Sculpting an owlbear...

[Lovejoy]

In our latest Kickstarter project, we had an owlbear miniature. While I was sculpting it, I took photos, so I thought I'd share the sculpting process....

First of all, I made an armature out of 3 pieces of brass rod (.81mm thickness). Using three pieces let me include a wire for the head as well as all 4 limbs. Then I bent the wires to show where the joints would be. Obviously an Owlbear isn't a real animal, so I just decided for myself where the joints would go. Then I posed the armature, into a hunting / stalking pose, and attached it to a sculpting block. This is one I use for bigger sculpts, or anything with 4 limbs. It has several thin sections, to allow it to be used for lots of different sizes and poses.

[Lovejoy]

Next I used some Milliput putty to form a central core to the model.

[Lovejoy]

I wanted the Owlbear to be as close to a real animal as possible, so I began the sculpting by roughing in a basic skeleton.

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Then I made a base using a mix of Milliput and Green Stuff; I let it cure, then drilled holes into it and attached the armature.

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The next step was adding muscles; I printed pictures of bear musculature, but also prehistoric big cats, and a T-rex... I could see an Owlbear being descended from a dinosaur of some kind, like a Psitaccosaurus maybe.

Then I started adding muscles to the skeleton, paying attention to the pose and the way that affected the muscle's flexion and extension.

I added eyeballs at this point too.

[Lovejoy]

I then added the beak, and let the whole thing cure.

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Next it was time to start on the fur / feathers... I added thin strips of putty to the head, and blended them together. Then I textured them to look furry. At this point, the top of the head was a bit too low; I needed to add more mass, but I'd run out of putty. So I just decided to add to it gradually as I did other parts.

[Lovejoy]

While the head was curing, I decided to start on the feet. I added blobs of putty to the front feet toe areas and shaped them. I marked in lines for the toes, then marked in the claws, and generally shaped and tidied them. Then I did the same for the back feet.

After that, I added more putty to work up the back of the feet.

Then I used flattened strips of putty to add scales to the fronts of the feet, and marked them to look like separate scales.

[OSHIROmodels]

Cracking work  

I really love the way you've gone about it as well. How long has it taken so far?

cheers

James

[Lovejoy]

(Jim, it took about 10 days to complete, but I was doing other stuff at the same time, so it was probably about 5 or 6 full days really.)



I then went back to the fur / feathers. I added fresh putty to the front part of the body, and marked in the rough lines of separation for the fur. I then textured it to look furry.

[Lovejoy]

Then I continued the same way across the rest of the body.

[Lovejoy]

I then started work on the back legs; it was the same procedure as the body, but you can see the texturing process a bit better here. I mark in the lines of separation for the fur, then I use the blunt end of my sculpting tool to roughly mark each tuft of fur. Finally I work each one with the sharp end of the tool, gradually turning them into 'V' shaped marks. You just need to keep gradually refining them until it looks right...

[Lovejoy]

I then began on the front arms / wings... and ran into a problem. Partway through, I realised that although the pattern of feathers I was using worked on that leg, once I turned to the other side, the leg position would make those feathers unworkable. So I stopped, let it cure, then cut it away...

[Lovejoy]

I decided to do the other side first, as any feather arrangement that fitted OK there would also work on the opposite leg.

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Then I turned it around, and did the other leg, for the second time...