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Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Click here for the SA Mini-Sculpting Marathon! Get random images, sculpt something inspired by these concepts, and possibly win fabulous prizes!

Why Sculpt?
While the modern era has made it much easier to find and customize miniatures for whatever reason you plan to use them (Roleplaying, obscure wargame, shelf decorator, gifts, etc), there are times when there’s absolutely nothing that seems right, or the only thing that exists was only produced for three months by failed company that was acquired by multiple other companies over the years, and the rights for it now reside in the hands of a shell company designed to help hide taxable income for the founder of a tech firm specializing in optimizing autoplay videos for dog sweaters.

On the other hand, you might want to cast and sell miniatures for your totally awesome concept for a game, or there’s a niche that you think needs to be filled, or you just like making stuff with your hands and want to give it a shot.

Sculpting is fun - you get to take an idea you have and turn it into a miniature. When you start out, it’ll be rough, but with practice you can create some awesome miniatures. I cannot yet create “awesome” miniatures, but I have been sculpting more and feel like starting this thread is good motivation to get better, post my stuff, and hopefully learn from the more experienced goons who I know are lurking here, somewhere, ready to correct all of my errors.

What You’ll Need
I’m assuming that most of what this thread talks about is traditional miniature sculpting - i.e. physically manipulating clay/putty/epoxy/wire to make a little three-dimensional object. There’s a lot of people doing stuff with digital sculpting and CAD/CAM, to the point where it’s getting to be an industry standard for some of the larger companies. If you’re interested in digital sculpting and the process of Digital Sculpt -> Miniature, I can’t really tell you much of anything.

So, assuming you’re interested in sculpting physical miniatures, you’ll need at a minimum:
  • A concept - whether in your head or drawn
  • An armature to act as skeleton/support for your miniature.
  • Something to hold your armature so you can rotate it and add mass with your material of choice.
  • A shapeable material, most often clay, 2-part epoxy, or modeling putty.
  • Tools to shape and handle your sculpting material.

Not too complicated. Some of these are pretty broad topics, so I’ll tackle them individually here.

Concept
It’s useful to sketch out your idea before you start. Think of how you want things to look - even if you have very little artistic skill at the start, you’ll learn as time goes one. I like using figure references when doing some of my initial concept work for humanoid models, because most of what I’m doing these days is anatomy sculpting so that I can make convincing people.

If you’re designing a monster, then same idea, different shape. For reference material, you’ll likely want to pull up or draw pictures. It’s best to start with a concept and, if you’re not a particularly skilled visual artist, let things evolve and change as you sculpt. There’s stuff that looks really cool in two dimensions that absolutely falls flat in three, especially if you’re a mediocre artist like I am.

The concept also informs the next stage you’ll work on - the armature.

Armatures and Support
Armatures are key to making your miniature look right. They’re the skeleton that supports your model, and getting proportions right is key, especially if you’re sculpting totally weird stuff that involves long, thin shapes or particular poses.

This is a link to a post by Patrick Keith of Bombshell Miniatures discussing armatures, as well as providing some handy templates for people who some help while starting out.

If you’re interested in making your own, it’s rather simple. Take your wire (I use 24ga), twist it up in to a vaguely-human form, use pliers for the joints, and pose it. Once it’s initially posed, I check proportions and review how it’s looking before adding putty - there’s often a lot of reshaping at this point. Once I’m confident that it looks vaguely decent, I’ll stick it in my holder and begin adding putty.

Otherwise, there are a number of companies that make pre-made armatures that you can hit up. Reaper does a few different sculpting dollies, and while they’re not exactly cheap compared to wire, they can be good as far as “training wheels” for getting proportions right.

As far as holders go, I use corks. Some people make their own miniature holders, as demonstrated here and here, but I’ve always found wing nuts to hurt my hands.

You can also use simpler or more complex armatures - I’ve seen people prepare entire skeletons out of wire before starting a sculpt. There’s other ways to assemble them, too - you can add arms later, or start with a torso and add legs. I like sculpting from the feet up, because that’s what makes sense to me as a sculptor, but you may prefer doing something different.

Sculpting Materials
Okay, as stolen from a number of articles out there, there are a ton of different materials you can use for the standard sculpting in miniatures. They are:
  • Air-drying clays.
  • Polyclays, such as Fimo, Sculpey, or Beesputty.
  • Two-part epoxies like Milliput, Green Stuff, or ProCreate
  • Other, more impressive-sounding materials that I don’t have any experience with.

Each of these materials has advantages and disadvantages, and it’s up to you to figure out what works best for your sculpting. Here is Patrick Keith’s Blog, again, which talks about a lot of the basics.

For those who don’t want a link, here’s the basics:
  • Air-drying clay can be cool for terrain, but it’s not especially great for miniatures unless you’re working on a large piece.
  • Two-part epoxy putties are pretty much standard, and easy to get. The springiness in Greenstuff means that it has a learning curve, and the other two-part putties have their own weirdness. All of them change over their working time - you can decrease it by adding heat, and increase it via cold or mixing in other materials.
  • Polyclay remains workable until you bake it. It also hates sticking to armatures, so you’ll have to do a coat of GS/ProCreate if you want it to stick.

Also, and this is really important, try varying your mixtures. Thanks to the lessons of my elders as well as messing around with ratios, I’ve learned to control the various two-part epoxies better by adding Fimo to make them easier to use, as well as trying all sorts of weird combinations. Milliput + ProCreate can be pretty useful. Apoxie Sculpt and Fimo with a little Greenstuff was not the best experiment, but it kinda worked?

Personally, my favorite material to work with is Beesputty, partially because I rarely have time to sit down and work without having to rush away unexpectedly for some household emergency. It’s a polymer clay that was designed specifically designed for miniature sculptors - it’s harder and a bit more stable than Sculpy/Fimo and can stick directly to armature wire when soft, and it can be lightly machined after being baked.

Adding putty is easy - simply soften it up, and add to your armature. If it doesn’t stick, try adding some Greenstuff or ProCreate as your base layer.

One important note: one of the best ways to check proportions, especially if you’ve got time to do so, is to prepare your armatures ahead of time and add a very thin layer of putty to reinforce the armature. This not only helps the bond between your putty and the armature, but it makes it so you can get a better sense of how things fit together.

Sculpting Tools
There’s a shitload of tools out there. Many sculptors make their own tools. I highly recommend doing that, especially if you’re somewhat crafty.

Otherwise, the tools that I consider indispensable are:
  1. Wax Tool #5. The original sculpting tool, it’s got a knife-y end and a burnishing end. Many variants exist, and it’s good for roughing in details.
  2. Color/Clayshapers. Basically paintbrushes with silicone tips in varying firmness. These are amazing for smoothing out your model.
  3. Needle. A poking tool.
  4. Scalpel Blades. Just get a shitload of Feather scalpel blades and a good, round handle that can hold them. You can use it to cut, shape, and otherwise change your model both before and after putty hardens.
  5. Tool lubricant. Especially useful for Greenstuff/other epoxies, you can use a wide variety, but make sure to use it very lightly and after your putty is firmly attached to the previous layer, or it’ll mix in and get frustrating.

Tools are pretty much by user preference, and you’ll do yourself a favor by starting out smaller and then expanding as you know what it is you’d like. Oftentimes, I stick with a couple of tools almost exclusively because they work really well for me.

This also brings up an important point: when sculpting, you’re going to be performing either additive sculpting or subtractive sculpting. They’re pretty self-explanatory - additive is when you’re adding shaped putty, and subtractive is when you’re removing or moving putty already on the figure. The tools you use depend on what method you’re using.

This is a good link showing how to make some basic tools.

This is essentially a giant guide to making miniature sculpting tools, downloadable as a free pdf.

Actually sculpting stuff
The basic process is mentioned above: start with a concept and an armature, add putty and make it look like the thing you want it to look like.

Talking about all sculpting techniques would be insane, and quickly overload this OP, partially because there’s a ton of different ways you can make putty look like other stuff. In general, you’ll start out broad and work down to finer details. Remember: it works really well if you let a part cure and then add on later, and you can always remove hardened putty from a model. Never be afraid to scrap stuff, scrape off things, or work on a project after it has cured.

After doing this, we move on to finishing - sharpening the rougher details, smoothing out the clay, and, if you’re using a polyclay, baking the miniature in an oven. Clayshapers are fantastic for smoothing, but another neat trick is using isopropyl alcohol to smooth out clay: I load a bit of 99% on a brush and use it to lightly dissolve and polish the clay. That’s part of the trick behind getting shiny sculptures - a light touch and polishing!

Exercises
I hope to update this portion with some useful sculpting exercises goons can do. My general routine is try to sculpt a basic form (headless, no hands) every day, write a date on it, and then do the same thing, trying different poses and body types. See how things improve over time, too.

Things that I believe would be good sculpting challenges that could be tried here:
  • Sculpt Outside Your Comfort Zone: If you’re a 40K player, try sculpting some fantasy creature. If you’re into fantasy, try sculpting historicals. If you do historicals, make a robot. If everything you do is ultra-heroic male, try sculpting a realistic woman. Just try to see if you can do something that you wouldn’t normally and see if you’re stuck on something.
  • The Bootlegger: Pick a mini out. Try to sculpt your own version of it using nothing more than photos you have of it.
  • Upsizing: Rather than a full miniature, try sculpting a larger-scale head-and-shoulders, paying attention to facial expressions and subtler details than you’d get with your chosen scale.
  • ”Commissioned” Work: Have someone tell you what they’d like sculpted. Try to get it done, and then get their opinion of it.

Motivation
It’s important to stay motivated - remember, this is a skill like any other! We have some amazing people here, and there’s even an art subforum if you’re interested in non-nerdy sculpting stuff! Learn to love creating art, and make practice a joy.

This is also a reminder that no one starts out good, and that enough practice can help anyone get better.

Whenever I get discouraged, I always remind myself that Michael Perry lost his right arm in a cannon misfire in 1996, and taught himself to sculpt left-handed. If he can relearn the skill after losing an arm, I figure I can practice enough to get sort of okay at this.

Useful Links
Reaper Sculpting Forum
Interview with Daniele Trovato: I like this interview, and there’s some useful tips here.
Step-by-step sculpt: Badger Wizard
Step-by-step sculpt: Linna Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4

You can also check out assorted sculpting forums and groups. I generally watch the Oldhammer Sculpting Group on FB: they mostly do older GW-style 28mm Heroic, with all the bigly hands and faces you’d expect of the style.

I’ll keep updating this if people are actually interested in this stuff.

Hedningen fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Mar 15, 2019

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MeinPanzer
Dec 20, 2004
anyone who reads Cinema Discusso for anything more than slackjawed trolling will see the shittiness in my posts
What's the best place to get a Wax Tool #5 and clayshapers? Looking to step my sculpting game up to the next level to improve some conversions.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.

MeinPanzer posted:

What's the best place to get a Wax Tool #5 and clayshapers? Looking to step my sculpting game up to the next level to improve some conversions.

Colorshapers can be tricky: I know GreenStuffWorld has them if you’re in Europe, and you can find similar stuff on Amazon, but it’s a bit of a crapshoot because the copies can suck. I think Bombshell Minis sells a sculpting kit with all the tools I mentioned, but I can’t comment on quality/value apart from, “I like some of his sculpts, and he seems like an all right dude”.

Dental supply places/widget stores can sell stuff equivalent to a Wax #5. You can also get whatever sculpting tool is sold by your hobby store - really, anything that has a blade and a burnisher end works just fine.

The biggest part is getting comfortable with your tools. I know people who mostly sculpt with a blunted needle stuck in an old paintbrush handle, and they can make it work.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
To keep this thread going, here’s a step-by-step of my nightly practice.


My sculpting kit. I’ll be working with Beesputty tonight, partially because I really like using it.


Sculpting tools. Top-to-bottom: hobby knife, conical clayshaper, super-firm conical clayshaper, firm clayshaper with a hook shape, flat clayshaper, concave clayshaper, and Wax #5.


Armature mounted. Going for a guy crouching in a martial arts pose.


Top view.


Initial bit of putty. Flattened on my tool case. This will become the bulk on the armature.


I think I picked this trick up somewhere. To ensure everything is even, I make a triangle, and then trim it down a bit, flattening the peak by cutting it off. Then, I cut it in half - this ensures everything is even.


Putty added to the feet.


Adding more bulk. I wrap the putty around the armature, keeping the rough shape of the human form.


Legs bulked out, with the waist trimmed a bit. Still very rough.


Adding the torso putty. I start by making a diamond.


Fold it over so that it covers the torso.


Shaped and molded to the armature.



Bulk added to the arms, and ready for smoothing.



Final basic smoothing. This was done using clayshapers.

So, here’s my basic workflow. Hands, head, weapons, and clothing are next.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
May as well keep updating as a bit of a sculpting journal, plus in the hope that other people will post. I’m sure there’s tons of better sculptors here - I’m still moderately new at full-blown, start-from-scratch sculpting myself.




The sculpt from my previous post. Added hands, as well as a head. Going to cover the lower half of his face with a scarf - mouth turned out really badly.

The little brass rods will be fit with some short, curved blades and linked with a chain - making a kusarigama for him. That, plus the face needing a scarf, means it’s gonna be some sort of ninja when I’m done.




Today’s other, longer sculpt. Still haven’t started on the hands and the back will need fixing as the cloth is really bad, but we have a fighter prepared to draw a sword.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
No real updates to post on my own stuff, but additional resources for sculptors.

Courtesy of Admiralty Miniatures (and, by extension, the Oldhammer Sculpting Group/the Chaos Dwarf forums), here’s an album of simple, step-by-step tutorials.

Also, I failed to mention Tom Mason’s YouTube Channel. This was a grave oversight, as he does a great job of showing sculpting techniques and tips in video format.

Weirdo
Jul 22, 2004

I stay up late :coffee:

Grimey Drawer
I'm really interested (you had me at goblins) in trying my hand at sculpting, but currently lack the extra space and time, but looking forward to future posts.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.

Weirdo posted:

I'm really interested (you had me at goblins) in trying my hand at sculpting, but currently lack the extra space and time, but looking forward to future posts.

Glad you like it! Like I said, I’m just gonna keep posting my practice here to keep motivated and encourage people to give things a shot. It’s a matter of practice, keeping a record of what works and what doesn’t, and trying stuff out.




Worked on cloth tonight by letting a thin sheet cure, draping and cutting it, then defining the folds using a clay shaper. You can also see my test chain: I’m going to redo it, because it’s pretty crap, but that’s just a matter of snipping it off and cleaning the surface up a bit.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
More sculpting. This rat-dude is my first attempt at sculpting fur. I think it’s passable-ish, although some additional layering to build bulk might be good. Armor turned out fairly badly - I just don’t have the technique down yet.




To continue showing progress, here’s the eventual kusarigama dude. Scrapped the chain, did more cloth.




Now’s as good a time as any to talk about cloth and folds, so here’s my take on it.

Cloth and Folds
From my growing experience, the best method I’ve found for making cloth on a miniature, especially if it has natural folds and draping, is to start by letting the putty cure for a little while, roll it into a thin sheet, and cut it to shape. Attachment is best initially reinforced with CA glue, and then cemented by pressing the cloth into the body with your sculpting tools.

I’d say that cloth with folds and billows, like my amateurish ninja above, is easier to start. Smooth outfits are harder to make look right, which is part of why I haven’t posted my first few attempts at kimonos. Either way, you want to tie the clothing into the motion of the figure and the weight of the fabric. Reference photos are a necessary tool for this.

I’m also reminded of another concept that has helped me - the Putty Abomination.

It’s initially hard to gauge how much putty you need to mix when making a specific feature. Rather than letting it go to waste, keep a spare monstrous armature around - multiple limbs, extra heads, whatever. When you need a break from your main project, then take a minute and glob on the extra putty, using it to practice a technique. My current abomination is all about eyeball practice, as well as working with a new texturing tool, which happens to be a blunted needle from my dog’s medication (only used to draw the meds from the vial - don’t use biohazards to sculpt!) that I turned into an improvised tool.

Hopefully will have some details on some pre-made armatures tomorrow - proportions are scary when starting, and can really make or break the final product.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.



Sculpting work from this evening. Scrapped the earlier armor and redid it, started in on the facial features. Pretty grotesque right now, but showing some minor progress.

A big part of this, for me, is thinking of the stories behind art and sculpture. This particular ratman is for a friend of mine: we casually play Mordheim, and he is a great guy. He also runs a rat rescue together with his wife and does a ton for small animal rescues in the area, including running charity events and fundraisers. Because I need the practice, I decided to try and sculpt a few of his rats in miniature form.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Dumping the most recent sculpting actions into a folder, partially because I haven’t updated a lot lately and partially because the major figure I’m working on is a kuchisake-onna, so the initial anatomy sculpt is borderline creepy.

Here’s the album if you want to see sculpting projects.

Okay, now that I’ve posted that, time for my impression of the Reaper Advanced Sculpting Doll, aka a pre-made armature.

Pros
  • Already have proportions worked out.
  • Not constrained by pre-existing musculature like more “finished” base models
  • Sturdy as heck.
  • Not entirely overpriced for a single pack to practice with/reference.

Cons
  • Thick enough that thinner limbs/proportions require some filing down/are impossible.
  • Harder to mount on cork unless you drill pins into the feet.
  • Stiffness can limit posing options.
  • Vastly more expensive than making wire armatures.
  • Proportions, while pretty good, are geared towards the heroic 28mm of Reaper/Old GW.

My Impressions: I kinda liked working with these premade armatures, at least when it came to initially sketching a concept and working on posing and general anatomy practice. The cost, as well as the stiffness and limited proportion options, definitely limit their usefulness for different projects - you can do a human-ish figure in a fairly static pose, and your skeletal proportions will be good, but beyond that, there’s not much to see.

One advantage for beginners: they’re really stiff, so it’s much easier for people who aren’t used to using a really light touch. You can slap your compound on and practically hammer at it (metaphorically speaking) and it’s stay posed decently.

I think that buying a pack and keeping one as reference, practicing by sculpting on one, and doing whatever with the third is the best use. If wire armatures weren’t so cheap, I would think that these are more useful, but wire is cheap and you can reference proportions.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Some more progress on the Kuchisake-onna. Added clothing and hair.




Stage 1. The cloth was added by cutting a sheet of 15 minute-cured ProCreate mixed with a little bit of Sculpey, which makes it a little easier to handle. Arm-holes added to the sheet, and then wrapped it around the body, contouring it to match the body and cleaning up the edges using the #5 and some lubricant. Then added folds. The initial obi shape was formed using a strip of the same putty, and the initial loop created by cinching it with tweezers.

Because the initial cloth contoured to the legs, I let that dry overnight, and then bulked out the space between the legs using a couple of blobs of putty, then extended the folds to blend it a little better.





Final progress tonight. The hair was made using a few triangular chunks, which were attached to the head and had the individual hairs defined using the #5 and then a dulled hobby knife.

The obi was further defined by adding a decorative knot, as well as a cord. Pretty basic: knots were cut from a flat sheet and then contoured, and the cords were initially a single strip, which was divided down the center.


Bonus scale-mail work on another Skaven sculpt.

Any requests for stuff to show/work on? This thread is good motivation for me to keep sculpting and showing progress shots of my journey of sculpting, so I want to make it interesting and encourage people to participate more.

ScaryJen
Jan 27, 2008

Keepin' it classy.
College Slice
Maybe an animal/critter? I'm just having fun seeing the sculpts.

Pierzak
Oct 30, 2010
Nice writeup! I'll be following this thread. I have no illusions as for my ability to sculpt whole minis, but if I get good enough for more extensive conversions I'll be happy.

The Moon Monster
Dec 30, 2005

I don't have anything to add but I just wanted to say I'm enjoying reading your posts.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Wow. Thanks for reading, everyone! If I can sculpt, so can you!

Seeing as there was an excellent suggestion of critters, I decided to start on something appropriately weird: Hans Arnold’s amazing cover art for the Spiritual Beggars album Another Way To Shine.



Album covers and fantasy art are great inspiration, especially when you’re working on learning anatomy. My process is basic as far as anatomy - sketch out a skeleton, using the art as a reference.



Notice how it’s basically the same shape as the armatures I’ve used before: most creatures are the same general shape.

After the armature, it’s on to basic bulking and testing how the facial structure needs to be set up. I’ve done a quick sketch of the face - lips are something I need to work on, and the neck obviously needs a bit of trimming, but you can see the form starting to come together.




Here’s where subtractive sculpting comes into play. The next step is going to be shaving down and refining the shapes - especially the legs and face. Notice how the legs are just chunks right now - there’s some light definition that’s kinda rough right now, but it’s more important to me to have the general shape.

Since I’m using Beesputty, I have a few options moving forward.

If I let the clay naturally air-harden a bit, it will remain workable. Because it wouldn’t have been set by baking, I can more easily work it using my clayshapers, which makes organic shapes a lot easier. I can also smooth things out using a brush and isopropyl. The disadvantage, however, is that the unsupported elements (such as the head) will be shifting a bit, and a poorly-placed hand could wreck it.

If I bake it, then I can shape using sanding tools and knives. This is better for sharp edges, as well as for keeping things positioned, but I lose the ability to smooth the base bulk.

In both cases, I’ll be working subtractively, but will be using different techniques to do so. The same concept applies to workable/hardened epoxy putties.

I’m thinking I’ll strip the head, leaving a smaller ball to support the facial details, and then smooth and harden the main body.

Thanks for reading and commenting - if anything, this should encourage people, because I’m certainly interested in seeing conversions and how other people sculpt. It really is just practice and being willing to try stuff. It really seems harder than it actually is, especially with reference images and a good armature.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Project log is a bit different tonight - after bullshitting about Warmaster with a friend, I decided to try my hand at 10mm scale sculpting.

Here’s the armature:


It’s a bit different than the ones I’ve used before. Here’s the instructions, made by some fine person on the internet.

As far as technique, this was done using a #5 wax tool and a repurposed syringe. Notice how I’m suggesting details - this is both an artifact of the scale and the first practice I’ve had at it.




I’m definitely chalking this up as “first try in the scale”. I think the bottom half is closer to swashbuckler, with the wide belt and poofy pants, while the top ended up being small-scale chain, which is pretty garbage.


Finally, here’s a side-by-side with my kuchisake-onna.



Cameras make it easy to see issues with sculpts.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Been with family, so not a lot of time to sculpt. So, I took some time to do a quick sculpt of a 10mm Chaos Dwarf in the old Big Hat style.



Initial concept sketches. Nothing too skilled, because I am poo poo at drawing. You can see the basic proportions: because 10mm = 6 feet in the scale, I opted to drop the height to make it properly dwarfish. Because I figured 4’8” is a good height, that worked out to 56/72 *10mm, or about 7.75mm to the eyes. After that, I broadened the proportions to avoid going too deformed.





You can see the basic shapes and details. Still refining a bit, but the basic shapes are all there. Some will be fixed up after the putty dries, along with sharpened details.

10mm is a fun scale. It’s something that requires you to suggest details, and concentrate on the important bits to define the model.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
In the continuing apocalyptic log of sculpting projects - more base bodies for my 10mm Chaos Dwarf project!



Trying out a different process on them here - because I want to do more detailed armor and faces, I’ve left the arms alone for the time being. This gives me more options for posing once I get the legs, bodies, and heads/silly hats done.

This will likely be the first batch that I’m hoping to test cast. Because of that, it’s time to talk about molding and casting!

:siren: I am an amateur with little practical experience. This is likely to be corrected by a more knowledgable goon. :siren:

Molding and Casting
This is what takes a piece from “something I whipped up in my spare time” to “actual produced miniature”. In general, you have two options when producing your own miniatures - garage casting and outsourcing.

Garage casting is a broad term for non-professional moldmakers operating on limited runs, usually in the form of one-off projects. These operations blur the line between hobby and business - they produce everything from add-ons to existing model kits to full original pieces. Garage kit manufacturing tends to have a lot of support in military model communities, who like producing more realistic or uncommon loadouts for scale armor, as well as producers of artist’s busts and various other miniatures. Most of them are either small operations with one-person artist-and-moldmaker groups, or small collectives where people are more specialized. There’s a lot of creative stuff happening here, but ordering kits either requires navigating websites with very few pictures and strange order processes (I have printed and faxed at least one order form to one guy) or finding them on web forums for modeling.

Most garage casters cast in resin, which is a variety of plastic-like substances that set via chemical reaction. It’s fairly simple - mix parts A and B, degas, and pour into mold. Wait for that to cure, and then remove it from the mold.

Commercial casters are companies that make money by selling their own miniatures, as well as by molding and casting miniatures by independent parties. Their rates can vary depending on what you need - they can do everything from making a master casting mold to full-scale production runs, including parting out sculpts for sprue creation. Costs that you pay depend on several factors - you can get cheaper rates by giving them the master and the right to keep casting it, though it’s not exactly common - and you are charged for moldmaking, materials, and operator time.

Commercial casters work in a variety of materials, but many of the well-known companies do spin-cast metal as their default. Metal casting, as you might guess, requires specialized equipment and skills beyond what most hobbyists can afford. Most miniatures today are made of white metal or pewter: metallic alloys usually made from a mix of tin, copper, antimony, bismuth, silver, lead, and zinc, with specific formulations omitting or adding some materials. They have a low melting point, preserve detail well, and are easily workable when cooled. The disadvantage is cost and weight - metal gets expensive and heavy to ship.

The Molding and Casting Process
Molding and casting can be broken down into several steps.

  1. Creation of the initial model, often referred to as a green thanks to the ubiquitous use of greenstuff in the industry.
  2. Master mold creation.
  3. Master copy production.
  4. Production mold creation from copies of the master.
  5. Production casting.

We’re already seeing the basics of initial model creation here, so let’s talk molds.

Master Mold Creation

Your master mold is designed to get high-quality casts of your miniature. These are either going to be one-part or multi-part molds - for 3D models, two-part mods are pretty standard.

One-part molds, which also contain the ever-useful press molds, are just that: a single piece of silicone or rubber that you pour your material into. You’re a bit restricted on the shape due to the physics of the mold, but they’re harder to mess up. One major restriction is that there’s always going to be a side with no detail, which is where you pour the resin in. As you might guess, this is good for some types of terrain and stuff like shields, but not so much for complicated models.

A Brief Aside on Press Molds
Press molds are something that I know a lot of sculptors use, but there’s precious little discussion of. They’re simple single-part molds embedded with a repeating or complicated texture you’d like to use on large areas (or flat, single-sided objects that you want multiples of, like shields) but don’t want to constantly sculpt. You can make them from Sculpey/various other Fimo clays, and the nature of them means they’re fast and generally pretty cheap.

For a simple press mold, sculpt a texture you like (using whatever material you like - including sheet styrene!), let it cure completely, press it evenly into your block of Fimo, and then remove it and bake. Once it cools, get a blob of your favorite sculpting putty, press it into the mold, and then do what you want.

If you’re sculpting several things with a complex texture, or want a good, even, single-sided pattern (such as armor, fur, or scales), then these are amazing.

End Aside on Press Molds

Multipart molds are more complex. To build one, imagine a line bisecting your miniature such that there are no areas where something enveloping it could curl around - essentially, two single-part molds that meet. You need to avoid anything which would be trapped in a mold, which involves looking for undercuts - these are shapes which can’t be removed due to the physical properties of the mold. The way my wife explained it to me was like this - imagine a mushroom. If you molded it with a single pour, you would either lose detail on the top or be unable to remove it because it widens and narrows.

Instead, you have a few options - parting out the miniature, or rethinking the orientation of the mold. Take the mushroom - if you bisect it vertically (cap to stem), then you can get the shape, but will likely lose detail if you sculpted gills. If you bisect it horizontally where the cap meets the gills, then you have the cap as one half and the gills and stem as the other half, which preserves all the details you might want to keep and can be molded.

Parting is simpler - remove the bit that would interfere with the molding process, and mold it separately. This can get fiddly and expensive, especially for larger multi-part models, and it means that you’ll need to think about attachment points, but it’s often the easiest way to go.

Once you have your lines, you’ll build a mold box - this is a container for when you pour your mold material. A lot of home casters use Legos - they’re cheap, ubiquitous, reusable, and reconfigurable. Spread a layer of plasticine or other non-drying oil-based clay on the bottom, and embed your model in the clay along your molding line. Make sure that the edges are tight, and that no details are obscured by the clay on the top half of the mold.

At this stage, you should also add keys, which are shaped protrusions to align your mold halves. I have some blobs of dried Milliput that I use.

You also want to add gates and channels now. Channels are where you pour in the material - a bit of rod or sprue can work. Gates, on the other hand, are a part of the physical world we live in - because you’ll be pouring material into the mold, some air bubbles can get trapped. Gates let you avoid that by giving the air a way to escape. They can obscure detail if added poorly, so be careful and think through where bubbles might get trapped.

Next, mix and pour your mold material. I usually use silicone rubber - it’s pretty standard. Let it set, and once set, remove the first half of your mold. Check that you didn’t accidentally trap parts of your model/that detail isn’t obscured, and then remove the clay from your model.

Taking your half-mold, flip it over and put it into your cleaned moldbox. The next step is pretty easy - add mold release, mix the next bit of silicone, and pour.

Do not forget the mold release! A two-part mold with nothing preventing the second part from bonding to the first is just a brick of silicone.

Now, you should hopefully have a master mold!

Casting
Now that you have a master mold, you can make your first cast. Brush both sides with mold release, close up the mold and firmly clamp it without deforming it, and pour your material.

Resins are nice, but require degassing. To do so: mix your resin, put it in a vacuum chamber, and get all the air out. Once done, smoothly pour it into your mold.

Metal does not require degassing, but does require a crucible, a mold material that can handle the material at its melting point, and careful preparation.

I’ll save material chat for later, but assuming your cast works, you now have a miniature!

Production Moldmaking and Casting
So, if you want to actually sell your miniatures, you’re going to need production molds. These are both to reduce wear on your master mold, as well as letting you cast multiple copies of the same thing.

Most metal production molds are done via spin-casting, using vulcanized disc molds and a spin casting machine. These are specialized and likely outside the normal hobbyist range, but I’ve seen jury-rigged machines using old washing machine parts and metal fabrication.

Disc molds are similar to the above two-part molds, except both halves are made at once. You start by placing the models between the discs, cutting and getting the shape set directly into the disc. Then, the discs are clamped together and heated - this sets the mold, catches all the details, and ensures you can use it. After vulcanization, you add gates and channels as needed by slicing with a knife.

Next up, the spin cast. The mold is loaded into the spin caster and clamped into place. You heat up your casting material, start the spin, and then pour in your material. By the end, you have models.

As you might guess, this is skilled labor. Each spin has an operating cost, as well as a material cost, and its in your best interest to avoid having parts split across multiple molds. Part of the business aspect is determining how to minimize spins to maximize production of what might sell.

tehsid
Dec 24, 2007

Nobility is sadly overrated.
Going to have a crack at this once I get back from Japan. Please keep posting!

I have the setup so I'll grab some tools and miliput. Thanks for posting!

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
First sculpting post of 2019 for me.






Chaos Dwarf 10mm project is going along pretty well. I have a big pile of armatures prepped, so this year is starting well.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Cross-post from the Casual Painting thread:

I’m hoping to drum up posting here (partially so it’s less of a log of my amateur sculpts and practice) and I thought something like a contest or giveaway might get people more willing to participate. What kind of stuff might entice people to give it a try?

I figure online certificates for something like supplies or one of the Miniature Mentor videos might be a good way to start building some momentum there. Partially because I work during all post office hours and suck at getting things in the mail, partially because I never know what people need for their studios.

Theming is also hard - I know that it can be daunting to post work in progress when it’s not particularly good, and I’ve had to overcome that block myself - and restrictive themes might be keep people out. Starting with something basic like “sculpt an addition beyond gap-filling on a miniature” might be a good start for things, as it’s casual enough that people could dip their toes in without feeling like they need to start from scratch.

Any suggestions?

tehsid
Dec 24, 2007

Nobility is sadly overrated.
Sometimes people just like to join in. Maybe post in the mini thread and link to a short easy to follow and basic tutorial for an aspect of this. Set a date and get people to post results. Being a part of something is easier then going it alone.

But I'll also be joining you soon!

Electric Hobo
Oct 22, 2008

What a view!

Grimey Drawer
I didn't know this thread existed! I've tried sculpting a few times but I always end up forgetting everything about it, so I've never made any real progress. It's also way less forgiving than just painting miniatures. I should give it another try and post something in here to keep me motivated.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.

Electric Hobo posted:

I didn't know this thread existed! I've tried sculpting a few times but I always end up forgetting everything about it, so I've never made any real progress. It's also way less forgiving than just painting miniatures. I should give it another try and post something in here to keep me motivated.

Absolutely post stuff! It’s great motivation.

As to the less forgiving parts - yeah, if your basic anatomy is off, it can be rough, but I’ve always found painting to be much harder. If I need to strip the paint from a miniature, then there’s a whole process with soaking and scrubbing, and remembering which paint removal method won’t wreck this particular model, while sculpting mistakes are quickly removable with a scalpel. I think it seems less forgiving because of the physical elements, plus we’re all so used to looking at the end results of skilled sculptors in the form of miniatures that the first few tries seem frustrating.

Here’s some encouragement and suggestions:
  • If you feel like you’re racing against the clock when using greenstuff/ProCreate, then try mixing in a little Fimo or Sculpey. It increases the length of time you have to work with it.
  • If you don’t want to worry about time, use an oven-drying clay. Then you can work with it as long as you want!
  • Work in stages. It’s a slow process, and trying to do too much at once makes it feel harder than it is - especially with epoxy putties that cure over time.
  • Set realistic goals and look at progress as a series of steps, rather than sudden leaps. My current goal? Make something worth casting during this year. It gives me plenty of time to sculpt without a specific deadline.
  • Do stupid stuff to practice techniques and know that people like seeing other people’s work: I started this thread so I could encourage other people to take up sculpting, after all. One of the first sculpts I posted to SA was an oversized, weirdly-proportioned gun-wielding Elvis. Then I made a weird evil umbrella almost a year later, and a mash-up of Japanese myth and the Goatman.
  • Experiment with materials. Try letting your greenstuff cure for ten minutes before doing anything with it. See how thin you can roll it. Figure out if there’s a tool lubricant that makes things easier by trying stuff - I’m currently using some hand cream, because it seems to work, leaves very little residue, and has made my hands fabulously soft.
  • There’s no pressure - you’re doing this because you want to learn something, not because you’re expecting a call from GW to sculpt their new line of minis and need to improve for the interview.

Sculpting is fun, and also enough of a weird dark art amongst wargamers that I hope this can become a good resource.

Oh yeah: yesterday, I worked on anatomy for my second 10mm Bull Centaur.




I like how it ended up much chuftier than my first attempt. To talk about technique, here’s the process I use:
  1. Make an armature. I use the method described in the 10mm Sculpting link above, slightly modified for this style - essentially looping in a second wire so I have the two sets of legs.
  2. Add putty to the legs, getting a rough form with the knees. I start at the rear and move forward.
  3. Add putty to the body in strips, using it to bulk out the armature and get the rough shape.
  4. Start shaping the muscles and defining the division between pieces. One trick for limbs: run your sculpting (i.e. non-sharp) blade around the tops of the legs, where the thighs meet the body. Use this to define where the torso starts, as well as to shape the initial gluteal muscles. I’ll post pictures of this later - it was a sudden revelation that really helped me to understand anatomy elements.
  5. Add putty to major muscle masses - in this case, you can see how the tops of the legs/thigh muscles stand out - done by adding a little blob of putty and smoothing it.
  6. Smooth and refine shapes, first with the burnishing end of my #5 Wax Tool, followed by assorted clayshapers.
  7. Put it down.

That’s my general process. I have a bunch of armatures sitting like this currently.

Skails
Feb 24, 2008

Born-In-Space
This is great. Like seeing your stuff.
The last games workshop 40k podcast talked a bit about sculpting. One of the guys suggested attempting to copy models you like. I'm a giant vampire bat shy of a unit and I'd rather try sculpting at least the head myself to fill out the unit.
I plan on using greenstuff for the head, and if the bits I have don't work well with it I will do the body as well.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.

Skails posted:

This is great. Like seeing your stuff.
The last games workshop 40k podcast talked a bit about sculpting. One of the guys suggested attempting to copy models you like. I'm a giant vampire bat shy of a unit and I'd rather try sculpting at least the head myself to fill out the unit.
I plan on using greenstuff for the head, and if the bits I have don't work well with it I will do the body as well.

Thanks for the compliment! I’m definitely learning, but part of the process is being willing to put stuff out there.

Trying to copy or work as “inspired by” an actual mini is a real pro technique. It’s all about seeing the individual parts and how they connect together - not just stuff like “arms” and “legs”, but things like the skeleton, the muscles, the skin, and the various cool stuff that give it form and make it striking from a distance.

The basic recommendations I’d have would be study the heads of the model and try to figure out the skull/understructure and start with the teeth.

The teeth thing is a trick I read about somewhere, but it’s useful for anyone sculpting monsters. It’s a pretty counter-intuitive process at first, but it makes sense when you see how things fit together.

  1. Start by rolling out a thin strand of GS. Cut a few small lengths from it (about 2-3 mm longer than your eventual teeth) and shape them so they’re pointed on one end and flat on the other. Because fangs are a focal point on vampire bats, this is a great opportunity for you! Use the existing models to get an idea of size.
  2. Let them harden. While doing so, make your head armature and shape the skull, making sure that you keep the spaces for the teeth/gums flat and a little deeper than you might if you were trying to get things done in one go.
  3. Let your skull/head armature and understructure dry.
  4. Pick out the teeth you want to use, and glue them into the mouth using CA or another superglue. Let the glue dry so it’s not so delicate.
  5. Mix a small blob of fresh GS, and roll it out like before. You’ll want it pretty thin, and wide enough to cover that extra teeth length that you built in earlier.
  6. Gently press the GS on your head, right where the teeth and head meet.
  7. Blend the GS into the head.
  8. Using a small ball burnisher or blunt needle, establish the gumline by smoothing the GS, then pressing between each tooth.

I forget where I saw this, but it makes creating wicked monster teeth much easier - rather than trying to build out from the head, you’re making them separately. They also let you really make them pop and look like a proper model, rather than a surface with detail added in.

You can also use something sandable like brownstuff or Milliput to make the teeth stronger, as well as easier to shape after they harden. Another option is using bits of sprue filed into shape - can be harder to get smooth, but you likely already have the material.

Electric Hobo
Oct 22, 2008

What a view!

Grimey Drawer
I figure I'll try to post in here whenever I actually do something, to keep myself going.
Today, I'm just starting out by making some armatures.

Now to wait for them to dry.

Electric Hobo
Oct 22, 2008

What a view!

Grimey Drawer
Hedningen, what size did you print that armature template at? I went 100% and it's way too big, 30mm is more like 54mm.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.

Electric Hobo posted:

Hedningen, what size did you print that armature template at? I went 100% and it's way too big, 30mm is more like 54mm.

I actually forget - I’ll fiddle around and see if I can remake it. I think I got it to work by rotating it so it printed in portrait rather than landscape, but it was a while ago. Sorry about that!

Oh yeah, I’m working on my portable sculpting station, as I just had some of my supplies come in. I figure posting pictures will be appreciated - the base is going to be an old flat-bottomed suitcase, which is currently being reinforced. The first part is a cutting mat from Greenstuffworld, which coincidentally enough, has armature templates in a variety of scales for both people and horses.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Since I mentioned teeth, here’s my current exaggerated tooth monster, along with a rough step-by-step.

First up, the initial miniature. One of my 28mm rat-people, with the skull and eyeballs sculpted. Yes, the eyes are goofy right now, but adding flesh will fix it.





So, first step: brew up a blob of Milliput and roll it out really, really thin.




Next, chop off some toothy bits - really short, and in proportion to the mouth, with a little extra length.



Then, let it dry. I let these sit for about 24 hours.

After drying, select your teeth, trim them down, and glue them into the mouth. They will look ridiculous, but you’ll have teeth, and when you add head flesh and muscles, they’ll look more natural. The lower jaw is a bit crap, but it will be resculpted and expanded.



Ratto teeth! Next step is adding gums, which will take a bit of time after the glue sets. This has the double-bonus of attaching them more securely.

Skails
Feb 24, 2008

Born-In-Space
Put together an armature, I plan on going a little less cartoony on my scupt so the proportions are different.



Started on the face as well, using a GIS vampire bat skull for visual reference.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Part II of the teeth detail.

Once teeth have set solidly with the superglue, it’s time to start adding mass to the face and gums. Here, I added a roll of epoxy to the point where the teeth meet the main mass of the head.



After this, it’s time for facial detailing.

Remember the oversized little balls in the skull? They become eyes - the method I use is adding a thin roll of epoxy to the bottom of the eye, curving and shaping it to define the lower eyelid. Repeat on the top to define the upper eyelid and brow, and you’ve got a facial shape.

To finish things off, I added putty to the lower jaw to better define it and make the mouth look less stupid. Then, I added fur texture, keeping the flow of the fur aligned to define facial features a little more. Ears are triangles, which will be trimmed down a bit more.

Finally, had some epoxy left, so I flattened it, smoothed it, and used it to add trim to the chainmail already on the model.




Gotta add the nose and sharpen the face more, but the main masses of the face are done.

Skails
Feb 24, 2008

Born-In-Space


I added the teeth in and an eye and a bit of nose.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.

Skails posted:



I added the teeth in and an eye and a bit of nose.

Looking really cool! I like how you’re using the GW bat for inspiration, but working to make it a little less goofy in terms of proportions. The armature especially is looking neat. One question I have is how thick is the wire-only portion of your armature in comparison to the general model thickness? It looks a little heavy to me, but I’m also sculpting in super-small scales so my perception of things could easily be off.

What tools are you using, by the way? I always wonder what other people have for a favorite sculpting tool.

Skails
Feb 24, 2008

Born-In-Space
So far I've used some of these these:
https://www.amazon.com/Hawk-12-Piece-Stainless-Steel-Carvers/dp/B000E305E4

And then some cheap rubber brushes that look like clay shapers I picked up at a craft store. I haven't done enough of this to have favorites yet.



I definitely over-built the armature. Was trying to add some mass and and tie separate wires together. got carried away. I may be able to strip back some wire, especially on its left wing.
I checked out the Patrick Keith blog today, shoulda done that before starting! There is some great info in there.

Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.

Skails posted:

So far I've used some of these these:
https://www.amazon.com/Hawk-12-Piece-Stainless-Steel-Carvers/dp/B000E305E4

And then some cheap rubber brushes that look like clay shapers I picked up at a craft store. I haven't done enough of this to have favorites yet.



I definitely over-built the armature. Was trying to add some mass and and tie separate wires together. got carried away. I may be able to strip back some wire, especially on its left wing.
I checked out the Patrick Keith blog today, shoulda done that before starting! There is some great info in there.

Glad you like his blog! He’s a cool sculptor - can be a bit cheesecakey with some sculpts, but he does some good varied bodies.

Here’s a cool step-by-step I stumbled on. Might be inspiring to some folks.

Skails
Feb 24, 2008

Born-In-Space
Yep, he's got some great in process work. One of his tips I found useful is sticking a piece of blister foam in a water dish to use like a sponge so tools aren't too wet, but wet enough. Also I want to try mixing a tiny bit of Fimo into my green stuff to see if it will help smoothing and feathering onto cured work. I'm finding the straight green stuff a little gummy.



Did ears, lips, and eyelids. Also stripped down extra wire on armature. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Meeple
Dec 29, 2009
Well, the OP sold me, time to mangle another art form. I am now the proud owner of a big pack of clay shapers (which, if nothing else, is the tool I didn't even know existed until this thread but badly wanted) and some ProCreate.

First project: do something interesting with the right arm for this guy. Already drilled a hole in his shoulder for the armature to fit.


Armature sized against a spare plastic arm. I have a lot of paperclips lying around, seems to work well enough for now.


Armature in place. As it's a model from back when weirdboys just barfed up psychic energy at everything in front of them, I thought a "trying not to puke" pose might work.


Basic arm shaping. He's wearing a fairly fancy, military-ish coat and his left arm is hidden so I'm thinking of putting fairly thick sleeves over this, so I didn't try very hard to shape muscles into the arm (I think, with hindsight, I probably should've anyway).


And a first stab at the basic hand. Looking at it now, it's a bit too small compared to the other hands, so I'll probably cut it off and try again next time I'm sculpting.


Definitely room for improvement but this was a fun use of a lunchbreak, especially with proper tools compared to my previous greenstuff-and-whatever patch jobs. More to come, I hope!

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Hedningen
May 4, 2013

Enough sideburns to last a lifetime.
Some great stuff going on here! Glad people are joining in.

Changing gears a bit and trying something new. My brother indicated he wanted to try playing a Giff in an upcoming game, and I decided to make him a miniature for it.


Initial armature bulking.


Skull and eyes added, along with boots.


Pants.



Face, sculpted over the skull. Hippo-faces are fun!


Added the eventual hand items: a curved sabre and a pistol.


Where things stand now.



Still quite a bit of cleanup and detailing left, but for a speed sculpt, I think it’s going okay so far.

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