Green stuff for dummies

[walkertexasranger]

So......like a dill I bought some OOP terradons on eBay that are lacking a moderately important part: their bodies. As much as it amused me at first to put the head directly onto the tail (creating something akin to a terradon, in the same way that miniature pony is akin to a real horse) I figure the solution is to sculpt myself some bodies.

The catch is that: a) I have never used green stuff before in my life and b) I don't have green stuff, instead I have some epoxy putty I found in the supermarket for half the price (seems to be the same: 2 different putties that you knead together, result = hard plastic) and c) I am possibly the least artistic individual known to man. Seriously. I've spent AGES painting my models, but the result is so crummy that I dare not post them on here !

So anyone got any advice? Slash the ability to magically turn me into less of an art-retard?

Thanks in advance!

 

[nuklearangel]

The trick with sculpting is to be patient. You have to work in layers, and not expect to get the finished result in one session. For terradon bodies, I would start by rolling out some putty into a rough cone shape. The fat end being the neck/shoulder area, tapering down to the thickness of the tail which you can attach later. After that is cured then you can start adding details. You can also bend the body a little to add some more dynamic posing after the putty has set a little bit, to where you wont add fingerprints but it still has some give in it. Not sure the working time on whatever putty you use though. Do you have a sculpting tool? If not you can perhaps get by with the rounded end of a paintbrush to smooth your putty. Glue the wings on, then fill the gaps with sausages of putty, and use your tool to smooth the excess putty up over the base of the wings, and also into the body. Use water for lubrication. You will definitely want to wait till the putty holding up the wings is dry before doing any more work. Another idea would be to pin the wings together using a paperclip or something and then pushing the wing assembly into the body while it is still pliable, and then smooth the putty back around your pin, this will make it a lot stronger. You can add muscles to the body and shoulders by using small balls of putty, press them onto where you want and smooth them flat. Build them up slowly. As you can see it will take a few days of working in multiple sessions to finish up. As for the back legs, the claws may be tricky, do you have any spare claws in your bitz box to use? Tyranid bitz may be useful, particularly genestealer hands, for the claws. In fact, perhaps a gargoyle body could work as a base for a terradon?

In any case, it is a challenge to scratchbuild bodies, but you can only figure it out by doing. Don't be discouraged if you dont get perfect results right away. Anyway, hope maybe some of my ramblings were helpful, give it a go mate!

 

[walkertexasranger]

thanks so much man, I was totally lacking direction about how to start. I'll take your suggestions and have a crack! Er, don't expect pictures though

 

[AllSeeingSkink]

I dunno how similar that stuff is to greenstuff, but if it's like greenstuff make sure you keep everything wet to stop everything sticking to the greenstuff (including your fingers). If it's too soft and sticky you can wait maybe an hour for it to cure slightly and it'll be a bit better at holding its shape (especially useful for things like ropes and straps). If you want to make it a bit softer and a bit stickier you can warm it up slightly (I keep some warm water nearby, or put it under a lamp for a few minutes) but if you do warm it up, it'll also cure faster.

And yeah, do things small, one of the biggest mistakes people make is that they try and do too much in one hit.

For sculpting tools, just use whatever you have lying around. I use bits of models I have sitting on my desk, knives, pins, cutlery, steel rulers, etc. Make sure you keep your tools clean otherwise the greenstuff will stick to it.

And don't get too depressed if the first few things you make look terrible, they almost always do

Sometimes I mock up what I plan to sculpt in blutac first, just to get an idea of how to do it, but one thing I discovered is sculpting blutac is easier than sculpting greenstuff, so don't be surprised if you can't work it the same way, though I still find it useful to get an idea of how I'll go about making something.

 

[Rikard]

First off what is this brand you brought?

If it's milliput then it will be really hard to sculpt with, although a saving grace is it can easily be filed.

As for green stuff, I'm afraid I'm going to be the voice of objection here and say:

Don't go mad with water



That's right, the sticky quality is the best part about green stuff, it means you can easily apply it to an armature, layer a new part next to or even on top of the detail layer below. In addition the sticky quality makes it easier to hide joins or corrections you make. At the absolute most I might very gently dab a tool with the tiniest bit of water before using it to spread green stuff around the model, but ultimately it comes down to this.


USE WATER VERY SPARINGLY, TOO MUCH WILL QUICKLY RUIN WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO.

I would also advise using green stuff straight away, don't let it sit, the reason for this is the drying time, some parts I sculpt require the full three or more hours to work (even the edges on plates of armour can take this long to get a nice clean edge), so having my green stuff sitting around is of no help at all. Mix it, stick it, use it.

If you're serious and I really do mean serious about scratch builds then I would invest in some good clay shapers, size 0 is what you need and make sure they are "firm" tips (grey in colour).

The ones worth getting are the bullet tip and flay tip.


Mix small amounts at a time, a good rule of thumb that very, very, very rarely lets me down is to take the amount of green stuff you think you need and then half it.

 

[AllSeeingSkink]

Yeah I probably should have mentioned water also stops it sticking to your model If you find it lifting off it's probably water is between the greenstuff and the model. I keep tissues nearby so I can knead the greenstuff and roll it out while it's nice and wet, then dab it dry on tissues, apply it to the model dry so it sticks, then once it's where I want it I just use water sparingly on my fingers and tools to keep it sticking to me and keep using the tissues to wipe off the excess so it doesn't get underneath and lift off the model.

Also, what's with the "mix up half" rule I hear people talking about, a lot of people say it and I started doing it and all it meant is a kept having to mix up more all the time or wait for one bit to cure and go back and finish it off later.

But I won't pretend to argue with you about it, whatever your techniques you produce some great results with it. All I do is the occasional hack job when I need, sculpting is always my last resort

 

[walkertexasranger]

product is something called Selley's epoxy putty. Fairly sticky but other than that not hard to use.
Followed the advice here and just had a crack, starting simple with two cone shaped bodies of the right proportions (lots of careful measuring, etc, and still think I've made them significantly different in size. Oh well, I'll just call that "unit diversity" and chalk it up as a win ). Will leave it to dry and see if I still like it before going any further

How do I construct convincing scales?

 

[Rikard]

Also, what's with the "mix up half" rule I hear people talking about, a lot of people say it and I started doing it and all it meant is a kept having to mix up more all the time or wait for one bit to cure and go back and finish it off later.

But I won't pretend to argue with you about it, whatever your techniques you produce some great results with it. All I do is the occasional hack job when I need, sculpting is always my last resort

The rule of halves is just that. Let's say you're sculpting scales on the back of a lizardman, the rule means you use only half the amount you think you'll need for each scale. It works quite well as if you have to add more it's generally not a problem, but if you have to remove some because you used too much then it gets messy and you ruin the detail you've done on your scale as well as run the risk of ruining the surrounding scales.

I hope that didn't come across as arguing on my part (above posts) just wanted to throw in my two cents on what I found helped me the most, especially as when people start out it's the bad experiences that put people off.



@walkertexasranger, sculpt them individually, don't be tempted to cover the back in a sheet of green stuff and then shape them, it doesn't look right. Doing it individually is longer, more time consuming but looks infinitely better. Try to follow a turtle shell like design, so largest and most spiky scales in the center and smaller ones on the outside where they meet the skin.

 

[rdennison11]

Would you use similar methods for making a palanquin?
I decided to have a go a making a tetto eko model but have never done any sculpting before (I'm using milliput by the way because of cost)