Hey guys and ladies....
Well, I am going to show you a little SBS on how I sculpted a Rev War Drummer. Unfortunately I never painted it and I gave it away to be painted by someone else. This is how I still go about sculpting a person but I think I have just been able to fine tune a few things since this one. Please if you have any questions, just ask. I am by no way an expert but still learning and always open for suggestions. Any ways lets get started.
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Here are the basics that you will need to get going.
Next here is a look at the mannequin against the anatomy chart. It is very important to check your measurements and angles of the body. I use a really fine wire for the arms and I still use the wire here for the legs but I have recently switched to using paper clips. The reason is to have them go through the foot and be my pin for later. I should point out that I am using a pre cast upper and lower torso and cast shoes. I will also use as many commercial parts as I can. Why build something that is already available? I will pretty much always modify them but it makes time management much easier.
Next,
You have to think about the pose that you want your figure in. This sounds pretty easy but sometimes it is a mind blower!
Here is the example of the one that I wanted to portray.
and the mannequin
Now that we have the basic pose, it is time to start fleshing out the body. I did notice that I completely forgot to mention that I am using AVES epoxy Sculpt for my sculpts. In this one figure I did use A&B for some parts but now everything is just AVES. ANother thing, you can wait for the putty to dry on its own but I place mine in a crock pot for about 5 minutes and then it is dry and I can move on to the next step.
Now we have added more to the body and legs.
I will also sometimes go back once the putty is hard and carve shapes in the body and clothing.
Here you can see that I have started work on the undershirt/tie? I do also use Duro or Green Stuff for detail work and hair. You can also mix the 2 Duro and AVES. You can see this alot on my newer figures.
Ok, now you can see that I have gotten to work on the shirt. I will add the arms back and forth on the figure to make sure that it looks correct and that the folds are where they should be.
Another view
It should be noted that I am working only on the front of the shirt right now. It is important to just work in small areas at a time so that you do not have to much wet putty on the figure at once. If you do,belive me, you will touch it or just stick those finger in all the hard work you just completed. I know for a fact about this!
Here I have blue tacked the drum on the back. I did this to see if the straps were in the correct position.
Here is another view.
Here I have started to work on the pants. Take a look at the mark on the leg. I use a pencil and to this day, mark up all over my figures. I will draw lines where straps will go and here I am marking out the length of the pants.
Another view
Here I have started to work on the lower portion of the shirt. I have used some rolled out A&B for this section. I did this to make the fabric look thinner and in scale. A Hint here: I superglued the rolled out A&B to the body. Then you go back in with AVES to fill in and smooth the edges.
I should mention that I had made the hat with rolled out A&B. This was for the brim and the crown was AVES. Hat brims are just rolled out putty. Then take a circular template and find the size that you want. Draw a light circle on the wet/semi dry putty. Cut it out, bend to shape and then cut an X in the center and pull down over the head to the desired position and glue. You can sand the edges once the putty is completely dry. Once dry the hair was sculpted using Duro. HINT: When using Duro, mix 70 % Yellow and 30% blue. NEVER mix them 50/50, it is almost impossible to work with it then.
Now back to the shirt. Here I have started on the back of it. To get the folds to stay in the air, so to speak, I have propped the wet putty up using some blue tack. You can also see that I have started work on the back of the shirt. Also, notice the big ring/mark of where the drum will sit. What you do is take the drum, cover it with Vaseline and press it into the wet AVE. The Vaseline will keep it from sticking to the putty.
Here I have started to flesh out the arms. PLEASE note, the crotch area on this figure is ALL WRONG! This was a real problem are for me in the beginning so sorry for this area on the figure.
Next I am going to kind of go backwards to show the sculpting of the leggings/boots. I should also mention the sculpting tools that I use: Sanded down toothpicks, paint handles and a 0 size paint brush.The toothpicks and paint brush handles are then coated with superglue and sanded smooth. This keeps the putty from sticking to the tool.
Here putty is added to the leg. Notice it is not all pretty at this point.
Now the sculpting tool is used to roll down the putty to shape.
Here we have the boot/legging in the shape we were trying to achieve. Notice the indention at the top? This is were sheet lead is going to be placed for the straps. I will cut the sheet lead to the width and size I need and while the putty is still wet, will place it on the putty to get the indention and then remove it and allow the putty to dry. Once the putty is dry the sheet lead will be superglued to the figure.
Another view:
While the putty is still wet, the button holes were put in using a needle.
Here is a close up shot of the head with the extra detail work added to the hat.
Another view of the figure
Here the arms arm completed and added to the body.
Next a few shots of buttons being made. I have done a seperte SBS on buttons.
Here is the finished figure. It is by NO way perfect but I hope that it will help if you decided to try and sculpt a figure of your own. Thanks for looking and I will post some other figures that I do here later.
Joe
The painting again
and the finished figure. I should also point out that I had not added the buttons on these shots.
ere is an old picture of some of my sculpting tools. You can see the needle, paintbrushes,toothpick and the one larger one is a nail cuticle (sp?) tool. I have several different paintbrushes and toothpicks that are sanded down to different shapes.
