you have the opportunity to ask questions and maybe watch them work. Other conventions often have professional sculptors as guests--our local convention, Genghis Con in Denver, has brought in a sculptor several times, and he teaches a conversion class, but is usually happy to answer all sorts of sculpting questions.

Grelber

I agree with Clibinarium. I started with conversions of existing figures and progressed to completely original sculpts from armatures. There are lots of great YouTube tutorials as well, but I would start with conversions.

If you are doing wargame figure you want nowt to do with studying real human proportions IMHO. :)

do pay attention to potential shrinkage for the final fig size. Different rubbers and metals shrink at different rates.

I made this scale chart for myself when I started sculpting from some illustrations from the Andrew Loomis books.

I use it to create my armatures.

Lots of good advice here, thanks everyone. So I guess what I will do is start working on some conversions to get the feel of the material. I have some 1/72 Late Romans I'd to like to make a bit rougher for Romano-British, maybe add some beards and cloaks etc.

I've got some old figure sketching books from when I was in highschool I can dig out to get back in the habit.

I'll post some of my results here once I get to work.

Try mixing half greenstuff with half miliput fine and you get a medium that is not so sticky as greenstuff and you can cut straight surfaces thanks to the miliput. A happy medium.

I once got the "itch" to give sculpting a go to…. never did get around to it, but I did find this page (with tons of sub-pages) that seems like a lot of good information. I'm actually a little surprised this hasn't been posted already.

link

You can also use modeling clay to practice with. That way if you mess up, you can just squash the mistakes out & start over without worrying about wasting your sculpting putty…

You might be interested to try doing it the digital way – my brother, Chris, runs a miniatures company and one of their sculptors wrote an interesting article about the process when he was working on Jon Carter of Mars stuff.

The mag can be downloaded free here:
link

He uses some software called ZBrush which is pretty pricey, I think, but there's a free equivalent called Sculptris, which I had fun playing with.

Few things.

Firstly (sorry Alphus99), but forget going digital. We are here to sculpt, not program computers! Arkansan has already bought real sculpting stuff and does not need to fork out again for fancy computers and programs to be obsolete next week. Clay and the like has serviced real artists for thousands of years. 'Nuff said.

The idea of trying with plasticine is a good one. Bees wax mixed with vaseline (petroleum jelly) is also great to try. Too sticky? Add talc.

Green stuff and miliputt mixed is great also. I mix the green stuff, then part A MP that size and part B the same size again, then mix the 3 together. It is horrendous when you start mixing together, but once done it is terrific. It may also cheapen the cost, depending what you paid for the green.

Have tried pro-create. Funny name, but is awesome, like the green mili mix only better. Always seems more expensive though, and I have a freezer full of green stuff.

Do learn anatomy. Sketching and doodling. It is required for armatures as well as the sculpting. Grab old mags, also try free catalogues grab a stack from the department stores, the more skin the better for bones and mussels, but do clothing as well, of course. Grab a texta and just draw over them, sketching the anatomy. Try to be quick and energetic. You will learn a lot real fast.

Burne Hogarth's dynamic anatomy books are well worth a look. Cheaper anatomy books are available at discount book stores.

Books, mags and cats are great for reference. Cheap and free. Tactile and useable. Start your stack today!

Take a close look at minis. See how they were sculptured. How they have been layered.

Copy an existing figure for practice, thats how many of the great artists started out, by copying the masters. Keep redoing it until you can sculpt one just like it. Just don't try to sell them, or give them away, of course, they are just for practice. You will learn how to do do all sorts of textures and things.

Try to be like the worst sculptors first. Thats how Todd Mcfarlane started in comics, and look what happened to him!

hi everyone, im new at this hobby and at my first attempt to sculpt minis, i realized that basic drawing stuff makes the difference.

they are not the best, but for my first 32mm minis i think my drawing skills helped me a lot.

is not the best material for minis, but i do my best before buying expensive polimer clay.

Also, Sorry for my bad english

Those are pretty good. (The whip guy reminds me of Jackie Chan ;-) And the more you do it, the better you'll get.

Can't draw for toffee. But been sculpting for 45 years. Basic wire armature to start with. Good solid base. To get anywhere with Miniatures they need to be tough, need to go through moulding processes.150 centigrade and pressed to 20 tons. It's got to look right on the gaming table so all these size charts to get proportions right go straight out the window. Just build a bit, add a bit more when it's dryed. Most limbs, feet, hands, arms roll out a sausage shaped bit of green stuff or better yet Milliput, sausage shape narrower to the ankles or hands and press it round the wire armature. Just use a scalpel, but be careful they're sharp.

It's practice, more practice and yet more p*******e. BUT the future is 3D, it's going to change things drastically. The finished figure is leaps and bounds ahead of sculpting by hand. The detail you can achieve is incredible.

And yes we have been sculpting for thousands of years, riding to church on horse back to but most of us drive cars…… that's the future, always evolving.

All the best Wilt