Seryl, Ship's Quartermaster

[djizomdjinn 1893]

So, I was looking around, in the mood to paint a bust. Female, hopefully cheap, and something I don't feel weird about putting on my shelf (so no pinupy stuff, and no "adult" busts).

 

...why can't I find any. The only one that kind of fits is Portrait of a Young Tiefling, but it's definitely not cheap.

 

So I decided to sculpt my own out of Super Sculpey. (See my sculpting thread if you want to look at the raw master for some reason) Hit it with a coat of gray primer and... ew. Did I mention how much I hate SS's transparency? Can never tell when something is smooth.

 

 

Well whatever, I want to paint. I'll think of a patch method later.

 

 

So I went over the worst offending bits with a bit of artist's heavy gel medium. It's transparent (well, translucent at least), fills out rough spots nicely, and is pretty easy to use. I had a jar of it I hadn't touched in years. Hopefully with a coat of sealer even the little bit of roughness will fade away.

 

Also, yes she is missing eyebrows. Those will be sculpted in with more gel medium. Anyways, more to come, but I'm already excited to paint my first bust!

[BLZeebub 2535]

I'm impressed.  Was going to suggest gel or some kind of thicker sealer.  But...can't you also sand and file cured SS?

[djizomdjinn 1893]

Yeah, I can, except that I could have sworn it was smooth before I primed it. And I'm lazy and would rather not sand down something already primed .

 

Mixed in some brown into the gel medium, brushed on lightly for the eyebrows. Also worked up a diffuser for my lights so it's not a giant honking spotlight blowing out the satin highlights off the airbrush medium I'm using as thinner.

 

Hmm, how odd. She looks a lot better with a diffuse side light or back light than the typical miniature front and top lighting.

 

[Chaoswolf 115529]

Very nice!

[Peithetairos 2456]

The overall design and proportions are really good. It is a pitty that the Sculpey misled you, but the next time you can sand the skin smooth and the result will be even more awesome :).

[djizomdjinn 1893]

So, I decided to break out my nuclear weapon in sealers: Model Master's (subcompany of Testor's, I believe?) Acryl Matte sealer.

 

I don't know what's in there, but it has some sort of relatively hot solvent. Last time I used it it melted a glazing layer of paint off the mini. But it smooths out surfaces like nothing else I have, and occasionally the paint melting effect helps blend paint even better.

 

After some prep work coating the bust with sealer, and then matte medium and airbrush medium as a sacrificial acrylic layer, I brushed it on and hoped for the best.

 

And... it seems to have worked like a charm. Well, it's not really matte, but after it dries I can go over with some more Dullcote.

 

It's a hard effect to notice in these photos, but I'm glad I experimented with interference green in the irises. From most angles and in the dark she looks like she has dark eyes, but caught in the light just right and they flash green.

 

I also chiseled out a simple plinth out of soft maple with my rudimentary woodworking skills. Dunno how I'll finish that, maybe I'll leave it natural wood.

 

Ugh, hard to take these photos. I need to scrounge up whiter lights, the lights I'm using screw up the colors, and there's only so much color rebalancing can do.