Miniature Mentor: sculpting tutorials?

[Skrit]

Anyone got them? Are they worth getting?

I'm specifically looking at the Aragorn Marks and Jacques-Alexandre Gillois ones as they are with Fimo and I just started working with that material.

I can tell you now already, I wish I had done that a long time ago! So much more relaxing to work than with Green Stuff! ^^

 

[MAXXxxx]

Hi, except for the Frightmare I have them.
It all depends on your level and interests.

The first one (Basic Sculpting) is nice, but not really worth the price imho.
The ones with Aragorn and JAG are really really good, but for me too advanced to be usable.

All in all if you are sculpting then I think they are really worth it. Lots of tips and good to watch, but as I said for someone who used GS/MP mostly for gap-filling they are too advanced.

 

[Einion]

Just to check on a few things:
you're looking to sculpt from scratch yes?
You interested in Fimo only or other polymer clays as well?
Found any/many of the tutorials that are online already?

Einion

 

[freakinacage]

There is a fair bit on youtube from prominent sculptors. if you have firefox, you can install an attachment that will download embedded vids. Handy, I can tell you

 

[dogfacedboy uk1]

The best thing to do is get a subscription if they still do it as the content is there now. The Aragorn Marks one is a great vid. I spoke with him at Games Day and he said they would like to have shown the whole thing, but there were unfortunately time constraints. But I can tell you I enjoyed it. As Einion said, learn what you can from free sources first unless you specifically wish to watch a highly talented sculptor at work.

dfb

 

[Skrit]

Just to check on a few things:
you're looking to sculpt from scratch yes?
You interested in Fimo only or other polymer clays as well?
Found any/many of the tutorials that are online already?

Einion

Yes, from scratch. At the moment Fimo but always open to others as well. I always used GS for conversions and some minor sculpting and tried some full mini sculpting too. But gave up out of frustration of the limited time and handling of GS!

I searched and found some but would like more to see how others use it etc...

Thanks for the other tips all!

 

[Einion]

I always used GS for conversions and some minor sculpting and tried some full mini sculpting too. But gave up out of frustration of the limited time and handling of GS!

I think a lot of that is easily conquered by working in stages, which is essentially how you have to work with epoxy compounds.

As for the time, 2+ hours seems quite generous for small-scale stuff if you're doing it stage-wise! I think the main problem most people have with Kneadatite is fighting the material (dealing with the stickiness) while they work, which wastes a lot of the available time; this issue with the material can be addressed specifically which not only helps with time but also tends to improve results anyway.

I presume you already have some Fimo, one thing you might like to try is blending a little into your GS... that can significantly increase the working period without compromising the finished strength too much. You can also use this to slowly transition to using straight Fimo if you like, by increasing the proportion of it in the blend bit by bit over a few projects.

I searched and found some but would like more to see how others use it etc...

Not a lot of users here on CMON, at least among the regular posters.

But there's buckets of stuff on the web on working with polymer clays, with very large communities using it for various crafts: doll making, baby sculpture, jewellery and beadmaking etc.

Einion

 

[mickc22]

Have a look for the books by Katherine Dewey, there's also a link in my sig for polymer clay forums

 

[Bloodhowl]

Anyone got them? Are they worth getting?

I'm specifically looking at the Aragorn Marks and Jacques-Alexandre Gillois ones as they are with Fimo and I just started working with that material.

I can tell you now already, I wish I had done that a long time ago! So much more relaxing to work than with Green Stuff! ^^

Yes. However, your question "are they worth gettting?" is subjective to each individual. For me, I think it was. I had the extra cash and thought it was a good investment. But as has been pointed out, there are plenty of free resources on the interweb that are just as good or better and might be a better fiscal option.

Now, having said that, I found the one on Anime girl by James Van Schaik fantastic for learning to work Green Stuff, the close up HD camera allowed me to see more of what was going on with the tools than most videos I have found on the web. For Fimo, the Barbarian, Gunslinger and Frightmare by Aragorn Marks are also very well done (Gunslinger particularly for how to do clothes, Frightmare could be skipped as it is similar to the Barbarian, but the horse face bit is a good reference.) Uncle Meat was also very good, but you could skip this one if you go with any of the previous vids.

Agree with MAXXxxx on the Basic Sculpting vid.

 

[uglybug]

When I had my subscription I downloaded the sculpting tutorials and found them very interesting, you can see how he uses what tools to do certain things plus just the whole process. I just ordered this too. http://www.figone.fr/en/dvd-la-grande-serie-de-la-peinture-de-figurine-volume-2-la-sculpture/
They have a 5 min sample clip you can watch although I think the sample clip for the sculpting is on the DVD for painting page they inverted them by mistake.

 

[MAXXxxx]

the one from figone is pretty good too, but if you don't understand french it's not really usable.
There are no subtitles in english (at least I couldn't find any with the exception in the intro) and the english narration is extremely small.
In some parts the sculptor speaks for like 10 minutes, then finally comes the english narration and says like 5 words. As I don't speak french at all it's not helpful.

So it's great to see but as a DVD for non-french viewers it's really badly produces. I would have been much happier if it would have complete english subs.

ohh and BTW I finally bought the missing MM video (frightmare) I find it pretty good. Shows how to do muscles, horse head, mane, crisp armor and rackham swirls all with FIMO.

 

[Ceal]

Hey everyone,

im a bit frustrated atm. I just wanted to purchase the subsciption for miniature painter, as i was realy interested in getting the sculpting tutorials, but i got the message that i cant purchase it with my paypal account as it needs to be updated with a freaking credit card...... seriously...... why do i habitate in the only freaking country that doesnt give out credit cards like candy..... does anybody know if it is possible to charge up the pay pal account with money and pay then?

 

[RuneBrush]

Hey everyone,

im a bit frustrated atm. I just wanted to purchase the subsciption for miniature painter, as i was realy interested in getting the sculpting tutorials, but i got the message that i cant purchase it with my paypal account as it needs to be updated with a freaking credit card...... seriously...... why do i habitate in the only freaking country that doesnt give out credit cards like candy..... does anybody know if it is possible to charge up the pay pal account with money and pay then?

I don't think it is actually. My account was linked to my bank account and just wouldn't let me set up my MM sub without a credit card added for some reason.

 

[Ceal]

Thanks, yea that seems to be it. Now i just need to find someone i know with a credit card or pester my bank.....

 

[QuietiManes]

Don't they have pre-paid credit cards where ever you are? Most of them have a monthly and/or transaction fees, so read up on those first, but otherwise, they're not horrible options...also, generally, fees are zero with a zero balance so you don't need to keep paying while you aren't using it (at least around here).

 

[chansangfeng]

I'm currently watching/copying the Aragorn Marks barbarian tutorial from Miniature Mentor. I'd say they are worth getting if you're into sculpting your own mini's.

I'm trying to learn as much about mini sculpting as possible in as short a time as possible, and although I felt like I'd jumped in at the deep end when I started watching Aragorn work, I've learnt a huge amount in a very short amount of time. The barbarian tutorial has a load of little gems of information in it and will be worth watching a few times, and perhaps listening to with the video off to make sure you don't miss anything that's being said (that may be a little Obsessive-Compulsive of me, but that's how I learn!).

I agree with you Skrit about the Fimo. This video was my introduction to this wonderful material and I'm now regretting ever using Green Stuff! I like that the Fimo gives you a much longer time to work and you don't need to keep lubricating the sculpting tool. Magic stuff!