Contest Sculpting competition POLL CLOSES 12TH JAN

Well, Sikeron's sculpt is plain great - well-detailed and stylish. Check.
Nahualpiltzintli's one is really weird (but I don't mean anything bad - perhaps in English it means "strange in a bad way" - then I'm sorry) - looks fantastic and really unexpected. Both sculpt and idea are awesome. Check.
Neveroddoren - these guys are totally headblasting! Looks insane and thus cool as fuck! Love-love-love!

 

@Cowboy_Jerry
Don't worry, i did not take it in the bad way hehehe

@Lawot
Sure!
The whole idea was to have one slann representing the Lore of life. (My long term project is having one for each lore of magic so... lots of work there)
Not only i wanted the palanquin to be representative of that, but also the slann too. I wanted to represent the slann as the mage-priest it actually is, and i think that, although is a nice figure, the basic slann doesnt really get to transmit the feel of "mysticism", the aura of rituals and magic it should have. Sure it has some "kind of" piercings that could be talismans or something, but that's it, not a big deal...
I knew i wanted it to have a ceremonial mask, and i wanted to relate it to the lore of the slann, that's why it is mainly maid of scales and fur, (and a little of metal with those triangle forms, to make it more ornamented and protective. After starting doing the upper part of the mask, i thougt that i had only used materials from animals, so it could be more related to the lore of beast more than the lore of life. I also thought a cloack would be a great idea to add some continuity to that mask. First i decided to make a cloak made of leaves, but honestly i was unable to do it with my actual level of sculpting (As i have said, this is the first time i do a conversion). I did some trials, but i did not really liked them. Then i was thinking about any other options that could be more simple (i would rather do a simple thing well done, that a complicated sloppy one) and i came up with the vines.
The sides of the mask where the last part i made.
First i wanted to make some plaques made of scales, and thaving them hanging from the "helmet" by some metal rings. I tried several shapes, but i didn't really liked them, so i started drawing different designs until i found one that i liked and finished the mask the way it is now.

For the rest, i wanted to have some trees (and the snake) and when i finished them, i thought they where pretty "plain", so i made that little altar with the little plant, but it still had something missing. Then i saw the little heads that were the spare parts of my attempts of making a "kodama" (the little spirit from the film "the mononoke princess") and i liked the idea of making a little "cameo" of them, as they represent the health of the forest.

 

@Sikeron
I visited the link. Wow, lizardmen have really changed since those miniatures, but i must say i like them (I started with warhammer in the 6th edition, with 13-14 years with the high elves, and with lizardmen... just this summer ).
I have heard before about that material (FIMO), but i have never used it.
May i ask you where to get some of it, and (more or less) the average price of it?
I would like to try to use it for something i've in mind, for my lizardmen.
Also, after cooking it in the oven, is it fragile or tough? Can it be painted directly?
Thanks in advance for answering hehehe

 

This isn't open for any further entries is it? Will there be a similar contest in the near future?

 

@ Nahualpiltzintli

FIMO is quite cheap... For 56 gr. you should pay no more than € 2 or 3... 56gr. is more than enough polymer clay to sculpt 2 or 3 Kroxigors. There are different kinds of FIMO available: Classic (rather brittle), Soft and Mix Quick (which may be difficult to buy, not many shops offer Mix Quick). I use a 50/50 mix of FIMO SOFT and Mix Quick. The sturdiness of the cooked FIMO enables drilling and filling.. No problem... After a basecoat, you can paint it as well...

Fimo doesn't adhere to wire at all so before you can sculpt anything in FIMO you'll have to "basecoat" your wire dolly in green stuff and imidiately add a second thin layer of FIMO... Than you can sculpt as long as you want...

Just like here: http://www.miniaturestudio.net/tutorials/test-page-1/

 

@Sikeron

Thank you very much for the info!
That about sculpting without being worried about the time before the green stuff or other epoxy hardens must be great (and if you are slow sculpting, as i am).
Great link, by the way

 

@Sikeron thanks for the info on the sculpt! I used FIMO as a kid quite a bit, and eventually started using Sculpey, but never tried carving/sculpting the level of detail you have on that model. I guess I need to pick some up and give it a try! What sort of tools did you use to shape it?

@Nahualpiltzintli a Slann for every Lore is quite a challenge! I'll be starting painting soon-ish on a friend's High Elven Mages, and am looking forward to painting them thematically like that, but sculpting a Slann around it is kind of another level of work and creativity. How long did you have to work on the Life Slann for?

@Ninu I know how you feel...but I think there's no shame in losing this competition...there are some truly stunning works on display here!

 

@ Lawot

Some tools I use are home-made... The ones available in shops are either too expensive, of low quality or useless... By sanding some brass rod and glueing it to a wooden handle with super glue I may design a tool suited to my sculpting style... The one one top is the one I use the most right now.. Clay shapers are essential and of course ball stylized embossing tools.. Add a brush and you've got all that you need..

 

@Sikeron I must say i have been unable to find clay shapers in the several shops i've visited, but i will definetely need them. I guess i'll look online.
I would appreciate very much your advice about what shapes of clay shapers i should try to get

@Lawot
Yes, i know it is a big project, but i am not rushing it. I will take my time to do it jejeje
Well, i started it more or less at the beginning of October, so a couple of months... Although i was not working on it everyday. The last week before the contest deadline i started working on it for 4 or 5 hours everyday, finishing the last day with a 13 hours session
I totally hope not having to do that again

 

Hey everyone, hope all is going well, just a brief reminder for you all....

POLL CLOSES THIS TUESDAY!

 

@Sikeron thanks, that's really helpful! I'm using an air-drying modelling clay for now, and my assortment of tools includes a bamboo skewer and an X-acto knife. I don't think I've seen those ball-tipped tools before, but I can immediately imagine how they would come in handy.

 

...I voted. I would vote again if I could.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I'm still surfing the rollercoaster of joy with this one, still so proud and touched by how you all came together with your thoughts, feelings, comments and of course entries for this.

If anyone would like critiques for their work, please ask, but I'd actually recommend you start your own thread with "critique my work" or something similar, that way you will get more than just my feedback.

 

@Nahualpiltzintli

Get a whole set of clay shapers... usually there are 6 different shapes for €15... I prefer the flexible ones which are most often a brighter greyish color... shape-wise I use the pointy cone shape (the second on my picture)

 

@Sikeron Thank you very much!!
I shall buy them next month (because this one i've already spent too much money... christmas things hehehe)

 

Poll is now closed.

Winners are...
1st place: Nahualpiltzintli
2nd place: Sikeron
3rd place: @neveroddoreven

A big thanks to everyone who took part, I really appreciate all the effort and enthusiasm you've all shown.
I will be sorting out prizes, postings and so on this week and will be Pming the winners.

Thanks again everyone!

 

Congrats to Nahualpiltzintli.... Well deserved...

Thanks to Rikard for this nice and thrilling contest....

@neveroddoreven: Would you mind swapping prizes? I'd really like a conversion done by Rikard

 

Ooh, I wasn't expecting to place in the top three, nice!

@Sikeron Sure I'll swap prizes if it's ok with Rikard. I wasn't in this for the prizes really so anything's a bonus.

 

I think I have to explain why I asked for a price swap...

This morning I had a brilliant idea, I think... As I said I made some casts of my entry sculpt and the opportunity to get it "heavily converted by Rikard" got me carried away so I couldnt resist to ask.. Hopefully, he is ok with that

@ Rikard: Is it ok to ask for a price swap so I get the third price? Neveroddoreven would agree