bgcdazzler's first ever mini WIP (a confusion of cockups and learnings)

bgcdazzler

New member
Thank you to everyone that has voted; they are both doing far better thanI ever expected! I'm blushing now.

I did promise to show my homemade tools, so here we go:

1. This is a big paperclip end taped to a kebab skewer. I filed the end at an angle so it has a smooth side for mini blending and a chisel edge for sharp lines. I stuck a bit of putty next to it to show how fine the detail can be. I like this one!

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2. This is a bit more of the paper clip bent to a loop and stuck on. It doesn't do fine details but it is great for pushing the clay around and leaving a really smooth curve.

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3. The trusty kebab skewer. You can see from the putty just how rough and crumbly the finish is, but it's still useful.

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4. I cut a bit of silicone off my Sprogrot mold, pushed a pin into it for strength and taped it down. It is soft so doesn't really do any detail, but it seems to be really good for smoothing without losing any fine details.

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I definitely recommend trying tools like these out; I'm having a lot of fun messing around with them and I think they've really helped me get the proportions and detailing better on my ork.

Here's a quick preview of the chest and belly:

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ArchArad

New member
Thanks for posting your experiments with tool making. For the second tool - I saw someone loop a guitar string and attach it to a rod to create a scraper for rough shaping and smoothing.
 

bgcdazzler

New member
That's a good idea... And kinda embarrassing that I didn't think of it, considering my hobby corner is dominated by this:

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Here's the results of last night's prodding and poking (yes, I sped up a bit. Oops...):

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Sicks

Active member
I spy a lefty! Nice guitars :) your orc is looking nice so far, though I feel a Wayne's world quote coming on.... Was it really necessary to see the crack in the orcs bottom?

He looks a tad skinny around the waist but that will likely bulk out when you add clothing
 

ArchArad

New member
I remembered that your "man corner" housed a couple of guitars - that's why I mentioned it. :)

You're allowed to speed up - it's your hobby done your way after all. Not everyone has to move at the pace of continental drift like yours truly (plus I may have had another character pop into my head who demanded I start sculpting him - too many ideas!)
 

bgcdazzler

New member
Major cockup time (again)...

Thanks folks. Sicks: yep, I'm wrong handed; so guitars are more expensive and I struggle with tin openers, but otherwise I'm perfectly normal, honest. And yes: the bottom was totally necessary!

Arch: I hope to upgrade some day to full man cave, but three kids and a bossy wife keeps me relegated firmly to one corner. Grumble mumble.

Speaking of kids, my eldest (8) decided to finish off my sculpt. I kinda like it:

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anyway, I had a crack at doing the head. Major cockup time!

I did it a bit differently this time by starting with dentures:

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then building the head around them:

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Head and other hand done. The hand is fine, I think, but the head... Too big! Again!

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Damn.



Ah well, I'll rip it off and do another tonight. What was that old saying carpenters had? Measure twice and cut once? Yep. That. I should do more of that.
 
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Maenas

New member
Improving faster and further!! Nice work so far!.

A bit of critique... It may be the angle of the picture but I find the forearm (space between elbow and wrist?) a bit longer and wider than it should be. I agree with you with the size of the head, but it can be a matter of long and crouched neck... ;)

PS: I deducted you were lefthanded from the handwriting on your drawings so now I know my thoughts were correct. Aaaand nice couple of guitars!
 

Digganob

New member
Well he is coming along really fast. You have a really good eye with muscle definition. I will say I am not a fan of the head, but that is because it confused me. I am not sure if its goblin/ork or something else. Maybe a mix between an alligator and goblin...a Gobligator. WAKKA WAKKA!
 

bgcdazzler

New member
I liked the first head too, Yeti - certainly better proportions than the second!

Maenas - yes, the forearm is a bit longer than it 'should' be (and the wrists are a bit thicker) - but thankfully this was on purpose not by accident. I wanted that slightly ape-ish longer forearm as it suits an ork physiognomy. Makes him a bit more animal than muscle man.

The Digga - who is wise in all things ork - has spoken, and so I've changed to a more classic ork head style. Here he is, ready for some clothing.

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and a bottom pic, just for Sicks...

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wargamesculptor

New member
New head looks good, the body looks very muscley. Would suggest adding some more facial detail as it looks a bit smooth at the moment
 

bgcdazzler

New member
Speed sculpting

Phew, after forcing myself to slow down on the Ork (above), and getting frustrated with the lady (more on this later), I felt like something a bit more... Refreshing to do. Uncle Tero's one-day sculpt came to mind, so I gave that a bit of a start.

firstly an armature. I decided a metal beastie made sense for Tero (as suggested by others; thanks folks), so went with a four-legged animal of some sort:

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I quickly chucked on some Fimo to strengthen and baked it. I wanted to know if the plastic base would survive the heat of the oven... And whaddayaknow, it didn't:

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luckily the bend in the base doesn't much affect the pose (kinda made it cooler to be honest), and with the stiffer armature it shouldn't warp any further, so I jumped in with some shape making.

I haven't sculpted anything metal or robotic before, and didn't sketch it out first. This is just a bunch of exploratory shapes thrown on in ways I think might end up looking cool, following three basic principles:

1. Bigger chest and back, small waist, middle-sized haunches. However much it builds up it should end up with those kind of proportions.

2. Robots tend to be made of lots of bits overlaid on others (same with armour). So it should build up in layers and have lots of nooks and crannies.

3. Aim for smooth first, and add detail after.

So with these rules in mind I gave the body a first pass:

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Then added more bits and a few rudimentary details:

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So maybe more of a 2 day sculpt. Once the rest of the shapes are up I can add some more detailing, bake him up, then figure out what kind of head to put on it. Suggestions/tips/criticism useful!
 
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