Advice request: GW Slaanesh Daemonette busts

[jonfreeman]

Apologies upfront for the topic, but I'm wondering if y'all have advice for adding a 2nd breast to the Slaanesh daemonette figures from GW.

 

I'll pass on explaining context.  Short sum, though, is i have some 17 daemonette figurines from Games Workshop Warhammer Age of Sigmar (they're the twisted single-breast claw-arm foot soldiers for the Slaanesh chaos god faction). And i would like to add a 2nd breast so they fit in with proxy models. 

 

I'm fairly new to the hobby, hence inexperienced with model conversion.

 

So yeah, outside of sidestep solutions like "just sell the figures", do all y'all have suggestions on how to approach this? 

- i.e. objects that could work? 

- or am i stuck using 2 part poxy? (The bunch i have went hard and is near impossible to fine sculpt with)

 

 

Thanks in advance

[Glitterwolf]

Green Stuff.

If you don't use all of it, keep it in an airtight container, better yet, put it in the freezer for future use.

A little round/pear shape and a tiny dot will do the trick on this subject.

[Werkrobotwerk]

You're kind of stuck with the greenstuff. 

Remember to wear gloves and keep your tools lubricated to keep a smooth surface as you sculpt. 

 

I undertook a similar project a long while ago, it was time consuming. 

[jonfreeman]

5 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

Green Stuff.

If you don't use all of it, keep it in an airtight container, better yet, put it in the freezer for future use.

A little round/pear shape and a tiny dot will do the trick on this subject.

That adds up. I bought a Chinese knock off a few years back when i initially started the hobby. 

 

I'll get some fresh green stuff and go from there. Thanks for the advice on how!

[jonfreeman]

related note - is there a "best" 2part epoxy brand? 

20 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

Green Stuff.

If you don't use all of it, keep it in an airtight container, better yet, put it in the freezer for future use.

A little round/pear shape and a tiny dot will do the trick on this)

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by jonfreeman

[Mad Jack]

 

 "Best" is sort of a loaded term - there are several different brands of epoxy putty (greenstuff/kneadalite, Milliput, Apoxie Sculpt, etc.) that each have slightly different physical properties - some cure faster, some cure harder, some take detail better, etc. - and which one is the "best" is generally a matter of how well those specific physical properties line up with the particular task you're trying to accomplish at the moment. Some sculptors use a mixture of different brands to get just the right physical characteristics they want.

 

If you're just adding a couple details onto a figure, it doesn't really matter much which one you use...

(Although I'd personally stay away from using Milliput for tiny details.)

 

Greenstuff (or kneadalite) is what most folks use for general work, and regardless of which company sells it it's all going to be the same stuff (they all buy it in bulk and repackage it) so shop around for the cheapest price if you're not planning on needing a lot of it - one little package will go a long, long way.

 

For something like making the daemonettes' chests symmetrical, you'll want to mix up a small ball of putty, about half or three quarters of what you'll actually need for the entire job, and then stick it on and form the general shape of the object you're recreating. Then let it cure.

Later on, after it hardens, you can go back and add a bit more putty to flesh out the details. If you try to do the whole thing at once, you'll end up deforming the basic shape of it when you try to add the details. Since you have a number of daemonettes to do, you can assembly-line them to save time rather than doing one completely before starting the next.

Remember to keep your sculpting tools well-lubricated, and if there's too much chance of screwing up the details you've already sculpted by trying to reach a difficult part or finishing a detail all in one go, let the putty cure and then come back to it.

Blending your edges well is the key to making things look like they're original detail on the figure instead of a conversion.

 

If you're adding armor over their new breasts, it's mainly just a simple matter of mirroring the detail from the pre-existing side, but if you're leaving the new breast bare keep in mind that the physics of the pose they're in, particularly if they have an arm raised or are leaning forward, will change the shape of the breast and adjust accordingly*.

I personally find that the easiest way to "sculpt" a scale-appropriate nipple is to simply put a small drop of white glue on a piece of scrap and then take a sculpting pick, get a little bit on the end, and put a dot of glue in the appropriate spot. Make it just a teeny bit larger than you want the end result to be as the glue will shrink slightly as it dries. At the scale we work at, even a simple layer of white glue will read to the eye as having significant thickness and can be used to sculpt detail. Once the glue has mostly dried, you can add another smaller drop on top of the first if it's not enough. 

 

 

 

* (From a psychological perspective, we (as humans) have an innate understanding of what a human body should look like when it's doing something, and if the visual detail that we're seeing doesn't match the mental expectation we have then it's going to cause cognitive dissonance and thus be really noticeable - even more so if we can't quite consciously codify why it's not quite right. One common mistake many sculptors make, even the female ones, is forgetting to factor in the physics of flesh when sculpting breasts... Thus, we end up with a lot of minis that look like they have sports equipment or flotation devices attached to their chests... )

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by Mad Jack

[jonfreeman]

Yeah, I'm a freelance character artist - so I'm used to working with "soft physics" in the line drawings. I definitely appreciate the reminder for modeling, though! (Not sure i would have remembered, given I'll be a rookie fighting against the medium here. Lol) 

 

These will be covered, partly due to me having nieces/ nephews over frequently.  So that advice of not trying to do it all in one go is very applicable.  :)

 

And big thanks again! 

[Mad Jack]

 

 If you ever need advice about sculpting, there are a handful of the professionals that hang out here on the forums, and they're usually happy to give advice and answer questions...