phil`s selfsculpts

[phil-o-mat]

while the putty on my kommissar hardened, i tried myself in sculpting my owm miniature.
here the result of the first two sessions. i dunno were this projekt will take me, i just tried something out.







comment and criticisms are welcome as always!

phil

[Shannow]

Sculpting is great isn't it! However, I do think in this case that the body is far too long in relation to the legs and thus puts him out of proportion. That is however assuming you are sculpting a 'normal' human, twisted proportions make for very interesting looking figures and subsequently weird and wonderful characters!

Too rectify this (if you wish) would depend on how long the legs are, if they are the right size for a 54mm model, then a simple removal f the top third of the torso should bring it back into line I would think

I will add a link to a short piece Marco wrote, which is very helpful for maintaining the normal ratio between body parts, I use this in all my sculpts which have turned out 'ok' more or less

EDIT: http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=696.0 thats link to Marco's post about body ratio, definitely worth a read!


Hope that helps

Rob

[phil-o-mat]

filed the shoulders down a bit and bulked the torso up a bit.

the proportions aren´t perfect, but i think i can live with them now.



c&c`s please!

phil

[MarcoSkoll]

the proportions aren´t perfect, but i think i can live with them now.

That's a bad attitude to start a sculpt with, and I'd recommend against thinking that way. In my opinion, good proportions are one of the most important parts of a model.
Get them right, and the model can suffer a few other flaws and still look good. Get them wrong and the effect on the end result is pretty much irredeemable.

[phil-o-mat]

ayyy! hard words. but i think i can live with them and rework that piece. i`ll shorten him again a bit!
but how much? 3-5mm`s or more?

phil

[MarcoSkoll]

Well, the pubic bone (i.e. bottom of the pelvis/division of the legs) should be just a hair below half the total height of the model.
I tend to make it half way on my armatures for two reasons. Firstly, it gives you a bit of room to add layers over the groin- and secondly, people look less out of proportion with slightly long legs and a short body than they do the other way around, so I err on the side of caution.

In his case, I would see if you can find a way to shift the groin up, rather than the shoulders down. If the underlying wire frame doesn't allow that, you may either need to simply start over (not ideal, but sometimes it's the only real solution), or improvise by working as if the groin were in the right place then covering any "excess" putty you can't get rid of with some form of robes.

[phil-o-mat]

i cut him down a little. i think it`s ok, but what do you think? are the proportions ok now?







c&c`s please.

phil

p.s.: and the wireframe had to die a death.

[Shannow]

That looks a lot lot better! And once the legs are bulked out I think it will look fine its all a learning curve anyway, just keep at it!

Rob

[phil-o-mat]

added arms, head, weapon and started to bulk up the legs.
i`m not that happy with the proportions of the left arm, so i will cut it down a little bit and i think he needs a little bit bigger biceps, so i`ll add another layer of putty to it.

but first, i have to work on my house. killing some walls with my slegehammer.

but enough talk:





c&c`s welcome!

phil

p.s.: the gun will be a hellgun and will get some guitarwire connected to a backpack.

and yes, his right hand is a little bit too big!

[Alyster Wick]

He looks like a really badass gumby character right now.

[Shannow]

My favourite thing by far about this sculpt so far, is the pose of the character. I think it produces a great sense of movement, nay! stalking in fact. Very cool and look forward to updates

[Easy E]

I would take the gun off, as it will get in the way of the sculpting.

Also, I strongly recommend you do two things before continuing:

1. Get a model or concept art you want to base the design on in front of you. 
2. Get a book about drawing (Even if it is the Marvel way) and look at the basic shapes of the body

Use these two resources to start sculpting the musculature and then work up the layers.  Do accessories last. 

It was a good idea to use metal components for the feet, hands, and head.  Those are the hardest to sculpt. 

[Vermis]

I've nothing much to add to the suggestions (the three R's of sculpting: reference reference reference); but I'd like to say I don't like the term 'selfsculpt'.  It's like 'scratchbuild' or 'scratchsculpt', which get me too.  And the reason I don't like those is because it sounds like you're being to hard on yourself!  
To my slightly obsessive perception anyway, sticking 'self' or 'scratch' on the front indicates a conscious or unconscious impression that the only 'legitimate' sculpting is by established pros for commercial purposes.  That the prefixes are needed to differentiate the stop-gap efforts of the lowly hobbyist plebs.  Not so!  GW doesn't claim ownership of sculpting, whatever else it might claim.  The levels of skill and experience, the final result and the intended purpose might be different; but if you pick up some putty and shape it into a mini or part of a mini, you're a sculptor who's sculpted a sculpture.  No selfs or scratches about it.