A New Hope...

So the test casts for the latest chibi miniature I sculpted has come back and been sent out to some friends to help with painting them and giving me some feedback.

I've kept a copy for myself and am halfway thru painting it. Here is what it looks like so far:

Getting back to caring about painting

Over the past years, in the effort to 'finish' armies, I speed-painted my way thru my minis. That really was a killjoy and I actually like painting. Well, I have decided that I am in the hobby to enjoy it, not feel guilty about what I have not painted. So I have decided that I will be enjoying the process by NOT painting huge armies. I no longer have that kind of time anyway. So I will enjoy the painting process instead. And I will paint what I like and how I like it.

So on with the show. The next model is Eomer on horseback. It is a WIP and test color scheme for the moment.

Some Painting

So real life got in the way, as it often does and it has been a while since I had an entry in this blog. This will, of course, be quite a frequent occurence, and more so at this point since I am now in the midst of preparations for re-location. The unfortunate thing is that I have packed away my sculpting tools and materials and will not have the chance to sculpt until I am well and truly settled into my new place. The good thing is that I have left for myself a very few models and paints to pack in last so that I can paint a model or two in the meantime. I have not had time to take my time to enjoy painting over the years as I pushed to 'finish' my armies. I have resolved to change this and downsize my collection of miniatures drastically. I will be getting away from army-sized games and going towards  games with a low model count. I want to play with fully painted models and terrain and I don't want to wait till I retire to do it.

Yes, I really enjoy this hobby. The inner geek in me is strong.

I enjoy painting a lot but cannot claim to be a prolific painter. In fact, I am anything but. In life, one has to choose to invest his or her time into some things and hobby-wise, I chose sculpting over painting. It's just a personal thing; I get more kick out of sculpting than painting.

I am  a Tolkien fan. I read the books before they made the movies. I loved the movies despite the inconsistencies. I love miniatures, painting them and playing with them. All this have swirled together in the fullness of time and coalesced into the Games Workshop line of LoTR minis, which have now been re-named The Hobbit since we are smack in the middle of The Hobbit Trilogy.

My first model for show and tell is (of course) Gandalf the White:

IT IS DONE!

Ok I have gone over the mini and refined the back armor. Ready for the molding process now!

Tidying up

Ok so the hands are done and the process is almost complete! The whole mini has been sculpted and now I can do the final checking and refinements where needed. Here it is, pre-final adjustments...

Halberd completion

Work on the halberd is almost complete. I just need to sand down the parts that are uneven and it is done. Next up, hands to connect the weapon to its owner.

I have also added a mock up of what the completed sculpt might look like, with the help of some blu tack.

The Sum of Its Parts...

Putty work on the shoes of our little friend has been done and the beginnings of his hands have been put in place.

Yes, my previous job was a traffic policeman...

The halberd is coming along, albeit not without quite a lot of adjustments as I grapple with the placement of things and how to secure them. I am not displeased with the progress but the process can sometimes be frustrating (as is the case with putty work).

Weaponize!

I have made some progress on the head of the halberd. For epoxy putty, it is mostly an additive process; sculpting is done inside out. I tend to wait for one layer of putty to cure before working on top of it. Having something stable underneath to push a fresh layer of putty about is helpful in my books so this tends to be a slow process. Brown stuff sands down well, unlike green stuff, which is why the halberd is sculpted fully in brown stuff.

Baked!

Okay, so the clay part is done and I've baked the sculpt. I managed to catch the mistake that the collar of the armor had not been sculpted so I rectified that before baking. From this, I realized that for clay sculpting, it is very important to go over the whole sculpt just before baking to make sure that everything is actually really done before going on to do it. Really should do it, since clay affords one the option. Don't think of checking things over as a chore, but an opportunity to get things right. This applies to many things in life, not just sculpting.

I've also gone on to do the dude's weapon, which will be a guan dao, or a Chinese halberd. I started with the business end of the weapon and took the decision to do the whole bit in brown stuff this time, since it is good for filing and sanding, unlike green stuff or Procreate. Could I have done it in clay? Well, yes, but clay is pretty brittle after baking and this bit is going to be top-heavy (the chibi proportions I am working with will have the head of the weapon big, while the shaft will be thin and narrow) so it might topple over and break/shatter. Anyway, here is a pic of how far along the head of the guan dao is:

So in stages, here is how I am sculpting this:

I start with the armature. Put beside its owner to show the scale.

Wrap the putty around the armature like so. I am leaving part of the armature exposed to show how it is done. Refer to the completed bulked out shape in the first pic of this post to see the end result of the first stage.

My New Sculpting Tools and a Piece of Concept Art

So I am very conscious of the phrase "A bad workman blames his tools". However, many a time, I find that the right tools do help make the job much easier to do. From potato peelers to the right screwdriver. So it is with sculpting.

I bought these from a local craft shop and have slowly learnt to use different parts of it for different uses. The ball tip initially confused me, since I have only ever used a spade-like tip and a knife to sculpt. As I rolled it around the clay bits, I quickly realized how fantastic it was to sculpt stuff with. It's kinda hard to show how it works (except maybe through a video), but video format for now just isn't for me. I bet there are plenty of tutorials on youtube for this though.

Here are what they look like:

I like the fact that they come in so many sizes.

Also, I have taken the plunge and decided to post up a piece of concept art for my next sculpt. I drew it myself and yep, I'm no great pencil artist.

Spider-lady! She will probably be the of this particular set.

The reason why I finally decided to put up my concept art despite my reservations about my pencil skills is that I want to force myself to try and sculpt as close to the design I thought of initially. The question that comes to mind, of course, is "Is that so hard?"

Well, yes kinda. When I sculpt, I try to keep in mind that this will end up being cast. Well, whether or not it does is debatable, but I want to try and work within the correct constraints and stuff that gets cast have to be well, 'castable', at least for metal or resin. This means that I have to think about the parts on the miniature that cannot be too thin (such that it would break easily, which is bad for the hobbyist), parts that may have annoying air bubbles, undercuts that are too severe and balance that against having too many parts to assemble, which makes the miniature more fragile for gameplay, can be finicky to assemble and is a time-consuming process.

Maybe I am over-thinking it. I should just get back to sculpting.

Completion Part 1

... And done! I am really bouyed by the fact that the mini at the clay stage is done! It is now time to go over it to ensure there are no accidental blemishes and then he is ready to bake!
You might have noticed that I changed the inner chainmail skirt to cloth. The main reason for this is for painting. With chainmail AND the outer scale armor, I felt that there might be too much metallic paint on one part of the mini and I wanted to give a visual reminder of the color of the inner garment on another part of the sculpt other than the sleeves. It's probably just a personal thing.
Anyway, this stage is done and on to the baking and putty sculpting bit next!

 

 

Nearing Completion

The upper half of my first ever chibi sculpt is more or less done. I will of course have to go over the whole thing again before baking but it is there. I am currently working on the bottom half, which has the initial markings for the chainmail interior and trim for the outer scale armor partially marked out. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Clay is relatively non elastic and crumbly compared to epoxy putty and I strongly suspect not very good for sculpting the hands of the thing so I will be using Procreate for that after baking. So yes, there is still a fair bit to go (hands and weapon) but still, it is reaching completion and that is at least one reason to be happy. If there are some people who like the end result, well, more to be happy about.

Progress in clay

So upon closer inspection, I realized that while the sculpt may have been of chibi scale, it wasn't the SD scale. I cut off part of the bottom of the sculpt and then filled in the armature again. It is closer to the SD scale now. Scale creep is insidious!

The nice thing about clay is that you don't have to wait for anything to cure. You can just carry on working with it from start to finish, if you have that kind of time. I don't but it does mean I don't have to wait for putty to cure now so there is no need for multiple ongoing projects.

I am currently working on the helmet of the guy. It has been quite enjoyable so far. Oh yes, I bought some new tools for clay-shaping last week and have been trying them out. They turned out to be very nice to use so I will be talking about them in the next post.

 

 

 

 

 

Clay, Chibi and Chinese Chess!

So, I have started on a new project! This project is going to be a clearly defined one, with a set number of miniatures to produce. Now, the question is of course, why did I start a new sculpt while in the middle of another? Well, a few reasons, actually.

Firstly, epoxy putty takes time to cure, so most sculptors using the material have more than one sculpt going at a time.

Secondly, I have always liked the chibi style, especially the super deformed (SD) proportions. It was just that I couldn't think of what to sculpt. Then I thought about the games I would like to play with my children and realised that Xiang Qi or chinese chess would certainly be one of them.

Finally, I have heard how polymer clay is a wonderful material to wprk with and have always wanted to try it.

So this is a prime opportunity for me to work on this project. It will consist of 8 sculpts as there are 8 different types of pieces in chinese chess. It should have enough variety to keep me interested and enough work to exercise determination to finish. The reward at the end of it should be satisfying as I will get to play Xiang Qi with my kids eventually.

First thoughts on polymer clay...
It doesn't stick to armatures!?! I had to superglue a thin layer of clay to the armature before starting work on it. But clay blends into itself well and once the initial layer of clay sticks to the armature, it has been a pleasure working with it.

It is a little different from working with epoxy putty, but the fundamentals of sculpting still apply. I find the greatest advantage clay offers is the infinite work time. Before baking, clay can be reworked and reworked. This helps when attempting to create symmetry without adding more material, which tends to happen for putty. Suffice to say, I am quitr happy playing with the new material.

So here are the humble beginnings:

More about it soon!

Details...

So I have come to the stage where details are added to the miniature and corrections are made where needed. This is the stage when the littlest blobs (smidgeons, literally) of putty are used and it can be a frustrating process. The idea of course, is to perservere. Hold that image of perfection in your head and do not allow for compromise. With this, you may be able to achieve 50% of what you had set out to do initially (more, if you have attained a higher level of mastery).

Over time and over many attempts, your ignorant hands will bend to your mind's indomitable will. And if you believe what scientists say, don't neglect your meals while exercising your willpower because hunger saps much of it away.

Even with knowledge of this, you can see that my willpower is still unable to master my stubborn, clumsy hands completely.

Speaking of blobs of putty, one tip for budding sculptors that I discovered to be rather important. The amount of putty you peel off from the main blob that you mixed has to be at least approximately the right size for that thing you are sculpting. Don't be afraid to scrape away more if even that tiny blob you took was too much. After all, what is a little wasted putty if your sculpt looks better for it?

Well, that is it for today. See ya next time.

Some Progress...

So here's how far along the sculpt is:

She is to be a 28mm near-future cop in a skin-tight suit and protective body armor.

The reason why I chose a skin tight suit is so that I get the chance to practise sculpting the female anatomy. This way, I don't have to resort to nudity. In any case, this is supposed to be a wargames piece and nudity and war seldom go together (at least my limited experience of soldiering tells me this. Feel free to correct me).

The feeling thus far has been good. I've been reminding myself to keep things small (in terms of volume of putty each time I sculpt) and have been keeping to it. There is this temptation always  to use too much putty.

The latest parts added are the back of the boots. I'm not so sure about them at the moment and have been using my imagination to sculpt what I want. I think I will Google some ladies' boots and redo them later instead. The more I look at it, the more I don't like it.

So another lesson I learnt in the process of sculpting is if something is sticking on that you don't like, that is dragging the whole thing down, cut it off and try again. Just like in life, if something is pulling you down, cut it out and try something else. In the words of Thomas Edison, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

The Best Part...

So if I were asked (not that anyone has, mind you), which part of the sculpting process I like best, I would have to say that it would be this stage of the sculpt.

At this point, it is all anticipation, all promise and all hope. The concept (either on paper, in a photo or in one's head) is perfect. It is probably the only time that I can feel that it is perfect. It is what I want to achieve.

Front! Couldn't tell, could'ya?

... and back...

 

 I'll save myself the sheer embarrassment of posting up the picture of the concept. That isn't the point I am making anyway.

The point that I am making is that the beginning of all things always look brightest and best. They feel fresh and we are filled with the vigor of hope. You will see how this feeling kinda gets replaced by other emotions. We'll get to that soon enough.

Back to my point: I think hope is one of the most important emotions in life. On an individual level, it gives one a purpose, a reason to go on, to look forward to something. I remember asking a friend why he was buying the lottery and he turned to me and said,"Well, I am buying hope." Silly as it sounded, it kind of resonated with me. Not in the way that made me want to buy the lottery but in the way got me thinking about life, the universe and all that.

On a societal level, it brings out a willingness to cooperate, to keep things going, to preserve things so that we and our children can have a future that is better if not as good as the present. 

And so, hope...

Moving on, I can't for the life of me remember who said it but someone said that it is not how we start that matters but how we finish. And from the life experiences I had, perhaps I could add that the true measure of a man is also seen in what he decides to do when he's wading knee-deep in s***. That's soot to you young uns out there.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll be pushing putty again soon...

In the beginning...

So after all these years pottering around with miniature models and their associated games, I have decided to start a blog. 'Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear...' one might think. I have thus far been rather resistant to starting a blog for it has just seemed to be so much of the self-aggrandisation (my nice way of putting it) that is the hallmark of the Age of the Social Networking.

So why a blog, and why now?

Well, I want to keep a diary of sorts. Now that the twin phoenixes of Facebook and Twitter have arisen from the ashes of the blogosphere, and now that I have examined my motives for keeeping a blog, I feel that it is a good time for me to start one. Mixed in with the posts of my efforts in the world of miniature models will be some of my thoughts about the world around me. Why? Well, it is perhaps a vain hope, but one day, if my children ever wonder what went on in their old man's mind, they can find something here worth reading.

I don't always have something insightful to say and when sometimes I feel like I do, it turns out I don't. And even if I did, I may not always want it out there. However, if this blog was merely about my thoughts, it would look quite sad and threadbare. So I felt it to be a good idea to combine a hobby of mine to fill in the spaces in between.

And so here I am, off on a journey like that famous hobbit. I may not change the fate of Middle Earth and I probably do not want to but for whatever it is worth, here is my blog...