You have to call it as you see it,...and I say it's fantastic work as I see it.

No such thing as "cheating" in the pursuit of getting a finished product that you like the look off. The main thing is actually pulling off what you want and having it look right for the scale. That's why you see it more on 1/6 and larger.

You could always try things like static grass or other fine fiber type products perhaps.

If you really want real hair though, I've been told that hairs from the back of your hand and fingers are often fine enough for small scale (came from someone who makes VFX models). Tiny dab of pva on the end should do it.

I'd say 1/6th scale itself is already cheating.

I guess you could possibly use real hair in smaller scales too but only to represent locks, not individual strands.

Totally agree.
Who decides what is "cheating"? And who appointed them?
I can think of nothing that would stifle all innovative ideas more than being forced to abide by some imposed, and arbitrary, "set of rules".

No apology necessary mate.
I was simply making a general observation in response to Forte and Rick -- and agreeing with their comments.

IMO, it's all kind of "don't sweat the small stuff" anyway.

I think "cheating" is usually pointed out by people who wished they thought of it first :-D

You're completely spot on and I'd much rather look at something and think "wow... that's awesome and such a great idea" that go "that's not allowed because it's not [enter any rubbish reason]".

Call it what you want, but the skill level needed to pull this off is off the charts. Awesome stuff.

Adding faux beard or hair is not difficult to do at all.....it's rather easy, but I think any modeller doing this risks making it look out of place with the overall look of a piece.
Where do you stop....if you use fake hair, why not real leather belts and straps, or real cloth.
To me it looks totally out of place on a piece which is painted all over except for the hair......you begin to enter the realm of the "Battle Barbies"
If you've painted the whole piece with highlight and shadow and then add material that has no highlights or shadow it simply stands out like the proverbials in my opinion.
I've added hair to busts before but I've painted it so it ties in with the rest of the piece.

Absolutely thrilling!

Oda.

Very reasonable arguments.Personally I would never try using real hair on a bust or,as it happened in the past,real hair for horses' manes etc.I like keeping modelling categories separate.But I guess it all comes down to taste and skills.Some of the examples above are very convincing indeed.

Oda.

Definitely not "cheating" IMO. In larger scales, most hair on figures looks unrealistic IMO. Even the best painters struggle to make sculpted hair look as effective as the rest of the piece in larger scales. But it is a hard look to pull off without making the figure look doll-like. I'm not completely convinced by the first example above, but the bald-headed example looks amazing.

I guess it depends what you enjoy doing IMO. If it's primarily painting you enjoy, then take on the challenge of trying to make blobs of resin and plastic look like real hair. If you like modelling and converting, then take on the challenge of trying to improve the sculpt using hair or some other material. And of course you can do both!

It's not something I'd try and do either Oda. Then again, 90mm is the largest figure size I've ever done.
Agree with Nigel though, the Ragnar Lothbrok head looks awesome. Wonder what scale it is? 1/6 perhaps?

Totally agree.

Oda.

Using actual fibers (real hair, synthetic, etc) on a model is like other techniques-when done well, it looks great, but if it's not done well, it can look awful. As others have noted, the size/scale of the work is a factor in how the result can look.
In a related technique, I have seen at least 1 Japanese painter, who paints larger-scale figures, use actual false eyelashes on his female pieces. I was disappointed, on the one hand, because I thought his painting skill was so amazing that he could paint what looked like real lashes. On the other hand, I had to give him credit for his technique, whatever the material. His results are astounding, just life-like.
Prost!
Brad

I guess it depends on the individual piece, and what you are trying to replicate.
For example, I've been working on Richie's "Floki", and it's a beautiful sculpt, but the beard, and the hair, are giving me trouble...
Point is, Floki has a very wispy beard, very thin and wirey, but the sculpt, by necessity, is a rather fulsome beard.and I can't get the effect to my satisfaction. That would be one instance, where this 'real hair' approach could really work.