How to Sculpt: a Series

Howdy Dark Kind!

Though I'm by no means a sculpting master, I've been pushing the putty for a good while now, and I get some pretty decent results. And, for as long as I've been trying my hand at sculpting, I've also been listening to people mourn the fact that they can paint and build lists and nail strategy, but sculpting is a pain for them.

As I was never trained as a sculptor, and I learned all that I know by just messing around with Games Workshop models, I'm of the belief that anyone can learn to sculpt. If someone thinks they can't, that's likely because no one has ever shown them the proper tools and techniques to make it happen.

So, as a lot of my ability with sculpting is a direct result of other people giving me pointers, I wanted to put together a series of articles on my hobbyblog, Modern Synthesist, to give fellow hobbyists a broad introduction to working with putty in the hope of helping them get more out of their miniatures. I've always loved the art of conversion most in this hobby, and my goal with these articles is to make sure that fewer miniatures go straight from box to table without anything modified in between

So, for your consideration, here is the first article (click the image), focusing on tools, and I'll be putting up the next article on materials next week:

Looking forward to this!! 23 years of painting and I've never really gotten into the sculpting thing. After seeing your conversions I know that we are all in for a treat.

Having read that first article, I can tell this is going to be really useful! I've just started attempting to sculpt, and have been debating whether or not I should buy a load of different types of putty to experiment with, different tools, etc. I think you might be about to save me a fortune...

Me likey very much. Sculpting is always something that i find quite daunting and my first few forays into doing icons to go on a land raider soon got filed under B1N.

Looking forward to reading more on this with a view to being more adventurous!

YES!
Awesome!
I am soooo very jazzed that you guys are all keen on this, particularly since you haven't done much of it but are interested in hearing more.

Mr Believer, definitely hold off on buying some putty. This week's post is going to be all about putty. Actually, I should get to writing that now...

I'm reading the article right now.... And I gotta say, i'm really glad you are doing this! I've only really converted 3 miniatures ever, and whilst they turned out ok in the end, I really want to start hacking up models and scratch building sections. So this is going to be great for me, and im sure many others too.

So thanks! We want more =D

I haven't attempted to scuplt anything as yet for a few reasons:

* Too scared
* Lack any tools
* Haven't even used clay let alone putty since I was 13 (I'm 22 atm, but have purchased a clay from the Eldar bases guide SmallVictory posted)
* TOO MANY IDEAS!!!

Your guide on tools was a great read and can't wait to see more =]

***drags over comfy chair and settles in***

***cracks open first cider***

This is gunna be good! Thank you very much Mr. Pink.

I'm looking forward to this. I have never sculpted before as I fear ruining my model after hours of hard work.
I am looking forward to this.
Thank you.

Nice rundown of tools and great blog. Just spent the last 45 min clicking around there and you have some impressive projects there. When those genestealers come calling the sculpting tool of choice I grab on my way to the escape pod is the humble exacto knife with a brand new blade. I like your writing style and have already learned a thing or two, looking forward to more, thanks for sharing.

Ladies and Gents,

Thank you all for your encouragement! It has been MOST inspiring and has had me hammering away on the following article for a few days now. One of the things that motivates me most is the prospect of removing any fear relating to sculpting because I felt the same fear once. I assure you that the best way to eradicate it is with practice, but I'll still endeavour to help people get to a point where they feel comfortable practicing

SmallVictory, I'm glad to hear you took a nose 'round the Blog and found some things that were of interest

So, without further ado, I give you How To Sculpt 2: Pushing the Putty:



I had this epic idea to include techniques, and to show what to do with all the tools I highlighted in my last article, but the article wound up being pretty long before including any of that stuff. Thus, it's going to be a bit of a two-parter. This part will focus more on the properties and applications of my two favourite putties, and the next part will give more tips on working the putties. I hope it measures up to my last one and tells you some things you didn't know before.

Just read part 2 and completed my amazon order for apoxie sculpt, $15 US for a pound is really cheap. I like that you used to use plumbers putty with a GS skin, I still use compressed foil covered in Super sculpy (baked) then skinned in GS layers on big projects. Looking forward to trying the new material, although I can't say I like your timing with these articles. I really struggle to pick up a brush and just as soon as I do I read your posts and my mind is filled with sculpting projects. Oh well, good luck with writing part 3.

Smallvictory, I don't think anything can replace compressed foil as a substructure. It's great and cheap. One tip I'd give is to get some fine wire and wrap it around the foil to keep it together. I'm glad you've ordered some Apoxie Sculpt, and please keep us updated on what you accomplish with it.

Marquis, I've done my first work on cloaks recently, and I'm looking to do some more to look like flayed skin.


Next up: Chapter 3!



I'm feeling a bit like George RR after taking so long to get this one up as it should have followed rather quickly after number 2. As it gets into actual strategies, combining tools with putties, I'm hoping it will be a little more helpful than the last chapter in a hands-on sort of way.

From here I'm looking for some feedback. I feel like this is the logical conclusion of my general sculpting articles, and from these three you can make a decent start on sculpting your own components. From now I'm thinking about going into specific topics, such as how to sculpt Tyranid components, or how to sculpt Coven gribblies. I may also try to sculpt something from scratch/a wireframe, but it would be a daunting prospect as I've never done a full model before :/

Is there anything people would like to see, specifically? Tips on particular sculpting strategies or something else?

Great stuff right there and also some things that made me go "ow heck so that's how you that the easy way". I never even considered old pen parts!

I think you got everything covered with those three tutorials. Some specific tutorials for making models would be great; what bits you use, what you sculpt yourself etc.

Thanks Firdeth. The Howling-Banshee-Power-Sword school of sculpting tools is one of my favourite outgrowths of hanging out with mad people like Hydra. You can use, literally, ANYTHING to sculpt or stamp patterns into putty just as long as you brain can bend in the right direction to see the potential. Unfortunately, I'm a little slow, and usually need to be lead by the hand to genius inventions

On a related note to the sculpting articles, I realized I'd missed something in the third article, so I've gone back and appended it to How to Sculpt 3. It is a Fourth Caveat dealing with practice, and though practice seems like an obvious thing to do when sculpting, I talk about my own experiences with it, so check it out if you're interested.

Also, I've gotten a lot of traffic on Modern Synthesist from right here on The Dark City, so I wanted to let all the dark kin know about a giveaway I'm having to give back to the community. What's more, I'd be thrilled if someone from here won it as I'd love the opportunity to make someone from the Dark City some converted Dark Eldar gribblies:

Postal service had my order in the mail today so the flesh crafting will begin tonight! I'll post progress as soon as I get something worth showing on my project log so I don't clog up your tutorial page. Your advice on patience is golden, I've ruined some of the best looking bits of GS I've ever had by just adding that one more detail. Don't even get me started on fingerprints! Top notch tutorials, thanks for the hard work putting them together.

Can't wait to start trying these techniques on my Grots! Thanks for the excellent post.

Ladies and Germs: the fourth installment is now up on the ol bloggerino:


I know it, likely, won't be as exciting as the last one for those who already have all their kit, but I wanted to include it for the sake of completeness/in case anyone needed additional guidance on where to get stuff. Hopefully someone finds it useful.

Yet more excellent, I've got my tool set now, but was wondering how to get hold of apoxie in the UK. I'll be sure to let Aves know you recommended them!