BMPC Sculpt-Along

[TaleSpinner]

As discussed in the Big-Mouthed, Putty Catcher thread, this thread will be a sculpt-along-with-me tutorial during which I'll walk you through the process of making a BMPC of your own. 

 

Why the BMPC?

 

It is a fairly simple sculpt that is free form enough that beginning sculptors can practice with, without worrying too much about anatomy.

 

 

What is a BMPC? 

 

I have no idea (other than what I posted in the other thread about putty catchers); it is just something that crawled out of my imagination one day and landed on my sculpting table.  They look something like this, but I am sure that variations exist out there:

 

 

 

So how will this work?

 

I intend to post a set of steps that you should be able to complete in less than an hour.  I'll post each step in a a separate post.  You can then follow the steps.  Allow your putty to cure after each post is complete before going on to the next for best results. You may post questions at any time throughout this topic and I'll answer them.  Also, feel free to post photos of your progress if you so desire.  We'll have a separate thread later to post finished sculpts.

 

 

Materials needed:

 

- Putty (I will be using either Green Stuff or Green Stuff mixed with Apoxie Sculpt).  I suggest you use either Green Stuff, Apoxie Sculpt, ProCreate, or a comparable two part epoxy putty.  To get exactly the same results as I, I would stick with GS or ProCreate as they are most similar in nature to what I am working with.  If you choose to use a polymer clay like Sculpy or FIMO, I can offer advice, but your techniques will have to be different than I will be showing here.

- Vaseline (You can use water or nose grease, but I use Vaseline. Other lubricants will give you different results.)

- Tools:

 

The following is a photo of the tools I will be using; a small leaf-blade tool, pointed clay-shaper, cupped clay-shaper, dentist spatula tool, and a curved needle/pokey tool (may also use a sharp pin tool). Not shown is my scalpel.  You will be able to sculpt everything I do with just a hobby knife, needle, and a flat metal tool (like a dulled hobby knife), though it will be a lot easier with the clay-shapers too.

 

 

 

- A wine cork

- A 2 to 3 inch length of stiff wire approximately 1mm in diameter (I use brass rod). Pins and coat hangers will work, though the latter will likely be a bit thick.

 

 

 

- Tools for cutting and bending the wire.

- Flat surface you can roll putty on.

- Lots of light

- Magnification as needed

 

I will post the first step a bit later this evening.

 

Andy

Edited October 15, 2014 by TaleSpinner

[DixonGrfx]

soo excited....  I have all that stuff and ready to go

[TaleSpinner]

Step 1: Building the Armature

 

The first and arguably most important step of any sculpt is to build the armature.  Normally, this process would start with reference material and a template to get the anatomy right, but we are going to skip that with the BMPC since its anatomy is variable.  That said, we do have to give some thought to the anatomy we want to create.  The BMPC has a large, lidded eye ball on top of a flexible tentacle. It's body is essentially a bag with a large mouth on one side and three to four grasping tentacles coming out of it's bottom.  They are highly variable creatures so feel free to adjust things to suit your tastes.

 

1. Visualize or sketch what you want your BMPC to look like and what sort of pose it will have.

 

2. Cut a piece of wire between 2 and 3 inches long with a wire cutters.

 

3. Using pliers, bend the wire into a curving shape so that it will travel through the center of your BMPC.  You can see that mine is a bit wavy in three dimensions, with the end curled forward. The end will be where I put the eyeball, and I want it looking at whatever PC I happen to pit against this BMPC. Note that you should leave about a half inch of straight wire on the bottom end to embed into the cork.

 

 

 

4. As an optional step, I flatten the straight end of the wire on my little anvil with a hammer.  You don't have to do this, but I find that it keeps a single wire armature like this from spinning in the cork as I work.

 

 

 

5. Using a pliers, press the armature into the cork. (Note that I left about a half centimeter or so of straight wire above the cork.  The rock base will cover this area.)

 

 

 

The following picture shows the size of this BMPC.  It is a bit larger than the ones I did earlier.  I felt this would help me show more things during this tutorial.  Fell free to use a different size to meet your tastes; however, I wouldn't go much larger than mine or you may have trouble completing all of the steps in a sitting.

 

 

 

This step probably won't take you very long, but it is a good breaking point before our first foray into putty.

 

Andy

Edited October 15, 2014 by TaleSpinner

[Loim]

I wanna sculpt like TaleSpinner.

[Sirithiliel]

Bookmark comment so I can find this thread later to try this out =D

[TaleSpinner]

Step 2: Sculpting the Rock Base

 

Typically, if a critter is standing on the ground, I sculpt it first and add the base after the fact; however, in this case, the base is necessary to be there before sculpting the BMPC because its tentacles wrap around it.  For mine, I am going to sculpt a simple pile of rocks as a base, similar to what I did in the example in the first post.

 

Note: I discussed it with Kit and got permission to post this as an animated GIF, showing it progress through 22 frames of sculpting. Please let me know if this works for you or not as I'll do it again, but perhaps a bit better next session.

 

1. Smear a bit of Vaseline on the outside of your off hand thumb and a bit on your index finger and thumb tips. The Vaseline on your thumb will be used to run your tool through as you sculpt and the bit on your fingers will mix in with the putty as you blend it.

 

2. Mix a wad of putty about the size of your index finger tip.

 

 

 

3. Press the putty ball around the base of the armature, sealing it together and pressing it down onto the cork.

 

4. Run your fingers over the surface to remove most of the fingerprints.

 

5. Use a metal tool (lubricated on your thumb) to smooth out any remaining fingerprints then cut in the rough shape of the rocks.

 

6. Keep working the rocks with the tool to refine their shapes.

 

7. After the putty has set for about 20 minutes, start etching in the details into the surface of the rocks, using the tip to scribe fine lines, cracks, and irregularities.  Remember rocks should be textured all around; large smooth areas will not look right. Work it until it looks good to you. Notice how in the GIF I am constantly turning the piece.  It is important to turn it a lot and make certain that you are approaching your sculpt from all angles.

 

Note how I have the center rock taller than the rest.  This will be the rock the the BMPC will have its tentacles wrapped around.

 

 

Please let me know what you think of the GIF approach. Let me know if the speed is right; I made a faster one too, but think it is too fast.

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

Edited October 16, 2014 by TaleSpinner

[Sirithiliel]

Oooh i like that! Seems a fine speed to me

I efinitely need to pick up tools though haha

[DixonGrfx]

outside of a youtube video, I can't think of a better solution than a gif. Possibly even better than a vid. It's an perfect solution, and the speed is good.

[Loim]

The speed is wrong. 

 

I realized this is much the same approach I took with my haunted tree. He was mostly comprised of green stuff that was left over from whatever else (over a Milliput base). 

[TaleSpinner]

The speed is wrong. 

 

I realized this is much the same approach I took with my haunted tree. He was mostly comprised of green stuff that was left over from whatever else (over a Milliput base). 

 

How is the speed wrong? Faster, slower?????

[Loim]

I actually have no problems with the speed of the gif, but since you posted it it's wrong. 

[fishnjeeps]

Gonna try this one myself once I get home. What is the play dough used for?

[TaleSpinner]

Gonna try this one myself once I get home. What is the play dough used for?

 

LOL, it took me a while to figure out what you are talking about.  Those are old sample Play Dough jars that my sons had from years past.  I threw out the original dough and use them to keep the two parts of my GS in.  I buy GS in bulk in the tubes.  I then separate the two colors into all Yellow and all Blue tubes.  These then go into separate ZipLock bags and go in the freezer (this keeps them from having any gas exchange going on).  When I need putty, I get out a quarter sized chunk of each part and put it in the Play Dough containers.  The blue lid jar holds the blue part and the red lid jar holds the yellow (didn't have yellow Play Dough I guess).  This way, I only have a two week supply being stored at room temperature at any given time and it packs well in my travel sculpting case.

 

(BTW: the OCD in me HATES the red lid being used for the yellow part.  If I ever find a yellow Play Dough jar in that size, I'm jumping on it.  )

Edited October 16, 2014 by TaleSpinner

[fishnjeeps]

Good to know, I should probably go freeze my GS now shouldn't I?

[TaleSpinner]

Good to know, I should probably go freeze my GS now shouldn't I?

 

YES!!!!!!

 

I lasts nearly forever separated and frozen.  Unfrozen it will get stale in a few months and you end up with blue chunks in your nice putty that won't fully cure.