Sculpting Alien Huts - and now alien trees! 25/10/17

[Jagannath]

Hullo all,

I'm finally getting round to building a village type thing for my GZG crusties - in my sci fi world they're desert dwelling creatures, sometimes nomadic with termite-esque villages they travel between.

So, I want to make some 'soft' desert buildings a bit like the old Snapdragon terrain:



Or mud huts:



Im going to just sculpt these I think, what should I use?

It's 15mm so I was considering using Miliput - it's not crazy expensive and I know how to use it. What's Fimo like for this type of job? How does it paint afterwards?

Any other materials better?


Cheers

[robh]

I would suggest using DAS self drying clay for the bulk of the structure and keep the milliput for the detail.

DAS has the advantage that its texture when dry is slightly rough/fibrous and will make a very natural looking surface in 15mm.

[Jagannath]

Wow- I haven't thought about DAS for years.

My concern with DAS was that it would takes days to dry in the centre. if at all,  if I make quite large structures (~100mm diameter), is that not the case? I haven't used DAS since I was a child.

Thanks for suggesting.

[OSHIROmodels]

If the structures are solid you can use scrunched up tinfoil as a base and then put a layer of DAS on top of that.

cheers

James

[Jagannath]

That's a great idea, thanks - I think they will be solid, seems an easier bet, rather than getting cocky. Other than the drying I like the idea of using DAS because it's got a good texture. Does it paint OK when dry?

[OSHIROmodels]

If you prime it with a good quality primer it'll be fine. It does tend to soak up the paint a bit (hence the primer).

cheers

James

[Jagannath]

I mostly use gesso, which i guess is even better for this application - dry clay is surely closer to canvas than little metal men are! Kewl - off to Fred Aldous I go.

[OSHIROmodels]

Post some pictures when you're making them 

cheers

James

[sukhe_bator]

You could use some cheap plastic kitchen tablespoon measures as a former to mould the DAS over to create domes. You could use the various measure sizes if you want to add apses/extra domes to build more complicated structures...
https://seanhwilliams.wordpress.com/tag/sandbag-dome/

[Jagannath]

I'm slowly accumulating various shapes as moulds/formers, got some good organic shapes now.

Imhoping to sit down tonight and start work on them, so might put some pics in later.

[manic _miner]

 This sounds like a really cool project.One which i will be watching.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

I saw these in a French Language Graphic Novel called L'Alkaest and thought they were worth sharing.





I would suggest making them with DAS modelling clay.

Tony

[Jagannath]

Thanks Tony,

They look great. I want a combination of that type of round hut but also somethings like this:



Like they mulch the houses themselves (like wasps).

I'm really inspired by the structure on the backs of these beasts from Prophet:



Quite excited by this idea now!

[snitcythedog]

Another thought would be papermache over a plastic form like half a plastic ball or a plastic dish.  I am talking about the commercial stuff not just ripped up newspaper. If you leave the forms in that will provide support and all you have to do is worry about sealing the surface.  Pva brushed on neat would work.  It would give you a realistic texture on the surface too.  Just another option. 
Snitchy sends.

[has.been]

Many years ago I bought some of the Snap Dragon (6mm?) sci-fi buildings. Half were beautifully painted (by them) and half unpainted. They languished in a box since then as I could not match the painting style and did not want to loose the paint job. Last month I finally plucked up the courage. My painting skill must have (greatly) improved over the decades as the old & new sit well together.

I was thinking about adding to them, and in the absence of Snap Dragon, looked about.

Kryomec? (alien bio-mechanics) tend to come in two part resin, each with a flat side. I have found they look quite nice as buildings if (instead of gluing the flat sides together) the flat sides were glued to bases.

Mainly Military used to do a 6mm Sci-Fi range which look nice along side Snap Dragon (yes I am a hoarder & have a shoe box full of Mainly Military stuff)

Some Papier-Mache packaging looks nicely 'organic' and could be used as a starter.

If using Das or similar I would make a 'stamp' for doors & windows, emboss them into the basic shape.

I hope this helps.