Hellbeard Sculpting Odyssey

[smokingwreckage]

Like!

[TaleSpinner]

Your drapery is very good, especially on the pants and pouches.

 

I do have one serious critique for you to consider though. Looking through the pictures, I think you have an issue with the armature/balance on the Orc figure. Neither leg is far enough back to really provide a center of balance. When seen from the side he looks like he should be falling backward. I think the problem is that his right leg is in a neutral position, while the left is stepped forward, but in humanoid locomotion, for the left to be forward the right needs to be rearward to keep balance. If it were me (and I just did have to do something like this on a mini I had completed), I'd consider cutting out a section around the right hip and right ankle to the armature, bend the right leg back, and toe up, and then resculpt the cut areas to give the piece better balance. It seems like a lot of work, but it really isn't as bad as it sounds and will give the piece a more natural look.

 

Otherwise, great job. This piece is very impressive.

 

Andy

[Hellbeard]

Your drapery is very good, especially on the pants and pouches.

 

I do have one serious critique for you to consider though. Looking through the pictures, I think you have an issue with the armature/balance on the Orc figure. Neither leg is far enough back to really provide a center of balance. When seen from the side he looks like he should be falling backward. I think the problem is that his right leg is in a neutral position, while the left is stepped forward, but in humanoid locomotion, for the left to be forward the right needs to be rearward to keep balance. If it were me (and I just did have to do something like this on a mini I had completed), I'd consider cutting out a section around the right hip and right ankle to the armature, bend the right leg back, and toe up, and then resculpt the cut areas to give the piece better balance. It seems like a lot of work, but it really isn't as bad as it sounds and will give the piece a more natural look.

 

Otherwise, great job. This piece is very impressive.

 

Andy

Thank you very much! I'll try to put your feedback to good use. There is something about his pose that's been bothering me a little; probably what you mentioned. Thanks!

 

Almost finished, I'll just complete the shield and give him a tab. I've been working a little slowly lately as it’s been a period of adjustment of sorts for me. I’m working through a wide array of things. Hopefully I'll start picking up speed soon enough.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hellbeard]

1:56 warpunk Orc complete.

 

I redid the boots as per your input TaleSpinner. Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[smokingwreckage]

Nice work! This is really excellent!

[Hellbeard]

Nice work! This is really excellent!

Thank you very much! That's very nice of you to say. :D

[OneBoot]

Wonderful work! I'd never heard of warpunk before, and I quite like the juxtaposition. Fantastic job on both sculpts, I'd buy either one even though I'd have no use for them in a game.

 

I'm glad TaleSpinner said something about his stance, that was what I noticed fairly quickly on the side view as well. You corrected it beautifully though, and I think the piece is overall much the better for it. :)

 

Huzzah!

--OneBoot :D

[smokingwreckage]

Cloth, pants, jacket and boots are all excellent.

 

The buckles on his equipment and belts are OK but they don't look like leather-over-leather, (is it canvas instead?) and the belt one could be exaggerated a little. It looks like it's stamped on. Painters will notice that since dabbing some gold or silver on the belt buckle is an obvious choice - and therefore making it crisp and paintable is helpful to your end customer.

 

I'd also be inclined to put an obvious clasp or button on the pouches, but it looks like you have an idea in mind for the fastening, so if I'm ignoring a military / historical feature please correct me! (Also, the pouches look quite good as-is, I'm just picking up a detail.)

 

I love they way you do faces, they're very expressive and have a distinct style, with a lot of attention to the structure in profile.

 

All in all, I'd buy this guy. If I got him in a lot of say, Chronoscope miniatures, I wouldn't be able to pick him out as from a relative beginner.

[Hellbeard]

Wonderful work! I'd never heard of warpunk before, and I quite like the juxtaposition. Fantastic job on both sculpts, I'd buy either one even though I'd have no use for them in a game.

 

I'm glad TaleSpinner said something about his stance, that was what I noticed fairly quickly on the side view as well. You corrected it beautifully though, and I think the piece is overall much the better for it. :)

 

Huzzah!

--OneBoot :D

Thank you very much!

I do appreciate the feedback that I get. More often than not it equals a critical and marked difference in the overall effect of the miniature. The warpunk genre is just something I made up because I liked the idea of it and thought it made good sense. If that makes any sense.

 

 

Cloth, pants, jacket and boots are all excellent.

 

The buckles on his equipment and belts are OK but they don't look like leather-over-leather, (is it canvas instead?) and the belt one could be exaggerated a little. It looks like it's stamped on. Painters will notice that since dabbing some gold or silver on the belt buckle is an obvious choice - and therefore making it crisp and paintable is helpful to your end customer.

 

I'd also be inclined to put an obvious clasp or button on the pouches, but it looks like you have an idea in mind for the fastening, so if I'm ignoring a military / historical feature please correct me! (Also, the pouches look quite good as-is, I'm just picking up a detail.)

 

I love they way you do faces, they're very expressive and have a distinct style, with a lot of attention to the structure in profile.

 

All in all, I'd buy this guy. If I got him in a lot of say, Chronoscope miniatures, I wouldn't be able to pick him out as from a relative beginner.

Thanks for the compliments. I see your points about the buckles and clasps, I'll take them into account more in my following work. Maybe someday you would be able to buy miniatures that I've sculpted. I like the thought of people enjoying the sculpt, painting the miniature and playing with them. I hope to see that happen.

[tommisalama]

Whoah. These are amazing. As I'm trying to learn to sculpt something, can I ask you about the material you use? I see that you use green stuff for the armature, but then switch to some grey stuff? Can you tell me what are the differences between them if any, and why you choose to use the grey instead of green? Thanks! Again, awesome work here.

[MonkeySloth]

Haven't checked into one of your threads for a while and I must say you've really jumped skill wise in the past few months. Keep up the great work.

[Hellbeard]

Whoah. These are amazing. As I'm trying to learn to sculpt something, can I ask you about the material you use? I see that you use green stuff for the armature, but then switch to some grey stuff? Can you tell me what are the differences between them if any, and why you choose to use the grey instead of green? Thanks! Again, awesome work here.

Thanks for the compliment.

The Green Stuff as you may know is PSI yellow/blue kneadatite. The gray material is KraftMark unfortunately named ProCreate putty. The differences, or some of them, are that green stuff is more adhesive for longer while curing. Green stuff has higher surface tension. You must be more patient when working with green stuff very gently coaxing it into shape. If you look around, it can be used to great effect creating stunning sculpts. The PC putty is sticky for a shorter time and less so (so I use GS to strengthen the armature which has less surface area). I found i can comfortably work it into finer shapes (compare the brim on my 1:56 and 1:54 warpunk Gnome's hat). It will smooth and change its shape more readily with less gentle forces. The downside of this is because of less surface tension you may find more difficulty creating organic and flowing shapes. Either may be, in skilled hands, used to create beautiful miniature sculptures.

 

The bottom line is that both are well and good materials for sculpting. With the advent of cold mold making processes there are other materials available as well: mixtures of FIMO, URO, bees putty(or something, I forget). Each has its own strengths, disadvantages and technical challenges. You should experiment with some different materials and techniques. Ultimately, technical challenges can be overcome with knowledge and more crucially experience. More important than the tool (be it clay or shaping tool) is the sculptor - to sculpt well there is much to learn about anatomy, using references and developing processes for achieving your goals. If you wish to learn to sculpt (though I can not say I am qualified to really know anything about it) it is mostly persistence you will need. Knowing how and what to learn will go a long way. Learning how to accept and process feedback, comments and criticisms is also beneficial.

 

Just start going and see how it goes and take it from there. If you want any more specific recommendations, feel free to ask! Also, there's a lot of really good and helpful folks on these and other forums and I draw a very great inspiration and direction from the comments so you might want to give that a go, too.

 

 

Haven't checked into one of your threads for a while and I must say you've really jumped skill wise in the past few months. Keep up the great work.

Thank you very much! I'll keep going. :)

[TaleSpinner]

Way to go. I'd missed that last update. That re-position really made the sculpt. I love this guy. You should be proud of him.

[tommisalama]

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question, and more! I already found out with my first wip that these boards are filled with amazing people ready and eager to help. Thanks again, I'll experiment with other materials as soon as I get my hands on them =).

[Hellbeard]

Thanks TaleSpinner. I'll try. ;)

 

 

1:56 planetFaller commander WIP

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been working on some other stuff and also not working on anything for some time. I hope to keep sculpting regularly though.