Request for advice - not a sculpt

Started by Sunray, 22 September 2017, 02:00:58 PM

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Sunray

Right . I need a few squads of Nigerian National Police circa 1960s.

Sky blue shirt, light sand trousers, 37 web, WW2 Brit small arms, and either a Brit helmet or beret.

WW2 British will do at least 90%, but I need a few figures in a beret.

No mission requesting a figure. So I figured sanding down the helmet & a little green stuff .  :-

Has anyone put berets on WW2 Brits ?

fred.

22 September 2017, 02:15:40 PM #1 Last Edit: 22 September 2017, 02:47:23 PM by fred.
Some of the commandos are in berets.

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Techno

Come on, James.....You can do berets.

(I've ripped berets off figures and then put helmets on.....That was quicker than the other way round.) ;)

Cheers - Phil

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Sunray

Quote from: Techno on 22 September 2017, 03:27:44 PM
Come on, James.....You can do berets.

(I've ripped berets off figures and then put helmets on.....That was quicker than the other way round.) ;)

Cheers - Phil

Can you send me a few pictures Phil ?  ;D  Don't you love role reversal ?
Seriously - What yellow/blue mix do you use on the green stuff ?

Yes, Fred I might use the Commando with the Bren and the rifles - don't like the smg sculpt.

Techno

Quote from: Sunray on 22 September 2017, 04:00:06 PM
Seriously - What yellow/blue mix do you use on the green stuff ?

OK, James...(Here I'm talking about converting a metal figure...or using one of the Pendraken metal dollies......It's different, if I'm making a completely brand new figure on a wire frame.)

So......What I normally tend to do, is start with a 50/50 mix of the yellow and blue......which usually means chucking away a portion of the yellow, as there tends to be more of the yellow than the blue on the strip.

This is the first attack.

This mix is usually nice and sticky and will affix to a metal model.....Mostly !! ;D ;D.....If it simply won't stick, it probably means there's still a little of the releasing powder left on the model and it needs a quick wash with some washing up liquid...a quick rinse..and left to dry...... FULLY.

Because I'm trying to do the figures/conversions much faster than most of you will need to, I might put on a 'skin' of this mix onto the area I'm going to be working on.
Now....If you've got the time, you can add more of the same 'mix' to the area, you're working on.....and then leave it for a while so that it 'half sets'. (The 'while' depends SO much on the ambient temperature of the room you're working in.....I've been doing this so long, I do it by 'feel' and experience.)

Once this mix has 'half set'......You can then start sharpening edges....pushing the putty with a 'pin'...or whatever.... to put cloth folds in.

But, what I'll tend to do....Is..... after 'skinning' the area I want to work on, with the 'sticky' mix. I'll add more 'blue' to my original mixed putty, and slap (I mean carefully position) this secondary mix onto the bit I'm working on.

This (sort of) gives the feel of 'half cured' putty....and I can do my 'sharpening' and 'folds' on the model, sooner.

Like I've said....It depends SO much on the temperature of the room you're working in.

I hope this makes sense.

Cheers - Phil

Sunray

Ah he makes the magic seem so simple.

Reminds me of Michelangelo,  quaffing his goblet of  chianti and getting up from the tavern bench

"Right boys, excuse me, I have got to slap a lick of paint on the Sistine chapel roof....nothing special."

:o


Techno

I just make it look simple. That's called talent !!  =O =O =O =O =O =O (I've been looking for an excuse to use that line for AGES.)

Seriously though.....As I've said before....Most of this is down to practice and patience as far as I'm concerned. I don't think I've got what people would regard as artistic skill....I can simply 'copy' things to the best of my ability.

The only advantage I might have compared to a lot of folk, is that I've 'trained' my hands to use a very light touch when pushing the putty about.

I reckon 9 out 0f 10 of you could do this, if you could find enough time...and had the patience.

Cheers - Phil

paulr

I'm not so sure about that Phil ;)

I suspect it is quite common for people with a particular talent not to realise how difficult it is for people without that talent...  :-\
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Techno

Hmmmm.

Clibby made a comment yonks ago....Along the lines of....
"If you can paint, you can convert.....If you can convert, you can sculpt."

I think that's very true. It's effectively how I ended up doing this 'job' full time.  ;)

Cheers - Phil.

Sunray

Quote from: Techno on 24 September 2017, 07:33:06 AM
Hmmmm.

Clibby made a comment yonks ago....Along the lines of....
"If you can paint, you can convert.....If you can convert, you can sculpt."

I think that's very true. It's effectively how I ended up doing this 'job' full time.  ;)

Cheers - Phil.


To a point, I have swapped heads, and made minor conversions to "existing figures".  But sculpting talent - particularly at 10mm/12mm demands, an artist's nous in terms of capturing that sense of animation, getting the proportion right, avoiding the "kneeling giants", and that sense of knowing what features/weapons to exaggerated without the figure becoming cartoon like.

No. Many years ago, I was in the company of two very gifted twins who were able to beaver away creating 25mm figures whilst conducting a very animated - at times heated discussion - on an English Civil War battle.   Yes, we can all tweak a figure, but creation from a dolly is a gift.  And you are blessed with it Mr Lewis!

Techno

Again, James.....Most of this has been down to 'experience'....and slowly learning how to 'do things'.  ;D

I assume you could only be referring to Mike and Alan. ;)

The twins used to make me so jealous, (This was when I was  'in charge' of the designers, at the then, not so Evil Empire) as they could look away from whatever model they were working on.....Give you eye contact....Chat.....And STILL keep working the putty......Without looking at it all of the time.

Bob Naismith was just the same !

I imagined, that by now....After 25 years of making wee soldiers....I could sit in front of the TV in the evening and do sculpting by feel, like those chaps could do.

I WISH.  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Cheers - Phil

paulr

I have also seen the twins 'in action' while chatting and it is amazing to watch
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John Cook

Lots of good advice here.  Regardless of your preferred medium - Green Stuff, Procreate etc., I find silicon tipped clay shapers very useful for 'fettling' it into shape.  They stop the putty sticking to the modelling tool rather than the figure.

Techno

Absolutely, John.

Colour shapers are extremely useful.....Wish I'd discovered those much, much sooner....Wouldn't be without them now.

Still have to use the metal modeling tools for some parts of the model...(especially the 10mms) ...It IS a pain when the putty sticks to the wax 5 rather than the soldier I'm working on.  >:(

Cheers - Phil