Sculpt this!

Getting the basic figure

2009-02-05T12:59:00.010+02:00

The figure is starting to get some shape. I guess it looks a bit like a human being allthough there are still A LOT of mistakes in the anatomy and trust me, there will always be with this sculpture. I'm trying to achieve a sense of anatomical correctness but that is not the main point since the figure will be wearing clothes and most of the muscles and so on will be covered.

The pose is certainly not one with great innovation. I try to bend the arms so that it doesn't look like the spine is made of metal (which is the case). There is a bit of a curve in the back and some basic muscle shapes on the arms, chest and feet. I also modeled rough shoes/boots for the character. It's important to from time to time look at the measurements of different parts of the character since certain areas tend to be too big or too small compared to the rest of the character. Sometimes the feet get too big or "long", head is too big or small and hands don't match either.

In this case the head is a bit too big which is mostly because of the ironwire structure under the paste. I have to carve some of the paste away and cut the wire a bit shorter with pliers to achieve a better sized head. I am quite satisfied with the size of the feet allthough they are still very, very rough lacking any detail.

Some shots of the sculpture so far. First a full-body shot of the front.

A detail shot of the chest and dummy head area.

A shot from behind. The backside needs some more paste to give some more mass. The back is too flat around the shoulders and immediately below them. Or perhaps too indifferent, lacking all surface shapes, like the line of the spine, and the bone structure.

Finally a sideview. The head is clearly too big. Taking 1/3 off should correct the thing.

"Much learning does not teach understanding."
- Heraclitus

Starting to add some Super Sculpey

2009-02-04T09:53:00.010+02:00

Okay. Now I am at the point where the Sculpey comes into the picture. My plan is to build the basic mass first, caring only a little about the details at this point. The main idea is to get the body to look like that of a human being. I try to get only the basic shapes such as the curve of the backside, the basic mucle structure of the chest area and arms and legs.

But the very first step is to cover the aluminium foil skeleton with a layer of Sculpey so that I can see where to begin the sculpting process.

I plan to add some detail to the first layer once I have gotten the whole figure the way I want it to be. But mostly this is going to be covered with the robes Altaïr wears and the only area that is clearly visible are the boots elow knee level.

Some progress pictures.

I am trying to build the shoulder and chest area to give the character some human-like look. This image (and the other two) show the earliest state of the Sculpey adding part where I just cover the skeleton with the paste.

And a shot from behind. I try to get the curve of the back and the bottom as soon as possible so that I won't forget them, even if they are eventually covered with the robes.

"The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a building filled with archaic furniture. Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it."
- Dee Hock

Adding the household aluminium foil

2009-01-23T13:35:00.017+02:00

I have the basic skeleton structure done. Now it is time to put some 'flesh over the bones'.

Since Super Sculpey isn't exactly the cheapest of materials (a half a kilo package costs about 15 to 20 euros) I need to add something to fill the basic framework. Why? So that when we add sculpey paste on it we only need to put a thin layer of it. This way it lasts longer and hopefully one package is enough for the whole figure.

Also the foil gives a nice rough surface to the skeleton frame so it also helps the sculpey paste stick on better. If I had applied sculpey paste on clean iron wire, it could have slided off since there is only limited friction between the paste and iron wire.

For this procedure I use normal household aluminium foil. I took thin and long slices of foil (about 20-25 cm in lenght and 3-5 cm in width) and wrapped them around the crucial places: arms, legs, torso and head.

To keep the foil in place I added the rest of the epoxy on them to work as glue (propably liquid epoxy would have been better but since I didn't have any, and it's much worse for your general health, I used the epoxy paste instead). I took small amounts of the epoxy and pasted them as thin layers on the edges of the foil.

Remember to push the foil firmly on the skeleton frame so that there aren't any 'soft spots' that might give in when you start adding the sculpey paste.

Here is the skeleton with the foil but without the remaining epoxy bits.

And here is the result after I added the epoxy on the foil to keep it in its place.

"Sometimes the only sane answer to an insane world is insanity."
- Fox Mulder

Tools of the trade

2009-01-23T10:54:00.068+02:00

This time I introduce some of the tools I have gathered, and will hopefully be able to use correctly during the sculpting process. Most of these are just basic modelling tools for clay sculpting and so on. Some on the other hand are for building the skeleton.

Armature. The armature is quite nicely deviced piece of equipment. The metal bar is detachable and so it fits small spaces for storing purposes. Also the birch wood base is heavy, so it gives it a good solid feel. The thinner iron bar is connected with some piping 'clamps' that are used to connect two pipes together, i.e. washing machine is connected to the drain.

The metal bar/tube is almost inch thick so it is pretty solid and it connects to the base without screws of bolts. Easy to build, easy to take down.

Here is a close up of the metal bar/tube connection to the base. Handy, isn't it?

And here is the thin metal bar connected to the main metal bar.

Pliers. Standard multitool pliers that can handle "small and medium sized materials". These need to be able to work with little detail and in small spaces.

Epoxy. This stuff is good when you need to fasten iron wires together and be sure that they stay together. This epoxy is meant to be used in normal household repair situations, such as fixing broken furniture and such. After it has hardened or cured, it can be further processed with other tools such as sandpapers and belt sanders. Epoxy is in this make in two layers, blue and white-ish. It needs to be mixed so that the blue vanishes, before it is ready to be applied to the target surface.

Note: Remember to be quick while applying epoxy on anything. First you need to mix the two materials together (some epoxy packages have them separated, some have them in layers such as in my case), thermosetting epoxide polymer and hardener (or catalyzing agent). Once this stage is complete, there is a limited amount of time before the stuff starts to cure (or harden, in common language). Apply it correctly and and as soon as you are ready, WASH YOUR HANDS. Because this stuff is really hard to get off your hands once it has cured. Best way to get epoxy out off your hands is vinegar, but when it is still appliable/soft, water will also do the trick.

The epoxy tube. It is coated in plastic wrap inside the tube. The scissors are good for clipping the epoxy to smaller pieces.

Basic sculpting tools and brushes. I bought some cheap scultping tools from the local art store. They might come in handy when I sculpt the main lines of the figure, allthough they are way too large and clumpsy for detail work. I gathered some basic paint brusher too so that I can try out some surface textures once I have modeled most of the details on the figure. Hard brushes can give a nice canvas-like texture and soft brushes can flatten the unneccessary dents and bumps on the figure as well as remove some of the unwanted 'debris'.

Paperclips can also come in handy if you need thin and sharp modelling tools for them small places. I think that when modelling the face and hands and little objects, these guys are for the win!

Iron wire. This is important part of a successful sculpting project. I am trying out 3mm and 2mm iron wires for this project. 3mm wire is for the skeleton. I have planned to use the 2mm wire for certain details and objects, such as a sword and so on. Thin iron wire can also be applied to the skeleton structure, to give it more mass and ease the sculpey adding process (it prevents the sculpey from sliding of the bare iron wire).

The main point when choosing the thickness of the wire is to choose something that you can process with basic tools. No point in choosing too thick because it will be hard to bend it to required 'poses'. On the other hand, too thin wire won't hold the weight of the sculpey and it will crush or at least take some 'damage' under its own weight (presumably).

Super Sculpey. Last but not least, the stuff that this is all about. This polymer clay is highly accurate to model and maintains the shapes given to it very well. This is used by many of Hollywood's leading studios to build concept art material of various creatures and characters. It is also used by figure and toy industry to build the master copies of their 'factory produced' figures and toys.

There are several different kind of sculpeys out there, some being harder and some softer to sculpt. Each of them have their main purposes of use. You can also mix them together but be warned; you may have sore fingers afterwards. So, buy a pasta mixer!

"A paperclip can be a wondrous thing."
- MacGyver

Building the skeleton

2009-01-23T10:09:00.013+02:00

So, finally I got around continuing the project. I was a bit irritated by the smell that the epoxy left floating around in the apartment when I applied it on the wire skeleton. But daring fate itself I continued applying it and eventually got the first stage done.

These are basically just iron wires connected to each other with epoxy. And they result in a basic skeleton structure where I start to put some Super Sculpey on.

Here are two pictures of the epoxy stage of the skeleton.

It is fairly simple skeleton (my very first one) and presumably there are many, many flaws in it, but we can only wait and see how it works.
*Disclaimer* My goal with this project is NOT to achieve the greatest Super Sculpey figure ever built but to introduce myself to the process of creating these things. So, if the end result is not identical, or even close to the original idea, in this case Altaïr from Assassin's Creed, then so be it.

Here is the other picture of the skeleton stage, this time from behind. Here you can see the connection I deviced while pondering how to get the figure disconnected from the armature once it was complete. The idea is that there are couple of nuts inside the epoxy that are screwed on the armature. Once the epoxy hardens, the skeleton can be un-screwed from the armature. This should be possible once the figure is heated in the oven.

Here is a quick illustration how the armature is connected to the epoxy skeleton.

The nuts eventually are left inside the model when the armature is taken off.

I decided to change the pose of the figure to an easier one. So instead of the dynamic action-packed jump-attack pose, I ended up with this stiff-looking standing pose.

"Failure is not an option. Everyone has to succeed."
- Arnold Schwarzenegger

A concept art image for the maquette

2008-11-27T16:28:00.023+02:00

This is the first concept art image that I have created to help me visualize the maquette. It is Altaïr from Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed and it seems that this is the subject that I will try to achieve with the project. Whether or not it is going to look like the character is completely different thing, as I have very little knowledge of my skills as a modeller. The pose will also be something like that as can be seen in the image.

I have managed to gather most of the materials I need to start modelling, perhaps a bit more ironwire for the skeleton, but that remains to be seen.

The pose will require some heavy ironwire so that it won't tip over or just bend under the maquette's own weight. So far I have some 3mm thick ironwire which should do the job fairly well.

Next I will take some photos of the materials and tools that I have gathered, mostly from regular convenient stores.

"You can do anything you want to do, if you put your mind to it."
- MacGyver

Starting something new is always hard...

2008-11-10T18:34:00.017+02:00

...especially when it is something to share with the rest of the world.

This blog will follow my journey into the world of Super Sculpey sculpting process. I will be sculpting my very first figure and try to record the process with as much detail that is possible so that people who are interested in the field can get something out of it. At least learn from my mistakes.

The media I am going to use will be that produced by digital camera (a cell phone camera, actually), photos that is. I also try to post any sketches that I draw when I start to work with the maquette.

Hopefully this will be an interesting and fun project and that the end result will be something that can be shown to other people, too.

The few weeks from now on may be somewhat slow on the project since there are a lot of school issues (the need to write a seminar paper for evaluation) that need to be taken care before I can fully concentrate on the sculpting project. But starting this blog was the first step to take, and will hopefully be a driving force to get the project rolling.

Until next time...

"If a man does his best, what else is there?"
- General George S. Patton Jr.