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SCULPTING 101, Step by step 1/16 figure

Discussion in 'Sculpting' started by garyjd, Sep 9, 2005.

  1. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    First off SCULPTING 101 is the only title I could think of for doing a series of threads on sculpting a figure from start to finish. Believe me, it's not intended to be seen as the textbook way to scratchbuild a figure. Be it sculpting or painting, we all eventually develope methods that work best for us, with bits and pieces borrowed from fellow painters and sculptors along the way. Like painting, sculpting can seem a daunting task. The best way to approach it might be doing simple conversions where you are slightly changing a pose or the clothing, but keeping the proportions of the figure intact.

    THE SUBJECT I have always felt the pieces that i've been happy with the most are the ones that came from subjects that I had an interest in. With that in mind, I have decided to do a subject from the American Civil War. The subject will be an enlistedman from the Army of Northern Virginia's Medical Service. This "corpsman" or stretcherbearer's duties included moving the wounded to field hospitals set up to care for casualties. I felt this would be a great subject, first and foremost because it is one that has a very simple uniform and very little equipment. With this in mind, we'll be able to concentrate on the details of each aspect of sculpting without being over burdened with a complicated uniform and lot of equipment. Lastly this subject is one that I have always wanted to do, so will serve all of these reasons well. I am very fortunate in addition to several books have some great photographs of Pf member Jason Whitman modelling as the sbs subject. These photos will be of valuable assistance in getting the folds and hang of the clothing correct.

    Attached Files:

  2. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    ANATOMY CHART This chart was from a little booklet put out by Andrei Koribanics some years ago. This chart has served me well over the years , so ill use it here. One of the most important things, if not most important thing is maintaining proper proportions when sculpting a figure. The chart will be your "blueprint" in a sense when sculpting a figure. You would not want a contractor building your house without the use of blueprints, so don't try to do it by "eyeballing' these measurements, as you will probably encounter a problem somewhere along the way.

    Attached Files:

  3. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    ARMATURE SCALE AND MATERIALS I will be doing the figure in 1/16 scale, and have used a valuable tool that can be found here on Planet figure. If you click on RESOURCES at the top of the page and then go to KITSPY SCALER you can then make a figure of any and all scales. It's 's also a great tool for scaling weapons and equipment from both photographs and drawings. For this figure I thought a figure that was 5' 9" to 6' 0" would be best for this project. What I then was put in the information for both measurements.

    5' 9" (69") actual size = 4.3125" in 1/16 scale.
    6' 0" (72") actual size = 4.4375" in 1/16 scale.


    I take these "scale" height measurements and apply them to the height of my proportion chart using a software program that came with my printer/scanner. Then I make my chart the height of whatever measurement is desired and print it out.


    The majority of this figure will be sculpted using Sculpey III as the main medium with some parts being made from putty. Sculpey is a great medium from starting out in for sculpting in my opinion. The main reason is you cut out the "beat the clock" factor that putty has. With sculpey you can walk away from a piece for days and the material will still be in a workable state. Though I do not suggest doing this a lot, as Sculpey does dry out over time, a lot of pressure is taken off by giving the sculptor time to work on the piece and make changes as needed. I combined two colors of Sculpey in order to come up with a piece that would allow me to see areas that needed work or smoothing, but not too light where it would not. I mixed up 2 2OZ. packages of Sculpey III, #001 White and #042 Black to come up with a medium gray color.

    Attached Files:

  4. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    ARMATURE CONSTRUCTION I will be using brass rod to serve as the foundation that the legs will be built on. There are different sizes of brass rod or copper wire that would work. I have chosen 3/64 brass rod for it's stability, although it's not as flexible as copper.

    I start by measuring 3/4" of an inch and marking it with a black "sharpie" marker. You may notice a highlighted line under the feet. I have done this so when I go to put shoes/boots on my figure I have an additional bit of height for the soles. this way I'm not sculpting the soles on the area that is really the bottom of the feet.

    Attached Files:

  5. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    I then proceed to mark out the area of the ankle, knee, and hip.

    Attached Files:

  6. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    I then take a pair of pliers and bend the brass rod diagonally a little at a time laying it on top of the chart until it is bent to where it crosses through the center of the crotch. as seen in the photo.

    Attached Files:

  7. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    I then mark the rod at the point it passes through the crotch. It comes out to 1/4". I then take my pliers and bend it up. One thing I did not do that should have is measure and mark the length of the brass rod from the hip to the center of the crotch. It's important to do this slowly and check it along the way so what will eventuall be the right hip and leg does not sit higher than the left.

    Attached Files:

  8. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    After being satisfied with the angle of the right side I measure the distance from the crotch to the hip on the right side and then bend the brass rod down. You'll also notice that I have also angled the brass rod so the legs do not go straight down from the hips. Stand with your ankles together and look down and you'll see they angle in.

    Attached Files:

  9. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    The next step is to take a ball of Sculpey the size of a large gumball and roll it out. You want it large enough to fill in all or most of the ribcage area of the figure.

    Attached Files:

  10. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    That ball is then placed on my proportion chart and worked into a block that fits the area that makes up the upper torso. It's okay if it does not fit perfectly as I'll be carving it down to better fit the area once the sculpey is baked.

    Attached Files:

  11. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    The Sculpey block is put on a piece of ceramic tile and then into the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. After the time is up I leave the block to sit in the oven to cool. I find this is best because you could have the Sculpey develope cracks or fractures because it was moved from a hot oven to a room much cooler. Some people take the baked piece and cool it by running it under cold water. i have done this before a few times, but prefer to leave it sit in the oven.

    Attached Files:

  12. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Here are the two parts that will serve as the foundation the figure will be built on.

    SECTION COMPLETE

    Attached Files:

  13. megroot A Fixture

    Country:
    Netherlands
    Gary,

    It was worth the waiting. I have bend my iron. But cannot find sculpy.
    Is there something else such as milliput the make the ball.

    Marc
  14. Jason W. Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    I'm sure Gary will agree that practicully any putty will work for this project. Just be aware of it's working time.

    Good luck and have fun with it!

    Jason
  15. RobH Active Member

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I assume thats degrees F not degrees C for us Europeans........... :)


    great start Gary
  16. megroot A Fixture

    Country:
    Netherlands
    Thanks Jason,

    RobH will bring some sculpey next saturday at Euro. So i will do it with sculpey. Gary get such great results it is worth trying it, especially because i didn't sculpt anything yet.
    So for me anything will work. :lol:

    Marc
  17. Jim Patrick Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks A TON Gary. This is what Iv'e been needing. I'll keep watching this all the way through. Keep making all the shots and steps as detailed as your last ones. It doesn't matter how long it takes you, just continue like you are (y) (y) .

    Jim Patrick
  18. Dan Morton A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Gary - Well worth waiting for! Thanks for the marvelous detail and photos! Just what I need. ;)

    All the best,
    Dan
  19. fsdesimone Member

    Nice start Gary! I'm interested to see your approach to a larger scale figure.

    Francesca
  20. garyjd Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Guys, Thanks i did not want to race trhough this which is why there will at least be a few days break in between sections until the sculpting begins. I'll be adding more to the armature construction thread some time today. Thanks again.~Gary

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