Green Stuff tutorials?

[FifteensAway]

I imagine there must be some here on LAF, tutorials on using green stuff to modify figures.

The reason I bring this up is I've encountered a few recent suggestions to 'newbies' to do so but with no guidance on how to do it.  And, yes, of course, I realize many of us can figure it out on our own.  But others might need - and greatly appreciate - some guidance.

So, either pointers to good tutorials already here or someone needs to post such a tutorial.  I'd hunt it up but head is nodding so off to bed for me, too short a night's sleep so need to hit the hay as they say.

[Rick]

Not sure I've really seen any actually.
The only tips I can give you are that you don't need a range of expensive tools to sculpt greenstuff (or brownstuff, or a mix of both) - you can get some decent results with cocktail sticks cut to the shape you want (some fine points, some flat or blunt round, some flattened) and a coffee stirrer to get a wide, flat look. Also when smoothing down the greenstuff, keep your tools wet - it'll stop them sticking to the greenstuff and helps to smooth it a bit as well.

[Daeothar]

Keeping tools wet with water (or saliva) helps, but there are those that use vaseline for the same purposes. I personally use the tiniest bit of (motor)oil on mine to keep them from sticking.

Also; for some applications, fresh green stuff is great, but most of the time, working with a slightly curing product is preferable, again because it won't stick as much. But beware; too cured, and it won't be as malleable. Find the goldilocks zone through experience, because it depends on the age of the green stuff, room temperature, humidity, etc.

The most important thing I've been taught about using green stuff (or any other kind of putty) is to first learn how to smoothen it to a solid, smooth surface. And when you can do this, you can start doing things like folds, fingers or faces.

You will always over-estimate the required amount, so there will be surplus mixed green stuff. Use this to create small, simple shapes you can later put to use. Because I have a growing Night Goblin army, I tend to use my remaining green stuff to make tons of little mushrooms for instance.

When mixing the two components, keep in mind what you want to sculpt. When you want something smooth and (relatively) hard edged, use more blue component. If you need a more flexible and or more organic part, use more yellow. This goes for other putties as well; there's a hard and a soft component (for lack of knowing a better terminology ) with each kind of putty. I also use ProCreate for instance, and it has a grey (hard) and white (soft) component.

When sculpting free standing/hanging parts, make sure you use a frame to support the putty. I mentioned those Night Goblins; for some longer flowing hoods, I pinned a piece of (paperclip) wire in the correct place, and sculpted the pointed hoods around that. For longer or larger parts, I prefer to use twisted wire, to prevent the sculpted parts to twist and rotate on a single wire when sculpting.

Sculpt in layers. It's rare you will be able to sculpt a part in one go. Yes, it takes time, but it's also more reliable. First sculpt a rough shape, slightly thinner than the envisaged end result and let that dry thoroughly. Then, go over it with the final, cosmetic layer. It can happen that you sculpt the inner portion too bulky (happens to me a lot actually), but then you simply cut away material until you have enough space to sculpt on the top layer. The rare miniatures I've sculpted from scratch were all done like this.

Practice. Those excess pieces of putty I tend to turn into mushrooms? You can also use those to practice sculpting hands or faces. I tend to struggle the most with those two. So for a while I tried my hand at faces every time I had some excess putty. But bear in mind that sculpting for a time is really tiring and taxing on the body and eyes, so chances are you're going to be quite done when you stop sculpting on your piece, so then tackling a challenge such as a face or hand is simply not in the cards. But actual planned practicing sessions should be possible.

I'm sure there are loads more tips, and others will complement the above, no doubt, but this is what I came up with off the top of my head. Hope it helps

[zemjw]

There's the Mini Sculpting Super Show by Tom Mason on YouTube that covers loads of topics (link at bottom of post)

Regarding Daeothar's comment about always overestimating - yup, every single time

As well as simple tools, silicon clayshapers are incredibly useful for folds, as well as general smoothing.

I bought a plastic lunchbox a few years back, and keep a cool block in the lid, with the mixed greenstuff in the bottom compartment, all stored inside a cheap cool bag. It keeps the greenstuff workable for much longer than usual, especially in warm weather.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMtDX54Ksm_lZurGX_-T9mLl2weJXmZVB

[FifteensAway]

zemjw, that link to those tutorials should be very helpful - and most of the sculpting related ones are kept shorter than twenty minutes.  Seems the longer videos are mostly interviews or reflections rather than tutorials.  Took a peek at a couple and I think they will be very helpful to those who want to sculpt miniatures.  So, thank you.

What I did not see - and might be there, there are a lot of videos - was using green stuff to add to existing miniatures but the other posters in this thread offered assistance.  And I'd guess that information may be buried in one or more of the tutorials.

And, while I might try my hand at sculpting or using green stuff to add to existing figures - the latter much more likely - I am hoping this thread will be helpful to others, especially newbies, who get told to 'use green stuff' as the sum total of the advice but nothing about how to do it.  So, thanks to those who have replied so far and, please, keep on adding information, especially about adding to existing figures. 

One specific question - do you need to prep the exisiting figure prior to adding green stuff and, if so, how do you prepare the existing figure (and how, if different, for metal versus resin/plactic)?  I'd guess, at a minimum, the figure needs to be cleaned of any release agent which might interfere with the contact point being permanent.  Which leads to another question, how durable are green stuff (or other materials used) once dried and painted and sealed?  Are they prone to be an easy break off point or pretty sturdy?

And, I guess, while green stuff is the common reference, maybe some advice on what the best materials are and when to use which type might be helpful - though I'm sure that is included in many of the linked videos?  Still be nice to have in this thread.

Thanks!

[Daeothar]

The only time I've had putty fall off the miniature I was working on was when that particular mini was used to make a vulcanised rubber mould. The heat turned the grey (ProCreate) putty brown and some of the parts fell off.

But for simple one-off conversions on plastic/metal/resin miniatures, I've never had this problem. Also; primer, paint and varnish will greatly add to the structural integrity of the miniature. This is especially helpful with very small additions. For instance, medals on a uniform, or a moustache.

And for larger additions, such as a new arm, a flowing hood or a billowing cape, make sure you pinned them beforehand for extra strength.

As for prepping: the usual stuff you'd do before painting any mini; a good wash to remove any release agent. That's all really. Oh, and when using vaseline or oil to lubricate your tools, make sure to wash the miniature again before priming of course!

My favourite sculpting putty by far is/was ProCreate. Sadly it's not produced anymore, but it was excellent. It was made exclusively for sculpting, and it had some properties that were excellent for miniature sculpting. It was relatively soft, so would be easily manipulated, had no 'memory' (so would not flex back after being manipulated) but it would dry a lot harder than greenstuff for instance. Also; it could be filed and sanded so sword edges could actually be created.

Then there's green stuff, which can probably be considered the industry standard. It's not as precise as ProCreate, but readily available and relatively cheap. It does have a tiny amount of memory/flex, but still not bad at all. I find it's best used for more organic shapes though. The more blue you use, the harder the end result (but also the more difficult it gets to use).

Brown sstuff, if it's still available, was known for its very precise edges, since it dried rockhard. So it could be filed and sanded, even more so than ProCreate. I 've never used it myself and I heard it too was discontinued at some point, but it was the standard when it came to sculpting sharp edges.

Then there apparently is also blue stuff, but apart from some references here and there, I've never heard much about it. I don't even know the properties…

Apoxy Sculpt is another two component one, which I actually have used. It's another one that dries really hard, but in my experience, it's got a bit of a texture, so it might be unsuited for very detailed work. It can be sanded like nothing else though.

[anevilgiraffe]

I've never regretted buying some silicon headed sculpting tools (Temu will have them if you're on a budget), complete game changer even though I doubt I'm using them to their best... smoothing out creases, removing finger prints... amazing tool

[Rick]

I use Greenstuff, Brownstuff (yes you can still get it) and, sometimes a mix of both. Brownstuff, because it dries harder and more rigid, is great for sculpting free-standing or unsupported parts, whilst greenstuff dries to a more flexible, bendy shape. If I'm sculpting a billowing cloak, or an arm or something like that, I'll model a bare or flat shape (a minimal armature) out of brown stuff then, when that's cured, I'll go over with greenstuff (or green/brown if I need more strength) to create folds, creases and some of the detail - It's far easier to build up detail in thin layers than to try to sculpt/cut back down into the putty after it's cured. But always have a clear idea of what the finished thing is going to be like (more or less) - draw a rough sketch if you have the skill - it helps to visualise what you need to do at each level; especially if you're doing a complicated sculpt.

[HerbertTarkel]

Cold water for me changed how green stuff and sculpting worked. Simple as that. Beyond that, you can either sculpt, or you can’t. I mostly can’t.