Sculpting a 1/32 Figure in Polymer Clay from Scratch

[Airborne01]

Thanks John.
The boots are really quite lumpy, I was still getting to grips with the techniques required for this material.
As for not adding the clothing, it's a question of getting all the proportions right to avoid a 'cumulative error', where you get one bit slightly wrong, then the next bit slightly wrong and before you know it the whole thing gets too big, or his legs are out of proportion to his head or his trunk is too long. In fact I actually made just such a mistake, as will be seen in due course.
I was in two minds whether to mention it, but I will now, so thanks for asking - take 10 house points that man!

House points? Posh Boy!!

[Airborne01]

Now for the puttees.
We have already more or less defined the shapes of the lower legs so we just refine them a bit, and then with the back of a scalpel blade or similar we describe a spiral winding down the leg. I tried to keep the edges as thin as possible as puttees are not that thick. It was tricky getting in between the legs and maintaining a consistent line. You mustn’t get the impression that this sculpting lark goes right first time, every time. There is a constant tweaking and spoiling and re-doing, so don’t give up if it doesn’t come out right straight away, that’s perfectly normal.
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One thing you don’t think about until you do something like this is which way do they wind? And are they the same on both legs or mirrored?
I may not be right but I went for mirrored.
Now it’s time to cook him and save this part of the job from future damage. This is when I realised that the plastic base would melt, so I got rid of that.
I was trying to find a heatproof way of supporting him in the oven ( I don't really want explain the smell of burning wood or plastic to SWMBO), and I came up with a tripod of crocodile clips
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He’s supposed to get cooked at 140 degrees for 45 minutes, but I did the boots at that and I think it’s too much. He will have at least 2 or 3 more sessions in the oven so I reduced it to 110 degrees and 30 mins.
Looking at the pics now I think the puttees probably should be narrower than I have done them, but they’ve been cooked so I’m leaving them for now.

Thanks for looking
Next up is the jacket front.
cheers
Neil

Neil, having worn puttees (short) for much of my time I can confirm they are 'mirrored' . For 'Puttees, long' - Hold the puttee against the boot/ankle join, wind tightly using approx 50% of the fabric (wind twice at the first turn width); once at the extremity wind the fixing tape and turn over until you have a neat 'box' of tape on the outside with no ends visible. This comes from my first father-in-law who was a front offside rider on a Royal Signals horse team between the wars (now sadly deceased). Hope this helps Just a thought - this is barracks perfect, in the field it almost certainly went to a bag of rats - photo evidence tends to support this supposition!

[Neil Merryweather]

Neil, having worn puttees (short) for much of my time I can confirm they are 'mirrored' . For 'Puttees, long' - Hold the puttee against the boot/ankle join, wind tightly using approx 50% of the fabric (wind twice at the first turn width); once at the extremity wind the fixing tape and turn over until you have a neat 'box' of tape on the outside with no ends visible. This comes from my first father-in-law who was a front offside rider on a Royal Signals horse team between the wars (now sadly deceased). Hope this helps Just a thought - this is barracks perfect, in the field it almost certainly went to a bag of rats - photo evidence tends to support this supposition!

Fabulous! thanks Steve

[Neil Merryweather]

House points? Posh Boy!!

Naa just watching too much Harry Potter

[rtfoe]

Nice puttees and enjoy your hols Neil.

Cheers,
Richard

[GerryW]

Certainly coming along, and looking far better than I can do, so watching in awe.
Enjoy your time away

[Neil Merryweather]

cheers Richard & Gerry
just found evidence that my puttees are ok

[Neil Merryweather]

I asked the mods to move and retitle this thread so that it's easier to find in the future(as if....)
I wasn't expecting to get into so much detail, and it's going to get even more so once we get on to sculpting a head...
hope it doesn't confuse anyone
cheers
N

[GerryW]

I asked the mods to move and retitle this thread so that it's easier to find in the future(as if....)
I wasn't expecting to get into so much detail, and it's going to get even more so once we get on to sculpting a head...
hope it doesn't confuse anyone
cheers
N

Did wonder why it's here

[JR]

Perfect picture explanation thanks Neil .
Hope you have a relaxing time.

[Mini Me]

Great results so far Neil and enjoy your time away with the Missus. Rick H.

[Tim Marlow]

Looking great Neil. Very informative SBS as well. Enjoy your time away.

[Steve Brodie]

chai pulled up and cuppa on the go.

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks all for the good wishes, had a very relaxing time in Dawlish Warren, ate too much, drank too much, walked too much but it was good for us to get away for the first time since February 2020 -especially for SWMBO who carries the rest of the family.

So on with the jacket. Our gunner is wearing the leather jerkin but I like to work from the inside out so we will do his uniform jacket underneath first, cook that to prevent damage, and then get on with the jerkin.
His jacket is open with the collar over the top of the jerkin so I will add that after I have cooked the jerkin. He would have the collarless shirt under the jacket but I‘m going to include that with the separate head.
I added some clay to his front and squished it into place as before, just roughly defining the area.
The head is ‘one I made earlier’. I wanted to check the proportions and the pose.


Using a large scalpel blade (this is a number 23 on a number 4 handle) I defined the jacket edge, and then with the curved blade I lightly marked the seam down the closure, by rolling it rather than dragging it. I also used the blade to lift the jacket skirt. I am using TRIPPEL Firm for this.


I modelled in some creases and did the same with the other side, using the point of a scalpel for the button holes. Bearing in mind that we only need to see the very edges of the jacket –especially his left side- underneath the jerkin, I didn’t go over the top. I will add buttons later.



I cooked him like this but I was uneasy- he looks too tall. I put him next to a comparison figure and his overall height was spot on, so what have I done wrong? I didn’t photograph the comparison because I was going to ignore this mistake, but since John’s question I thought it would be useful to emphasize the point.

The answer is his jacket seems to be in proportion to his chest as it is at the moment, but I have inadvertently scaled the jacket to it, forgetting that his chest is deliberately thinner than it should be. So the jacket skirts are too short, making his legs look over long. I should have compared the position of the skirt to the image, or another figure-or both.
So I cut away the skirts and started again.



This time I rolled a sheet of clay out like pastry. For a rolling pin I use a 4mm diameter glass stirring rod (which I got on evilbay for a couple of quid) and a ceramic tile.



I use a couple of strips of 0.5mm plastic card to ensure a consistent thickness. Then I slice it away from the tile with a scalpel



And cut it to shape. I also add stitching detail at this point, before putting it into position.


I should point out that I am not touching the clay with my fingers at all, it will pick up my finger prints like you wouldn’t believe. It does take a bit of getting used to as a technique. When I absolutely can’t avoid handling the uncured clay I use disposable gloves, but even then I had to find some without a ‘helpful’ grip texture on the finger tips.
So I added the shaped piece of clay and blended it in to the existing part



You can see how much longer it is. Then repeat for the other side





Creases added



Here he is with the Tommy’s War figure I am using as my size guide and sculpting bench mark (take a bow, Nino Pizzichemi).



He’s a gnat’s shorter but that’s ok-he is in scale. I finessed the surface finish by rolling with the conical clay shaper and he was ready for the oven again.

And that is where we will leave him for now. The next step is to sculpt him a personality – otherwise known as a face!
Many thanks for looking
Neil

[Jim R]

Hi Neil
Really excellent SBS. Great to have so many photos to show clearly what you're doing. I suppose that this clay allows uncooked, new bits, to be added to already cooked clay - the new stuff sticks ok?
Jim