Sculpting advice.

[Cubs]

Right, I've been umming and aahhing for ages about sculpting myself a 28mm model from scratch. It's not really for using (although that would be a bonus), it's more about getting some practice in and seeing if I can do a serviceable job of it before making a model for my brother's 50th birthday in a couple of years' time.

I've got some Hasslefree 25-28mm armatures ready, so the first part is already cheated away. I just really wanted to see what other members think would be a good subject to have a go at.

I'd ideally like something with a fairly simple pose and easily rendered kit/weaponry, in an historical subject matter (because that's what I understand best) - WW2 British, Medieval, Dark Age Viking, Zulu War I'm probably most comfortable with.

I also had an odd idea about maybe doing some comicbook stuff, on the grounds that (I hope I've got this right) as long as I don't actually label the model as a copyrighted character, I am allowed to transfer a 2d to a 3d sculpt without being dragged off by GW-style legal inquisitors.

I love the 2000AD Zenith stories, and there's plenty to choose from there.

What d'ya think?

[Cubs]

This has been useful, I'll try to take it all on board.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

As long as you don't sell it, you can sculpt anything you want to - nobody can stop you (or would want to).

The problem comes when the copyright holder has licensed his work to a manufacturer.
Most legal action is brought to stop somebody selling unlicensed products in vast quantities.

[Mason]

This has been useful, I'll try to take it all on board.

 

Only just seen this, mate.

My feelings on the subject...

Having just had a go a sculpting some stuff myself for the first time, I would suggest something not too intricate to practise on.

Superhero types sound perfect and I am thinking about having a go at some myself.

Using armatures is a great head start as it is pretty easy to get proportions out of scale with each other, especially arms.
Practise makes perfect as they say. and I think I am getting the hang of that bit now.

Another thing to remember is think of it as 'dressing' the sculpt as you add clothes.
I find it easier to create a dummy of a 'naked' miniature and add clothes to it.
The armature should alleviate some of this, but when adding details think backwards: So an arm for instance, I find it best to work in the following order:

Make the hand first and add the 'thumb' after it has cured. Then add the the cuff of the shirt if there is one, then wait for curing before adding any coat over the top, for example.

Another thing to think of is curing time.
You need to wait for areas to cure before moving on as you will often accidentally touch an area and ruin it.
The best way around this, I have found, is to work on several sculpts at once.
That way you can move on to another figure rather than hanging around waiting for an area to cure.

Hope this helps.
As I said, I have only tinkered myself, so am no expert.
Just my findings and a few tips that I feel may help.
 

[Keith]

Vikings. Has to be vikings (or Saxons if you must). Nice and irregular, lots of cloth and textures to do, and a beard hides a multitude of sins when sculpting faces :-)

[beefcake]

Not sure if this is against forum rules so please remove if it is but I would check out minisculpture.co.uk Vermis who is on here is the admin for it and it houses many good sculptors for advice etc on sculpting. Give it a look.

[Daeothar]

Real good advice from Mason already, but allow me to add some cents of my own.

- Make sure you have enough reference material available.
- Work in layers; don't try to do too much in one session. Chances are that you will fingerprint areas you worked on earlier, or even completely squish them, if you move too fast and try to do too much in one go.
- Smoothing your putty is the hardest part oddly enough. Try practicing on making flowing cloth lines before tackling a full miniature.
- Look at other miniatures. A lot. Handle them, feel the curves under your fingers, look at different angles etc, to get familiar with the way this whole miniature thing works.
- Get the best tools you can get your hands on. That does not neccesarily mean the most expensive, but often the good stuff  has a matching price tag. Check out Tiranti's; their dental tools are the top choice. But of course, if a toothpick works for you, go with that. Mostly, experimenting with different tools will soon reveal your favourite.
- Chainmail or hair/fur are relatively easy effects to accomplish, and help camouflage otherwise dodgy areas, so they might be a good starting point for your first mini.
- When building up an armature, don't shy away from cutting away excess material before starting the next layer. I tend to move forward and backwards again when adding layers.
- For your first mini, look at existing heads to use, instead of trying to sculpt your own face from scratch. faces and hands are some of the most difficult areas to get right, so get some practice on other areas first, before trying to add expression and wrinkles to that old man sculpt you envisaged. Hasslefree and Heresy, but also Crooked Dice have a wide selection of heads available.
- Material choice is important; Green Stuff, Brown Stuff and ProCreate are all pretty comparable, but have slightly different characteristics, mostly in how much memory the material has, or how hard it dries. No matter which one, make sure you lube your tool. Yes, yes, and your sculpting tool as well...   Sources tell of using water or saliva, but I've found that baby oil works the best by far. Why waterbased lubricants keep being promoted, I have no idea...

And finally; you can sculpt whatever the frack you want! Also of copyrighted subject matter. And you can show it off as well all over the interwebs. You can even make a mould and cast a couple of thousand pieces from it. But don't start selling them, because that would be stepping on somebody's IP.

In short, when sculpting something from an existing IP: Private use good, selling bad!

[zemjw]

It's worth checking out Miniature Mentor. I've just re-watched the James Van Schaik tutorial. It uses greenstuff, but there are some FIMO turorials there as well.

There's a yahoo sculpting group that may be of use. It's pretty quiet at the moment, but it's been running for years so there are plenty of archives to read through.

[Cubs]

You're only replying now because you feel sorry for me.

I'll take it though ... I'm not too proud to accept pity.

All good stuff, I'm absorbing it all, thanks.

[6milPhil]

I once asked Kev White, of Hasslefree fame, what his top tip was for sculpting and he said "Use wooden tools, it limits drag.". Of course you can make your own from cocktail sticks, coffee stirrers, etc and to whatever shape you might need.

I still haven't really got anywhere though.

[former user]

yes, we feel very sorry for You 
Anyway, why don't You just make a 3D scan of the head or the whole person and try a CGI sculpt?

You could use the head scan and make a whole army for him or a series in all kinds of gear?

[zemjw]

Cubs - wasn't ignoring you, I just missed the initial post. Weekends are hobby time, and I find I'm much more productive if I stay away from that Internet thing  . At work, however...

Anyways, in compensation, another link

[Vermis]

Not sure if this is against forum rules so please remove if it is but I would check out minisculpture.co.uk Vermis who is on here is the admin for it and it houses many good sculptors for advice etc on sculpting. Give it a look.

 

Plenty of stickied lists and links of resources on there, as well as a eye or two to cast over WIPs.

Mason and Daeothar speak plenty of good stuff already. Couple of comments.

- Smoothing your putty is the hardest part oddly enough. Try practicing on making flowing cloth lines before tackling a full miniature.

This! Smoothing putty is one of the biggest initial skills to learn, IMO. Seen a lot of beginners make good progress with anatomy, proportion, other areas of putty manipulation; but their sculpts are still a bit marred by pockmarks, fingerprints, lines in unblended putty, etc.

- Get the best tools you can get your hands on. That does not neccesarily mean the most expensive

Case in point: GW sell a relatively expensive tool, but it's almost completely rubbish.

but often the good stuff  has a matching price tag. Check out Tiranti's; their dental tools are the top choice. But of course, if a toothpick works for you, go with that. Mostly, experimenting with different tools will soon reveal your favourite.

For other top-quality tools, a small handful of uk dentist suppliers retail to the public. They're easiest found on ebay, IMO. Search for zahle (the famous 'wax 5'; Tiranti's SG) or lecron (the type GW's tool is crudely based on; Tiranti's SA) wax carvers. I bought a couple of Medentra branded tools that way - they're pretty decent.
Sets of less high-end wax carvers are available from lots of sources, particulary diy sellers and certain pound shops; but I have to stick in a plug for Heresy Miniatures here.

Besides some of the sticky threads on minisculpture, take a look at this to see some of the esoteric shapes and names of wax carvers. My own opinion of a good type for mini-sculpting, is that it should incorporate a 'blade' edge; maybe another blunt edge; a reasonable point; a relatively wide, flat surface; and a slightly curved surface (a miniature metal 'fingertip' for pushing and smoothing. ) Zahles and lecrons are good for all that, though they aren't the only ones (IIRC Ed at Troll Forged Miniatures uses the Beale type a lot) and I second Daeothar in that what's good and comfortable for you is something for you to find out.
Including those wooden tools! I don't use them much myself, but I'm not about to start rebutting Kev White on the subject, and I've seen others swear by toothpicks and get pretty good results with them. I've also tried making some from skewers and chopsticks (as per an old Reaper craft article), and it's a lot easier to come up with personalised shapes in bamboo than in steel and brass! The only warnings I'd give are to smooth over furry or splintered surfaces, and maybe set any toothpicks in some kind of handle.

Chainmail or hair/fur are relatively easy effects to accomplish

YMMV

- Material choice is important; Green Stuff, Brown Stuff and ProCreate are all pretty comparable, but have slightly different characteristics, mostly in how much memory the material has, or how hard it dries.

Unfortunately brown stuff might be a bit scarce these days. It's all but discontinued; only to be manufactured on demand when someone puts in a large enough order. Too large for all or most small retailers, I gather.
Green stuff and procreate are two of the remaining 'elastic' putties. I'd also put in a good word for some of the hard-curing claylike putties, particularly for reproducing some of brown stuff's 'fine edge' properties, but that might be muddying the waters too much for a beginner. Just starting out, either green stuff or procreate is good, though I'd emphasise getting either as fresh as possible. Another plug for Andy at Heresy! He keeps it frozen. (no joke; it helps keep it fresh!)
Also, note that Polymeric Systems - green stuff's manufacturer - now recommends a mix of 1.5 parts yellow to 1 part blue for general use. Or 3:2. It does make the putty a bit less stiff, easier to push and smooth, and with less of the 'spring back' memory that can sometimes be a problem with GS.

Why waterbased lubricants keep being promoted, I have no idea...

Works for me. I agree that water can be a problem when it's dripping off the tool, getting where it shouldn't, stopping putty sticking and making the more water-soluble types a bit messy; but that's another wee bit of the learning curve, IMO. Personally, I keep a blister sponge in a small dish (a ferrero rocher 4-pack!) and wet it. Helps control the amount of water nicely.
Oil-based lubricants are definitely a very viable option, but I don't know if they're just quite my cup of tea.

[Korwin Miniatures]

Buy some body building magazine and sculpt one of the guys from picture there. It is great lesson of anatomy and you can than add some weapon and hero is ready  .