Pippin's Sculpting Journal (12/7--Cartomancer)

[Pippin 856]

So, I'm working on my sculpting and have lots of little projects I'm doing.  Therefore, it seemed to make more sense to just do a running journal of my work rather than individual posts on each piece as I go. 

Please feel free to offer any input, advice, constructive criticism, or praise.

The first piece I'm showing is an inquisitor gal I did for a character I use when my daughter practices GMing Pathfinder games.  I went with a corset around the cliché inquisitor robe as I wanted her to have some of the expected look, but with her own twist on it.  I also went with a skirt under the coat to give more layers to make the sculpt more interesting.

Next, I have an in-process sculpt of my kineticist, Paco Bumblekins.  as all he does is shoot blasts of water, I always have him do finger guns for it, so that was a big part of the sculpt.  Also, he doesn't wear armor, so he's got a strange hobo-themed attire going (which will eventually include a long coat which seems to be made of billowing waves).

Finally, I have my "Sweet and Stabby" character.  She's fashioned to look like a sweet, innocent young girl (maybe a farmer's daughter or some such), but hiding a readied dagger behind her back.  Maybe she's just townfolk, maybe she's the party rogue, maybe she's a priestess of Calistria.  I like the flexibility of the character. 

Anyway, enjoy!

Edited December 8, 2015 by Pippin

[naponatom 3017]

Very nice start!

 

One question: Is the second one Fonz?

Edited March 26, 2015 by naponatom

[Pippin 856]

The Fonz.  Nice!

Glad you like the pieces I've got thus far and thanks for the positive feedback  :=)

[Pippin 856]

So, in the Pathfinder Familiar Folio, it gives the option to have a duck billed platypus animal companion.  How could I not sculpt that?!?!?

 

 

[Pippin 856]

Haven't been sculpting as much as I'd like recently as this is a very busy time in the life of a teacher.  However, I've gotten started on slapping some paint on a few of my sculpts, so I hope to add shots of those soon (within the week, I hope) and then I'll be getting in more sculpting time as we get into summer break.  Thanks, everyone, for the continued input and encouragement.

[pcktlnt 34448]

Platypus!

[Pippin 856]

So, I've been working on throwing paint on some of my sculpts.  Not done yet, but thought I'd update the progress

The second picture is a shot of some armatures I've done and started fleshing out with Green Stuff.  I'm planning to throw some of my birthday money Lovejoy's way for the Burrows and Badgers minis (if you haven't checked them out yet, you absolutely should!).  However, I thought I'd flesh out my forces more by sculpting some anthro minis to add to that.  From left to right they'll be:  a rat archer, a ferret fighter, a frog rogue, a cat brawler, and a hamster fighter.  Definitely a ways off from being done, but I'm excited for them.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the update despite the lack of anything actually being finished.

Edited May 17, 2015 by Pippin

[Pippin 856]

Hello again, everyone!

I've gotten a bit further with the anthro figures.  Mostly, just putting the initial layers of Green Stuff on so the real sculpting can begin.  However, I did get to the cat's feet yesterday.  I think they turned out pretty well.  I question size-wise if I may want to go a bit bulkier/larger since he'll be one of the bigger minis in the group, but I think I've got them at a good size.

Once I'd finished that, I got a wild hare to make some terrain pieces, so I knocked out four corners of a collapsed building, a treasure chest, and a cache of equipment before heading off to bed last night.

We'll be starting finals this week, so not sure how much time I'll actually find to sculpt.  Hope you enjoy these bits in the meantime.

[Pippin 856]

So, we're in the midst of giving finals, so I haven't had much sculpting time, but I did manage to get some work done on three of my anthros.

From left to right, we have the hamster (a chubby little fellow who will be a fighter), the ferret (more of a brigand), the cat (who will be a brawler--I'm debating if he'll be threatening with fists or claws), and the rat (who will be an archer, and yes, the bow will be pulled closer to his body once the sculpt is finished).  I also have a frog in armature form with a little GS thrown on him, but not enough to bother with a picture.  Anyway, hope you enjoy these and hope to have more progress to show in the near future.

[Pippin 856]

So, I've been working on the anthro minis, but I've also been dabbling in terrain pieces.  Last night, I did a bit on my anthro figures, made a few more armatures, and then figured since I was going to bake them (I do the bases in Sculpey), I'd just go ahead and do a few more terrain pieces.  I ended up getting carried away and worked on the terrain pieces until about midnight, so never actually got back to the anthro minis.  Ah well.  I have some more nice terrain bits.  I did a well, a gnarled tree, and an elevated platform which is 2x3 (with some line references worked in for movement) and a 1x1 step leading up.  I did one shot with some 28mm minis to give a size reference.

Oh, and I'm also working on adding a creeping vine to one of the collapsing walls.  I think I'll also do some light sandpaper work on said crumbling walls to give them more of a worn look.

Comments and feedback are always welcome.

Enjoy!

 

 

[Pippin 856]

Due to the inspiration of the great work by Michael and his encouragement as well as others on this forum (especially Cosmic_mastermind) and friends and family, I've finally finished my first batch of anthropomorphic minis.  You'll be seeing a cat brawler (I went for fists rather than claws and gave him an aviator's cap), a rat archer (and it's a touch blurry on the face shot, but he's snarling), a ferret brigand (whose face turned a touch bear-like), a frog assassin (the only girl in the group), a hamster warrior (with a tree symbol on his breastplate and shield), and a snake enchanter (which took far less time than the others).  I also made more terrain, of course  :=)

I think they may be some of the best pieces I've made thus far, but I'm always open to help to get better (or compliments as those are cool too).

Thanks, everyone, for following my thread  :=)

Edited May 27, 2015 by Pippin

[Lovejoy 4141]

Good stuff, it looks like you are getting on well! Are you going to paint them?

I've got a snake mage on my workbench in progress now... I was trying to think how to do a snake character, but all I could come up with is a magic-user; it's the lack of arms that's the problem!

 

As for your sculpting, I think next you should have a go at working on your putty control; that'll mean you have to slow down, which I know nobody wants to do when they are starting out, but it's an important part of the process. 

 

Just try making some one-off heads, and hands. Try some human heads though; doing anthro heads means you have to understand the anatomy of the animal as well as work on the putty control, whereas you have an instinctive knowledge of how a human head should look.

 

Make yourself a few small pieces of wire, with little blobs of cured putty on the end. Then just try making heads and hands on them, focusing on smoothing and blending the putty, getting the shapes right, and keeping it all as tidy as you can. Not exciting stuff, I know, but it pays off...

 

 

[Pippin 856]

Thanks for the feedback.  Slowing down will probably be easier once summer break begins.  My sculpting time at the moment is when I can find spare minutes in the midst of family life, lesson planning, and grading.

I am planning on painting these pieces.  I'll update with the painted versions when I get that done.

[Pippin 856]

So, I've been trying to learn from things I've seen posted (such as the outstanding step-by-step things Michael posted on the Burrows and Badgers Kickstarter) and put them into practice.

I had planned to do a turtle, so it was an ideal chance to apply what I'd learned.

I used a pin vice (and I was so ridiculously excited when I finally bought it) to hold the head.  It started as a blob of GS on wire, then progressed to a too-skinny shape with holes where eyes would go.

Then, I fleshed out cheeks, put tiny circles for eyes, and built on brows.  I tried to make his expression rather stern.  It seemed to fit the character more.  I think I got it, though I may be a bit biased.

With this done, I took the cured head out of the pin vice, used one of the drill bits that came with the pin vice (did I mention I was excited about it?) to drill a hole into the body (which I'd built before I'd gotten the pin vice) and attached it.

A bit of GS to form a neck, and voila!  I think I'll bulk up the right arm a bit more, but otherwise, we have a nifty little turtle cleric with his holy book under his arm and his hand raised as if offering a blessing.

The final picture shows the basic structure I'll be using as I work on building an elephant.  It was my daughter's idea, and I thought it would be cute, but it would also need to be bigger.  It's base will take up 2" worth of space rather than the 1" of the smaller figures.  I imagine it will be a great chance for me to refine my skills on a larger piece and then bring that attention to detail to the smaller scale.  I think I may also do a rhino as a large figure.  I quite fancy doing a rhino.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the updates.  Feedback is always welcome  :=)

[Pippin 856]

Progress!

I'm working away on refining skills (you might see a human head or two in the background).  However, I'm also continuing with some of the anthro figures I already had going. 

Shot 1 is the basic form for the head of my raven harp-playing bard.  It just seemed to fit since ravens are the largest of the songbirds.

Shot 2 gives you the body of the raven (harp in the right wing), the body of a female rat swashbuckler (with her skirt fleshed out and a rapier in hand), and the body of a female mouse mage (with a really short robe as I'm not sure how/if I'll flesh out the rest of it).

Shot 3 is one of my favorite silly anthro characters.  He's a snail spellcaster.

Shot 4 gives another view of the snail.  Definitely going for a blobby body, he's got part of his blob extended as an arm holding his staff while another blob is held aloft as if casting a spell.  The eye stalks are there in wire form, but not Greened yet.

Shot 5 shows the minis I've finished thus far with paint.  I think it really fleshes them out and gives them more/better character.

I'm really enjoying these figures and I hope that others are seeing the improvement which I fell I'm slowly but surely making.

Thanks for looking and hope you enjoyed the new minis.