Sculpting a 1/32 Figure in Polymer Clay from Scratch

[Neil Merryweather]

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

Cheers Jim
I've had no problems so far, but never say never...

[wotan]

Neil

This a very interesting thread and build. As far as I can tell the height of you figure is spot on but the size of his head is too small. That is what is giving him the odd look. As a general rule the head of a figure is 1/7th to 1/8th of the full height. I think your guys head is a little undersized, if you build it a little larger I am sure all the proportions will fall into place.

I hope this helps

John

[Neil Merryweather]

Neil

This a very interesting thread and build. As far as I can tell the height of you figure is spot on but the size of his head is too small. That is what is giving him the odd look. As a general rule the head of a figure is 1/7th to 1/8th of the full height. I think your guys head is a little undersized, if you build it a little larger I am sure all the proportions will fall into place.

I hope this helps

John

cheers John, I agree it didn't help, but this head is just a place-holder anyway, so no worries.
In fact, looking at it in the pics I can now see that the features are a bit oversized for the head. If this was intended to be a portrait I could make it seem bigger by adding bulk around the features.
The thing that always gets to me when working in this scale is how small the alterations can be to have an enormous effect.
A point to note , fellas!
Before digital photography I found it helped to use a mirror to give a more objective view-try it, it works well. I remember an art teacher telling me to turn my drawing upside down to check the proportions- it has the same effect.

[Andy Belsey]

I've just caught up with this Neil.
Great stuff!! Watching eagerly now.
Andy

[Neil Merryweather]

Excellent! Glad to have you Andy

[scottie3158]

Neil,
Excellent really enjoying this.

[Lee Drennen]

Neil. Amazing work so far enjoying this build

[Neil Merryweather]

Cheers Paul and Lee, I'm glad you are enjoying it

[Neil Merryweather]

Our boy is still lacking an identity in the form of a face, so let’s deal with that next.
We have already seen that if the head is too small the whole figure looks wrong. That said, we have to remind ourselves that it’s a work in progress and we are deliberately keeping him on the slim side for now, so it’s important to be constantly comparing to our reference figure., and if anything his head should probably look a little too big at this stage
Faces, hands and feet are the hardest things to sculpt at any scale, so if you want to cheat them no-one will judge you for it. If this SBS just gives you the confidence to change the creases on an arm then that’s brilliant.
But I need to do a head from scratch if he’s going to be marketed, so here’s my method. I have to admit that every face I make is a genuine discovery to me. I don’t have the skills to control how they end up looking, and as long as they don’t look like mutants I’m invariably satisfied. I have occasionally done portraits at small scales (although not as small as this) and they are an absolute killer!

This is a pretty epic and picture-heavy post so I have split it into 3 parts. The actual process shouldn’t take you much more than an hour, though, if that.

Again we need an armature and in this case I am experimenting with using a mapping pin. I’ve put it on to a piece of brass rod rather than use the steel pin itself as it’s longer. Here it is next to the Tommy’s War head I am using for size comparison (and as a ‘gold standard’ to aspire to).



It needs to be small enough so that when we add the putty it doesn't make the head oversized.
I usually make a few ‘skulls’ with any spare Milliput but I used all my stock up recently on these boys.



I started to make these a one at a time while ago at the beginning of the idea, initially trying to do a representation of our Grandad (I gave up on that…)and then just recently I did a whole batch of them in the hope that I could get a rhythm going; and it does help actually. By the last couple I felt like I knew what I was doing! If you really want to get good at this it's a good way of making quick progress. I wasn’t expecting to do a SBS at the time so I didn’t take any WIP pics.
Except this one.



It’s important to find some oven-proof method of holding them while they cook, and crocodile clips was my answer. My first attempt fell over because I used a lump of Bees Putty to stand it in, not realising that the heat makes it soft before it goes hard….My boy had a massive flat on the side of his head like a cartoon character hitting a wall. I will have to use him as a casualty with a big bandage in a future diorama…..

We add the putty to the skull armature in small pieces like before, otherwise our face will move around under our tools and we will give up in despair! I am using TRIPPLE Firm Bees Putty for this, so it’s not too squishy. I’ve deliberately left the back of the cranium area free for now because it helps with defining the lower jaw.



Constantly comparing to the reference head for size
I use a soft cone-shaped silicon clay shaper for this part, just pushing and prodding and rolling the clay into shape.


Then a sharper tool to position the mouth- sometimes I use a scalpel.


So far the nose has just been what’s left behind by pushing in the eye sockets and defining the cheekbones, but it’s not quite enough so I’ve added a tiny bit more clay here.


It’s important to remember that the face is not flat but quite 3 dimensional - the eye sockets especially need to follow back with the curvature of the skull.
Here I am using a chisel-pointed silicon tool to help define the nostrils and the sides of the nose.



Here I have added a tiny bit of clay for the lower lip



I will blend that in with the conical silicon shaper



And back to the reference head to check



I make sure I repeat every operation on the other side of the face immediately to try to maintain symmetry. We know that faces are not precisely symmetrical, but they are generally not lop-sided either, so it’s best to be safe. I’ve never managed perfect symmetry anyway so it’s hardly a worry….
Now for the eyes, always tricky.
I add a tiny ball of clay to the socket



I make the sockets quite deep, in fact you can see the pink of the armature underneath, so I can’t go any deeper without carving.
I blend the clay with a chisel shaper to start with



Define the eyelid with a sharper tool



He’s looking a bit bug-eyed, so I add some clay for his lower lid and cheek



Blend that in with the conical shaper



It’s not there yet but I need to repeat the process on the other side before it gets too far ahead of me



Now at least he has 2 eyes!

I think I’d better start another post, this one’s getting a bit heavy
thanks for watching
Neil

[Neil Merryweather]

Head Part 2
I’m going to work on the eyes some more



I want his eyes more deep set, so I am adding more clay to his forehead and brow.



Here he is in profile



He looks like an old man so I’m going to do a bit more work on his mouth and cheekbones, just very tiny light dabs with the clay shaper; mostly the conical one but occasionally the chisel one to soften his cheekbones a bit



And I’m going to change his jawline too



Time to add clay to the cranium and the neck now



Now he’s ready for some ears



Always look at it from all angles



And compare with the reference again



He looks more Germanic than I would like, but I’m happy otherwise so I am going to leave well alone. I don’t know whether I will use him for our boy, we’ll see how he looks in a tin hat. I’ve managed to push his chin in a bit too much, but I may just reposition the pin after he’s cooked.

I think we had better leave it there and start a new post for the ears

[Neil Merryweather]

Head Part 3

So, on with the ears. Another difficult part to sculpt- for me, anyway. And they are so tiny in this scale



Position the fragment of clay with the tip of the conical clay shaper and blend at the front only.



Make a wiggly hole with a needle



Then add detail with an edge tool



Then just repeat identically the other side…….



Check they are level from the front



And from the top



And cook!

110 degrees for 20 -25 minutes
The instructions for Bees Putty say longer and hotter, but A, it’s only tiny and B, most pieces will be cooked more than once and we don’t want them scorched or worse-melted!
I will add hair and chinstrap afterwards, probably from Duro, when it will be difficult to do any damage.

Well, here endeth the lesson - I hope it’s useful.

DO remember that it doesn’t always go right first time. You can see from the sequence of photos that the face changed and morphed several times throughout the process. As I said at the beginning, as long as he looks acceptably human I am happy. It’s not intended to be a portrait, it’s just the luck of the draw how he ends up looking (when I’m doing it, anyway). Maybe as we go forward I will push myself to do more interesting facial expressions, but this is good enough for now. I’m not planning to poach on Hornet’s territory, that’s for sure!

Many thanks for looking
Neil

[wotan]

Neil

EXcellent SBS and a fine looking result.

John

[Neil Merryweather]

and here he is next to the Tommy's War figure


I think I'll use him in spite of his Germanic looks.

[Neil Merryweather]

Neil

EXcellent SBS and a fine looking result.

John

That's a great complement, coming from you John, thank you

[GerryW]

That's just incredible!