Frustrated Father Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 Very interesting and I'm enjoying following along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted March 16, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted March 16, 2006 Hello everyone, I'm back again. I've done a lot since my last update. I'm a bit sleep deprived tonight though as I have been up a lot recently with a sick kid, so if something doesn't make sense you'll know why. The next step was to glue the other foot down. I put 5 minute epoxy on the bottom of the right foot and, using the dragon as a template, positioned and glued the foot. Once the foot was dry, it was time to prepare the foot and leg pins. On a dragon this large, I want a lot of support, so I am using finishing nails as pins. The first step was to mark the angle of the legs as they come out of the feet so that I could drill the holes in the feet at the same angle as I will be drilling the holes in the legs. That way I won't have to bend the pins and/or fit them very much. To mark this angle, I placed the dragon on it's feet and stuck pins in the masonite base at the same angle as the legs. The following picture shows both pins: After that, I carefully aligned my drill with each pin and drilled a hole all the way through the foot, the masonite, and through the steel base. I had to clean the drill bit out when I hit the steel, but otherwise it went through quite well. As you can see, the nails go all the way through the base. The head of the nail will anchor everything in the steel. A bit of the head will protrude when finiished, but I will just file that flush with the bottom of the base. The following is a picture of the nails sticking up through the feet: Next, I pulled the nails back out and put the dragon on her feet. Using a nail through the foot, I pressed it into the leg to make a slight mark in the pewter of the leg (it was too faint to take a picture of). This marked the spot where I needed to drill into the legs. Being careful not to drill too deep and come out through the top of the knee, I drilled out the legs. After that, I cut the nails down to size. I was rather happy that I didn't need to bend them or use the carbide bit to adjust the holes at all. I marked the nails so I would remember which one went with each leg, and then I put them away for future use. Before I mount the dragon onto the base, I need to sculpt the rocky landscape of the base. For this, I am going to start using grey-stuff (two part, blue and white epoxy putty). The reason I am using gery-stuff and not my prefered green stuff is that I have a ribbon of grey stuff that is getting old that I want to use up. I don't really like grey-stuff, but I had bought it a long time ago and want to use it up before it becomes totally unuseable. As it was, I had to cut off the hard skin that had formed on the blue portion before I could use it. Anyway, the grey-stuff was good enough to do rocks, so this was a good time to use it up. Once I had cut the ribbon and removed the skin from the blue part, I kneaded the putty for about five minutes until it was a uniform grey. Then, forming it into the rough shape I wanted, I stuck it to the base. I use water to coat my fingers and tools while sculpting to keep the putty from sticking to me and the tools. Primarily, I used a dental pick and my hobby knife to do the sculpting on these rocks. The following picture shows me putting the finishing touches on the first chunk of rock: Over the next several days, I repeated this process, using only an amount of putty at a time that I knew I could sculpt within 45 minutes to an hour. I actually find that the putty is easiest to work with after it has set for about 15 to 20 minutes. Before that, it is almost too soft. The following pictures show my progression until I ran out of grey-stuff: Well, that is all for tonight. Tomorrow, I plan on finishing the sculpting using green-stuff putty. I won't buy the grey anymore. It doesn't seem to sculpt as easily as the green. I think part of my aversion to it is that, with the light color, it is difficult to see what details I have sculpted and it gives me more eye strain. I guess maybe I'm getting old. Well, have a good night. I hope you like this installment. TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted March 17, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted March 17, 2006 Hello again, I was home all day with my sick child, so I got a lot done today on Cinder. Essentially, I continued sculpting the base, but was using green-stuff this time. I decided that I want the setting to be a mountain pass that is infrequently traveled. Cinder is in the process of attacking someone who would dare to use her pass. Later, I will add a broken path using tallus, but, for now, I just need to finish sculpting the rocks. The next few pictures show the progression of the sculpting: I decided at this point that the base needed a little something more than just rocks. I decided that in ages gone past, when Cinder was but a hatchling, someone, a dwarf perhaps, had decided to warn people using the pass that dragons inhabited the area. To do this, they had carved a stone oblisk and placed it at the side of the trail reading "Warning, Dragon" in runic. I figure Cinder leaves it there, appreciating the irony of people reading a sign warning them of her presence while they are actually standing in her favorite ambush spot. (I guess I personally like the irony of having a huge red dragon standing over a sign saying "Warning, Dragon." It's kind of Far Sideish. ) The following picture is my brief little drawing of what I wanted to sculpt: I decided that the actual oblisk needed to be a bit shorter than drawn and a lot more worn looking. Awhile back, I had read in the Sculpting Forum that many sculptors use a blend of green and brown epoxy putty for things that need harder edges. I thought I'd try it. The following picture is of the cut putty ready to be mixed: I am quite new to sculpting, and doing the oblisk took some time to get it right. I kept getting finger prints on it. Any suggestions from you sculptors out there? Anyway, I do like the way it turned out. "Warning": "Dragon": After that, I continued sculpting with the green-stuff until I was done with the base, as shown in the following pictures. So, now I just need to wait 24 hours for the base to cure and then I will add the tallus and attach Cinder to the base. Have a good night, TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stern Kestrelmann Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Brilliant TS. You are a true craftsman. Keep up the good work. SK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted March 17, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted March 17, 2006 Brilliant TS. You are a true craftsman. Keep up the good work. SK Thanks. TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spatula Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Very creative, Very informative....thanks for taking the time to share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabberwocky Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Nice work, TS! That is quite a bit of greenstuff. Looking forward to the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decado Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 The base looks awesome and very realistic. I can't wait to see this project progress. Decado Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clouse Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 I've been following this from the beginning and I must say it looks awesome right now. I can't wait for the final piece, but don't rush it. Great job so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mousekiller Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Continue taking your time. Looking great so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawgiver Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Extremely informative and the photos are excellent. Looking forward to the end results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodhi Posted March 19, 2006 Share Posted March 19, 2006 Great looking. A tip to get rid of fingerprints when doing a simple square shape such as this obelisk is to rub over it a few times with household plastic once it has set relatively firm. I don't see any fingerprints though - but since you asked... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted March 20, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted March 20, 2006 Hey, thanks for all of the replies. It is nice to know that so many are following this. I glued her to the base over the weekend. My camera batteries went dead on me though, so I won't be able to get any pictures up until tonight. She does look awesome all assembled. I've been following this from the beginning and I must say it looks awesome right now. I can't wait for the final piece, but don't rush it. Great job so far. Continue taking your time. Looking great so far. I have small children, I can do nothing quickly around my house. I typically get about 4 to 7 hours of free time a week, not all of which I can afford to spend on minis. My painting time has increased since I built my traveling painting case; I can now paint for about 30 to 45 minutes during my lunch break at work, but that doesn't help me at all during the assembly phases of a project. I'm sort of the tortise of the mini world, I'm slow, but I keep at it and eventually get there in the end. Great looking. A tip to get rid of fingerprints when doing a simple square shape such as this obelisk is to rub over it a few times with household plastic once it has set relatively firm. I don't see any fingerprints though - but since you asked... Thanks Bohdi. That is actually how I did it without getting prints on it, though I obviously didn't let it cure enough. It was very frustrating because the plastic kept drying out and sticking to the putty and left its own marks. I want to start sculpting more and have been following all your posts for a quite a while. You've been quite an inspiration to me for wanting to try my hand at sculpting more. Thank you. Well, like I said, I should have another small update tonight, if all goes well with work and my family today. Have a great day, and thanks again for all the compliments. TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TaleSpinner Posted March 21, 2006 Author Moderator Share Posted March 21, 2006 Hello, As I said, over the weekend, I glued Cinder to the base. I used 30 minute epoxy this time because I needed the extra working time to get everything in place. It turned out that my pins held her up all by themselves, and I didn't need to clamp her in place. How cool is that? After she dried, I flied the nail heads flush with the bottom of the steel base. I didn't take a picture of this, so you'll have to use you imaginations. The following are shots of her glued onto her base from four angles: Next, I will fill and sculpt her joints, but I won't get back to her until next week. My group and I are having a full 2 day D&D game this weekend. I'm the DM and I have a quite a lot of preparation to finish up yet (actually getting Cinder on her base was a part of this preparation. ). Have a good night, TS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant_Crunch Posted March 21, 2006 Share Posted March 21, 2006 That sculpt by itself is very dynamic and amazing, but what you've done with the base puts it over the top. I look forward to seeing the painting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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