First "sculpt" Trophy Muskie

[mabudon]

First off, I thank you for looking. I made both the fish and the base out of sculpey, and this is the first thing I have made that is worth showing off (had to pull the plug on a couple of things as I got used to the medium). It is made to be in scale with Star Wars figures (really long story) and is roughly 2 inches long end-to-end. I am not too happy with how the fins turned out, the "ridges" should have been way more shallow and subtle, but since it has been baked, I will just learn from that and avoid it in the future. Oh and sorry for the not-too-good pic, I am having a heck of a time getting a pic of it for some reason.

 

 

Any suggestions, criticisms and comments are totally invited- I am only just starting out on the whole sculpting thing- tho I have been painting (and thus assembling) minis since the early 80's and some of them earlier ones pretty much required a basic knowledge of sculpting just to fill in the gaps.

[malefactus]

PRETTY COOL LOOKING...especially for a first attempt. The paint job is right on. As a Mordheim addict, I like dead fish.

[Anne]

Looks pretty good! The ridges don't seem too rough in the photo, and the painting is very well done, quite naturalistic. The only thing I would suggest would be for the plaque the fish is mounted to, maybe using minicookie cutters for the shape? The fish itself looks great, but the curve on the plaque is the only thing that I see for a little improvement. It might also be neat to play with the stamp idea discussed in the basing thread in this section (topic I think a few topics up from here). Maybe one could make stamps for shallow ridges or delicate scales even, so texturing would be easier for future creatures. This looks good though especially for first effort! I'm building up courage to try sculpting minis.. thanks for sharing your work!

[kristof65]

Looks good, mabudon

 

I'm building up courage to try sculpting minis.. thanks for sharing your work!

A good place to get your hands wet is with a conversion - I invite you to join our conversion exchange:

 

http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/41350-kristofs-second-semi-regular-conversion-mini-exchange/

[mabudon]

Thanks kindly, I am fairly happy with how it turned out. I really should have made the base out of something other than sculpey, when made thin the stuff is so wiggly and sticky, I was lucky to get it even close to flat. Next time I think I am going to cut a piece out of plastic card.

 

I am definitely going to try to make some purposely-shaped (does that even make sense?) "tools" to sort of automate certain types of textures, this project literally just popped into my head and I happened to have some sculpey right next to me. I was basically just determined to finish it off as a learning experience and learn what I can and can't do and what I need to improve. The only "tools" I used on this one were 2 toothpicks, one round and one flat.

 

Thanks too for the compliments on the paint job- that was sort of my "ace", as I knew I could dress up a mediocre sculpt with a pretty application of paint.

 

This piece is just going to be part of a "set" I am filming goofy Star Wars parodies with, so it will barely be visible as a piece of a fairly cluttered background.

So again thanks for the compliments and suggestions!! (all these thanks, you can tell I am Canadian eh??)

[Anne]

Wow toothpicks!! Awesome work! Actually if you can get a box of wooden chopsticks (preferably better quality than the throw away ones from take out), you can carve tons of different shapes into the ends (all those crazy sculpting and dental tool shapes). As they wear down you can always reshape it. I've found it easier to use these, because with green stuff it sticks to everything, and gums up shapers after a while. Good luck with your project!

 

Goofy Star Wars parodies!! Excellent, I hope you post finished results! Excited to see how they come out

[Kang]

You sculpted and painted a trophy fish instead of a guy with a big bloody sword and/or a machine gun...

 

Yup, you're a Canuck all right.

 

When I'm here and feel like pointing out that I'm Canadian, I tend to just use "colour" or "favourite". Mostly because it's easier around here than finding some excuse to spell out the way I pronounce the last letter of the alphabet: zed.

 

Reaper Forumites are all very polite and supportive as a rule, so excessive thankings might not be as big a sign of your nationality's stereotype on this particular site as you thought.

 

Kang