Starting out Sculpting.

[J2FcM]

Hello,

I\'m pondering the start of sculpting... I looked at my OLD OLD Mechwarrior 2 game, and noticed all the mechs are made of nice simple polygons.

I figure I could draw out the shapes, then compare them to Battletech minis I have to keep the scale correct.

From there, sculpt the body, legs, arms, etc... in simple shapes.

Then, look at pictures and later Mech games to add armor panels, missile holes, battle damage, etc...

First 2 questions:
Should I be making wire frames for the sculpts? Any suggestions on going about htis, or what to use? (paper clips?)

Can I use my year old green stuff which I stored in the freezer?

I was thinking my first attempt could be this mech, the Catapult, a long time favorite of mine, and relatively simple shape...
thoughts?

 

[Shawn R. L.]

For what your trying to do, the simplest way to go would be to get sheet styrene of different thicknesses and build the shapes seperately from that.

 

[Avelorn]

Is it a sculpting exercise?

If it\'s not you could probably build it from left over materials, tubees, plasticard, wire and polystyrene as Shawn R.L suggested.

 

[Sonnyslayer]

i wouldnt sculpt much if i was doing that.
Your gs should be alive.. make a little mushroom and see how good it is before you jump into something big

 

[quadrille]

Agree with the above posters, if you do want to sculpt it then maybe you should consider using another putty than green stuff, try brown stuff or milliput so that you can work on it post-curing. To answer your question, yes you can use your old green stuff, it should be as good as new if it\'s been in the freezer (I think I\'ve used year-old GS that wasn\'t even stored in the freezer).

I would probably sculpt the parts separately then pin and glue them together rather than sculpting on an armature.. For some parts, like the legs, a wire armature is probably a good idea though. You can use paper clips or just normal wire.


Btw What a poor UV mapping on those feet, they didn\'t bother to map the side of the \"toes\" lol

 

[Temporary Sanity]

Looks like a Mad Cat (TimberWolf) with it\'s arms blown off lol

In fact, when I first saw it, that\'s what I thought it was. Been ages since I played MW2 (and I played \'em all)

I used to have a bunch of Mech\'s, but stupid stupid stupid me tossed \'em during a move long ago. What I wouldn\'t give to have \'em back.

BTW, I use paperclips for my armatures. And I\'d recommend BrownStuff, or Pro-Create. If you can\'t find some, check eBay (Kraftmark is the seller) or Jeff Valent\'s website. It\'s really good to work with, as it\'s got shaping qualities of GS, and sanding/filing qualities of BS, so you can get those nice sharp edges.

 

[darkartminiatures]

What Shawn said. Plasticard would be good for some of the mech. Maybe using fimo for the cockpit might be a good idea. You can sand fimo down so its really smooth....once you have baked it that is.

good luck.

 

[J2FcM]

Thanks for the advice guys...

Im not really sure what plasticard, fimo, styrene, or that other stuff is...

I take it these are all things I can cut down small, and sand\\carve up, and stick pins in?
Would I be able to add details... like poking indents for missile launchers... carve slight indent for cock pit glass, armor panels etc...?

Another reason I chose the design, was because to me it looks simple. 2 boxes, on top of a bullet, on top of 2 chicken legs...

My understanding of sculpting materials now is, stuff you bake is better to sculpt afterwards and GS is better for filling small tihngs and minor work then? (in general).

But, I would also like to start simple and advance, maybe do something like a madcat, or an Atlas design, those mechs are more detailed, but would using styrene, and plasticard work on even those?

Well, in the mean time I\'ll look up those materials mentioned...

thanks again!

PS - I\'ve been reading up on Styrene... one thing I also am considering...

will ALL these materials paint up as nice as a manufactured model assuming Im using good acrylics, and primer?

 

[J2FcM]

I have to add some questions here...

Now if I use fimo... would I want air dry, or oven dry? or is it...cure...

Also, how would I use styrene? polystyrene, or whatever its called... it seems like its just plastic sheets.

Would, cut them up with a hobby blade? and then shave\\file them into shapes? What about getting armor panel lines on them? I\'m confused as to how using plastic pieces would be easier than using a clay or Procreate.

 

[Prophet]

Fimo and sculpey are polymer clays. They do not harden until baked.

Styrene (aka plasticard) is a type of plastic. It comes in sheets, strips, tubes, etc. Good for doing straight line work like the mech you pictured. It\'s easier because flat planes and corners are already there. Cut up the pieces and assemble as needed. This may help:
http://members.shaw.ca/sask.rail/construction/lsbuild/workstyr.html

Can\'t use fimo and styrene together as the styrene will melt when the fimo is baked.

If you are going the sculpting route rather than building. Milliput, apoxie sculpt, magic sculp, or brown stuff would be the way to go rather than green stuff as it\'s much easier to sand and carve these when dry.

And they all take paint just fine. Hope that helps!

Matt

 

[J2FcM]

Hey, thanks for the info. I actually had looked up styrene and found the link you gave me... but still, I was confused as to whether or not the styrene\\plasticard will give me the ability to carve in little details with a knife or file.

 

[demonherald]

Depends what little details you are wanting to do....
Lines chips and battle damage can be done quite easily.
Most other details are generally made seperate and added on afterwards....

 

[Prophet]

Originally posted by J2FcM


Hey, thanks for the info. I actually had looked up styrene and found the link you gave me... but still, I was confused as to whether or not the styrene\\plasticard will give me the ability to carve in little details with a knife or file.

Yes. It\'s called \"scribing.\" Google \"scribing panel lines\" to bring up articles like these:

http://ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/1999/11/stuff_eng_tech_scribing.htm
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Scribing.html
http://www.largescaleplanes.com/tips/SasoKnez/Scribing/Scribing.html

 

[J2FcM]

Hmmmm...

So, even using 60\\40 Blue to yellow GS mix, the stuff sucks? for sculpting. Or at least thats how I feel, having no previous sculpting background. I must try something new