Sculpting a 1/32 Figure in Polymer Clay from Scratch

[Jim R]

Hi Neil
I'm with Allen and the others. A really well put together SBS. The head is excellent and the way the clothing is layered on is an eyeopener. This is the must see thread at the moment.
Jim

[Neil Merryweather]

Hi Neil
I'm with Allen and the others. A really well put together SBS. The head is excellent and the way the clothing is layered on is an eyeopener. This is the must see thread at the moment.
Jim

That's kind of you to say , Jim, thanks

[Neil Merryweather]

Unfortunately I have to report my first serious mishap with this- I broke his leg!



At least I think it was me rather than the result of too much cooking, which is a recognised hazard with this method. I think I was just too heavy-handed while I was trimming the thickness of the jerkin. That went fine, the material is very soft and easy to carve- a bit like the old Airfix 1/32 polypropylene toy soldiers- softer than that, actually. I haven’t tried sanding it yet, though.
I am happy to say that the stuff is so soft I was able to hold it in position while the superglue went off and all is fine now.
I promised to fit his head this session, but I need to make his jacket collar first. Here is what we have to start with



And this is how the head currently sits



I want it to be further forward and a little to his right. But I want a more easily disguised joint anyway so I dremelled out a big cone shaped hole in the neck of his jacket



And trimmed away the extra material, right up to the jacket opening



I added a collar from rolled out clay



or I should say I TRIED to add a collar, but it just wouldn’t behave, so I had to come up with a plan B, which was to just add clay in the usual way and model it to shape and blend it into the neck hole



Then I added two small pieces of rolled out clay for the ends of the collar



I blended these into the material already there



And he was oven ready. I am cooking him now because I want this to be safe for the next stage which actually will be making his neck fit.
thanks for looking
Neil

[GerryW]

Just dawned on me - how many of these figures are you going to have to make, as initially, I thought that you were making a 'master' to create a mold, but with the detail, there's no way that a mold can be taken?

[Neil Merryweather]

Just dawned on me - how many of these figures are you going to have to make, as initially, I thought that you were making a 'master' to create a mold, but with the detail, there's no way that a mold can be taken?

I AM planning to mould them Gerry, I need three of each. With the soft silicon used nowadays it will be no problem. I will have to fill in a few of the more extreme undercuts but it should be ok. check out some of the most recent resin figures-if you look back at the Tommy's war figure I am using as a comparison, apart from the head that is all one piece. They've come a long way since François Verlinden, bless him. They also use a resin that is a bit flexible so it comes out of the mould easier.

[GerryW]

I AM planning to mould them Gerry, I need three of each. With the soft silicon used nowadays it will be no problem. I will have to fill in a few of the more extreme undercuts but it should be ok. check out some of the most recent resin figures-if you look back at the Tommy's war figure I am using as a comparison, apart from the head that is all one piece. They've come a long way since François Verlinden, bless him. They also use a resin that is a bit flexible so it comes out of the mould easier.[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1152786[/ATTACH]

Wow, I wasn't expecting that - honestly thought that you'd have to do each figure individually. New materials must make a big difference!

[rtfoe]

Great stuff Neil, I'm guessing that working with this material can be much quicker than two part putty when it comes to curing in between layers of work and less of a deadline while sculpting as two part putty has a working time of about half an hour before it starts to harden. The flexibility to come back and tweek and rework areas later is so easy. One day I must attempt a fully scratched figure...I'm horrible with heads and hands.

Your sbs is making me want to start again on my Bedouin and paint him.

Cheers,
Richard

[adt70hk]

Neil,

Just had a catch-up. As others have already said this is truly mind-blowing work. I wouldn't know where to start with something like this. It puts sticking bits of plastic together into perspective.....

Very well done indeed.

Andrew

[Tim Marlow]

This is looking very good indeed Neil. The SBS is also very informative, making the sculpting process seem far easier than I’m sure it is....

[Neil Merryweather]

Great stuff Neil, I'm guessing that working with this material can be much quicker than two part putty when it comes to curing in between layers of work and less of a deadline while sculpting as two part putty has a working time of about half an hour before it starts to harden. The flexibility to come back and tweek and rework areas later is so easy. One day I must attempt a fully scratched figure...I'm horrible with heads and hands.

Your sbs is making me want to start again on my Bedouin and paint him.

Cheers,
Richard

Cheers Richard, there are pros and cons to this like anything else. I like the fact that the sculpting time doesn't run out before you are ready, but the material itself is not as robust as epoxy putty when it's cured. What I'm not so keen on is that you have to model everything perfectly as there doesn't seem to be the same possibility of post-processing.but that's because I am not so talented at modelling as carving and sanding and filing. But, if you want to do something big like a bust it's much better than epoxy- I used it on my AFS Fireman bust.
Please do carry on with your Bedouin, I was enjoying that. As I said earlier, hands and feet are the most difficult things to sculpt, so don't give yourself a hard time if they don't go well, just use one from the spares box.
Cheers
N

[Neil Merryweather]

Neil,

Just had a catch-up. As others have already said this is truly mind-blowing work. I wouldn't know where to start with something like this. It puts sticking bits of plastic together into perspective.....

Very well done indeed.

Andrew

That's very kind Andrew, thanks.

[Neil Merryweather]

This is looking very good indeed Neil. The SBS is also very informative, making the sculpting process seem far easier than I’m sure it is....

Thanks Tim
Why not give it a try and find out? You like fantasy stuff, there's a lot more latitude in that,- try making up some new kind of monster... you might surprise yourself.

[boatman]

Ok Mr. Merryweather,

Were you scared??? Seriously Neil, what you are doing here is is utterly, and I do mean utterly unbelievable. I have followed your Fusilier, fuselage, or what they are conversions and am at loss for words. Sorry I haven't commented sooner, but I don't know what to say. Anyone who can make ears or eyeballs on a 54mm figure is a master of the modelling art. Now you are doing the whole figure and again, I have been totally amazed at your craftmanship and the ability to work on something so small....

This has to stop as I am always picking up my jaw off the floor with each update. It has also come to my attention, that you have been taking the wrong dosages of your medication again!!! Please don't don't stop and don't change the dosages. I have learned so much and have enjoyed this tremendously Sir. I may never sculpt a figure, but the knowledge from your SBS will always be there if I try.

With that, I can just say thank you for taking the time to bring this to life and it's a really nice tribute too. Have fun and may the oven always be at the right temp. (and SWMBO doesn't get upset)....................Drive on Neil...........

Prost
Allen

PS, check to the usual off-shore account please

DITTO to what Allen has said Neil i must admit this is not my type of instrest in modeling an this is the first time i think ive looked in an im amazed an what you have been doin here is unbelivable you must have a very steady hand an no shakes like me very well done
chris

[Neil Merryweather]

DITTO to what Allen has said Neil i must admit this is not my type of instrest in modeling an this is the first time i think ive looked in an im amazed an what you have been doin here is unbelivable you must have a very steady hand an no shakes like me very well done
chris

Thanks for that Chris , It's good to know that you find it interesting even though it's not your field. Likewise, I will never build a radio controlled boat(sorry ship) but but I love watching you build yours.
As for shaky hands, I don't suffer from that but I still rest my elbows on the table and brace the fingers of one hand against the other when doing this small stuff.
Cheers
Neil

[Neil Merryweather]

Now that we have the collar sorted we can position his head correctly and then add the shirt collar.

I added some clay to his neck area, blending it in



I put some Vaseline in the neck socket using an old paintbrush, and then I gently positioned his head to my satisfaction and bunged him in the oven.



Some of the putty will spill out when you do this but I prefer to get the position correct and then leave well alone until it is set. We can clean any excess away afterwards



Now we can work on his shirt collar. I rolled a sausage of clay and pressed it around his neck, and I cut it roughly to shape



I applied more Vaseline to the neck socket and pushed the head gently into position again, I shaped the collar a bit more and then carefully removed it



It all went a bit astray there but I worked some more on the collar to refine it



Put it back in place to check



Took it out and cooked it.


I could have added hair as well but the collar was so ticklish I didn’t want to risk damaging it. It still looks more like a roll neck sweater, let’s hope I can trim it down without doing any damage.
That's it for now, thanks for watching
Neil