Sculpting squares and walls

[MClimbin]

Hello all,

Are there any techniques for making it easier to sculpt walls or squares? I\'m working on a flagstone wall for a scenic base, and I can\'t get the greenstuff to get into the shape I want. Whenever I push one edge to make it straight, the other edge or the surface of the wall gets distorted. I tried waiting for it to cure a while so it would not be so soft, and even waiting until it was completely cured and cutting out bricks, but what I would really like is to sculpt a small flagstone wall that is 90 degrees and doesn\'t look like it got melted.

Any ideas?

 

[Fizl]

You could try waiting for it to cure then file or slice it to get the edges straight? Or use something like milliput which is sandable.

Shaz

 

[War Griffon]

You could also try using a piece of cork tyle cut to the size you want then cover the faces with green stuff and scribe in the relevant shapes as needed. This will probably save you a fortune in green stuff as well.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Fizl
You could try waiting for it to cure then file or slice it to get the edges straight?

That\'s the ticket.

Einion

 

[Klute]

Whatever you do you will need a solid wall to sculpt over.

 

[minimaker]

This may be helpfull for the patterns.

I prefer to drysculpt walls in plaster by the way.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

If your looking to make a gob of bricks I would get a sheet of thick plastic and cut it on a table saw into little blocks. Then sand them.

 

[MClimbin]

Thanks for all your help. The problem was that I was working with too much uncured putty, so when I pushed one part another would be deformed. I (sort of) took Klute\'s advice by using a mold, so that the edges would be set and I could sculpt the spaces between the bricks. Then I took minimaker\'s advice and touched everything up when it was dry (using Sculpey).

The patterns helped too, especially to let me know that I was not sculpting flagstone but very large square bricks!

Thanks again,

MC

 

[mattsterbenz]

i use greenstuff all over the surface, and try to get as close to perfect as i can. i let it cure for about 30 minutes, and then using a well lubricated smoothing tool, quickly make circles around each corner. after it is dry, use a sharp blade to make the angle perfect, then sand down to remove any flaws from the knife.

hope this is easy enough to understand,

matt

 

[Millen]

Reaper has a nice little article in the craft section that shows a method of using styrofoam to make field stone walls.

http://www.reapermini.com/?nav=The%20Craft&sub=Present&article=19

I have the styrofoam ready to go myself, but I have not started my project to see how well it works.

I hope that helps someone.
Scott

 

[vincegamer]

Here\'s a trick I learned from a guy who used to build tiny balsawood houses for a hobby. It works for regular shapes (e.g. brick walls):

Get a block of the green foam that florists use to stick flowers and fake flowers in. I\'m not sure what it\'s called, but florists have it in skads and might even give a piece free, especially if you buy flowers.

Take a popsickle stick or coffee stirring stick (or square ended chop stic).
If necessary cut the stick so you have a flat, rectangular cross section.
Poke a shallow hole in the green foam with the end of the stick.
Repeat in a straight line leaving a small gap between the holes.
Repeat in another straight line offset 1/2 to make a brick pattern. Do this until you\'ve covered a sufficiently large piece of the foam with tiny depressions.

Pour plaster of paris over the foam and let harden.

When the plaster dries, lift it off and look at the plaster. You have a perfect brick surface for use as a floor, road or wall. Just cut the edges to the size you need.

 

[Ogrebane]

Conversely you can buy textured plasticard from a hobby shop. They come in about any pattern you can imagine.

 

[tidoco2222]

There is a great article in one of the Cry Havoc magazines. Basically a square mould is made to the size you want and then plaster of paris is mixed and poured into the mould. Once it is dry they mark out where they want the bricks or tiles to be by drawing the design on with a pencil and steel rule. Then they get a sharpish implement and scratch out the detail again using a steel rule for a guide. They also engrave things like cracks in free hand as well. The end result looks awesome.

 

[Hieronymus]

I tried an experiment to make a cobblestone effect. I lightly spraypainted some white styrofoam, the kind made from little beads. This slightly melted the foam and made depressions in the surface. I poured plaster over this and when it haredened I had a chunk of what looked like a bunch of low bumps. Once stained and drybrushed it like cobblestones. The problem was that the plaster had a hard time releasing from the foam. If I try this again, I\'ll oil the foam before pouring the plaster.