Sculpting tips - materials and techniques?

Making a mold is a good idea! Don't know why I didn't think of that --  will look into it.  

And yeah, with the rest... I guess I will just have to do some trial and error, as always. ;D

I think the answers are almost the same in both cases...

If you are adding "real" hair: If you have sculpted hair in the way, whittle it off. If you have "real" hair in the way, shave it off as best you can. Then you can attach the new hair more securely with glue. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it would help considerably.

If you are adding "green stuff" type material for a custom sculpted hair or whatever: If you have sculpted hair in the way, whittle it off; if it is not really in the way (e.g. you are converting a short hair into an ampler hair), just sculpt right over it. If you have "real" hair in the way, shave it off as best you can before adding and sculpting your new hairdo, headdress, or whatever it is. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it helps to not have it poking through.

Whatever you do, you do not absolutely need a new scalp, unless you can tell that what you've got will not suffice to give you the desired look. I didn't fill in Jason Momoa and Arnie's heads when adding the hair, though I did with Sebastian Stan. I think they all turned out fine in that respect.

skywalkersaga wrote:Making a mold is a good idea! Don't know why I didn't think of that --  will look into it.  

And yeah, with the rest... I guess I will just have to do some trial and error, as always. ;D

Unfortunately, advice can only go so far. Trial & Error is pretty much all you can do after all the tips, tricks, etc. have been studied and given. I bought a number of those mini-me heads in case I screwed them up in my T&E period.

Thank you both once more for taking the time to address all my questions. Appreciate the detailed info on the scalp issue, GF. And Stryker, your mini-me's have all turned out great, or at least the ones we've seen.   I'm looking forward to finally experimenting with the sculpting and putting to use all the advice. : )

Excellent work here. Maybe the old GI Joe Hair style could be good for Your Project. I really want to do this to, but i have no idea how. Think You can buy the GI Joe Hair and refill it on old figures ?

Interesting idea, Ephiane. I wonder how that would look on more realistic heads. It might also be most appropriate for specific looks, otherwise we run the risk of a bit of a "chia pet" effect.

Yet another question, in case anyone out there knows -- if I want to make sculpted lekku for a Twi'lek, what type and 'gauge' of wire should I use for the underlying structure of it? I'm currently struggling to figure that out.... needs to be something I could affix to a 1/6 scale female headsculpt, and then cover with milliput. I have loads of beading wire, but I'm thinking I need something stronger, and yet I also don't want it to be too heavy for the actual head, either. 

Of course, there are other possible ways to make lekku --such as Ephiane's really neat method of making poseable ones -- but I'm hoping to sculpt them in this instance. Unless someone knows of a method of making things like this out of silicone , I don't have any other idea as to how to achieve the aesthetic I'm going for.

I would think 3 mm/9 gauge would work fine.

Thank you so much!

If they are sculpted, would they be poseable? If not, the yellow and blue stuff can work fine even without sculpting wire inside it. It will be slightly flexible, though not really poseable when it cures.

I wasn’t planning on making them poseable, but really just wanted to use wire cause I thought it would reinforce it a bit. I’m so inexperienced when it comes to sculpting so just assumed you had to do that when sculpting anything longer/thinner or they would break. My reasoning for using the milliput was that I thought it would sand better for a smooth finish. But of course i have no idea what I’m doing and am open to suggestions. :p

I think the wire is a good idea to get the shapes you want (assuming you’re not going to have them just hang straight, like the Sideshow figure). If you use Milliput, get the Super Fine; if you work it with water, you should be able to smooth it quite well — and once dried and hard, you shouldn’t have to sand it much. Fingerprints will be your big issue, however, so be sure to get the overall shape you want, and then smooth it with sculpting tools if you can.

Yes, I had wanted to give them a little bit more dynamic shape than the Sideshow figure ... nothing too drastic, but just a slight sense of movement or something. I'll have to experiment a bit of course, so we'll see what works. Thank you for the extra tips, I will take care to try to avoid too many fingerprints. ;p

I recently attempted to use greenstuff for the first time, and..... UGH, I do not like it. The texture is horrible to work with... like chewing gum. I must have been doing it wrong, but it was a complete failure. I can see how it would be useful on smaller figures, as it does seem more manageable in tiny amounts. But trying to use it on 1/6 figure was a disaster.

Admittedly, I probably should have watched a few more tutorials before attempting, but the only ones I could find were geared toward miniature gaming type figurines. Either way, I did not enjoy my attempt at working with this material at all. After trying it out, I'm actually impressed that anyone manages to use it so well! How? Do I just suck? 

Here's to hoping that the forthcoming milliput experiments are more successful.....

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I don't know to what extent there is such a thing as "doing it wrong," but it is a little difficult to knead and shape (even after you've gotten to the point of making it green) -- more so than a soft clay. But the trade off is that you can paint it before it cures and it does not become hard and brittle at the end. I had a little bit left over, and made a (simplistic) snake with its body wriggling this way and that, and you can bend it together like a bracelet or ring, without damaging it (it does not keep this shape, but I appreciate the flexibility). That is why I like it, perhaps others too. Of course, I wasn't trying to do exactly what you were trying to do. I think Ovy and PickleMonkey are the experts on this material, anyway.

Probably I am now giving tips and knowledge you already know, but maybe something helps:

From my experience the ratio between yellow and blue is very important. If you use more yellow, it gets stickier, mushier and softer while it's not cured. More blue and it's harder, less sticky, which is my preferred method of using it, as you can control the material better. Although it depends on what you want to achieve.

Waiting half an hour or one hour after having mixed it together helps too sometimes.

But what's most important in my experience, always have a bowl of water nearby  and keep the stuff wet. The more water the better. And better work on a glass or ceramic surface.

E: Also, WARM water helps a lot in mixing that stuff together.

GF — yeah, I definitely see it’s value, especially in cases where you want to have that more flexible texture. I was trying to use it for a piece of neck/chest armour since I thought it would be better for something like that to have some ‘give’. But it just wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do. I guess I was expecting a different texture ... more play-dough, less elastic. :p

Ovy — those are all good tips. I don’t have much of it left now since unfortunately I wasted a lot of it, but if I try again I’ll bear it in mind. I did use water, but not warm, so maybe that was part of the issue. Even so, I just don’t understand how one actually shapes this stuff.

Admittedly, I don’t really enjoy sculpting to begin with and find it difficult and rather stressful (since I’m concerned about messing up on things like expensive or hard-to-find headsculpts and such). I’m only forcing myself to do it at all because I’m tired of having so many unfinished projects. It’s actually starting to depress and discourage me how long it’s taking to work on some of these figures. Some of the delays have been unavoidable due to difficult life issues, but still. I’m just so frustrated. The main thing I enjoy is painting (not saying I’m great at that either, just that I enjoy it more), and I’m trying to sort of ‘prep’ things right now so I can actually get to the part I don’t find as tedious. ;P

Sorry to hear that, can't really help you with that unfinished project frustration since I haven't figured out that one myself yet.  For me, breaks and a walk in the forest help to declutter the mind a bit, haha.

Another random tip, roll that greenstuff ball you have into a rod or flatten it on a wet smooth surface using a cylindrical object, so you can work with an even piece of material that can be cut etc.

I think pictures might help so we can understand what you are trying to create.

Aw, thanks for the commiseration, Ovy. and don’t worry, I never expect anyone here to solve all my problems, but sometimes one just needs to vent.

I’ll make sure to implement those tips in future, thank you again! And when I get back to my laptop I’ll see if I can find some reference images to share.

Currently, I'm trying to work on my Ventress figure. Because I want to use a tbeague body, it's taking a while [due to the whole 'not able to colour a tbleague body white' issue], so I'm attempting to work around that. Regardless of which outfit I go with, I need to remake her neck armour thingie, since the Sideshow one doesn't seem to look right on the tbleague body, nor does it work with the headsculpt I'm using. It's just the wrong fit, and the 'neck' on it is not long enough, so it just looks odd. 

Here's the original Sideshow version:



I thought to remake it with green stuff, but my lack of experience with the substance lead to me to struggle with getting it to work without sticking to everything. I did use water, but obviously not enough. 

When I was out earlier, I was pondering whether green stuff would work if used on top of some faux leather? I ask because then I could just cut the right shape into the faux leather as a sort of 'pattern', and then just put a bit of the green stuff on top of it to give the right texture. Or maybe that's crazy, lol. ;p

I would just try to replicate the collar with leather instead of green stuff, but that’s just me.

That was my original plan, but then I second-guessed and made it overly complicated for myself... :3

Hmmm, I don't know what to recommend. Maybe if the neck isn't long enough on the existing collar, add a little more with either painted kneadite, or black pleather, or just black tape? And if the fit isn't perfect, make an incision on the back, then refit and superglue in place?

Then the body. I know TBLeague seamless bodies have better range of articulation than most hard-plastic exposed-jointed ones, but if you are going for this look, no part of the body will be visible at all; perhaps another body is worth considering. If you still want to use a TBLeague body anyway, apart from principle, why worry whether you can successfully paint it white? Whether you use an unsuccessfully painted experiment or just a (pale?) TBLeague body the way it comes out of the box -- either way we wouldn't know any better. But perhaps it is the principle. Or maybe you could change the narrative, so to speak. Unless we have seen the character disrobe and expose her snow-white flesh, maybe her head and hands are the only parts of her that are white. Yes, I don't know, just trying to help LOL. And if it is principle, I actually get it...

Hmm now I get what you are up to. I don't use Greenstuff for super symmetrical stuff. Might use Worbla or leather too, although it looks rubbery. Like those suction naps?



And I think one of her iconic looks shows bare arms and a bit of her collar.

GubernatorFan wrote:Hmmm, I don't know what to recommend. Maybe if the neck isn't long enough on the existing collar, add a little more with either painted kneadite, or black pleather, or just black tape? And if the fit isn't perfect, make an incision on the back, then refit and superglue in place?

Then the body. I know TBLeague seamless bodies have better range of articulation than most hard-plastic exposed-jointed ones, but if you are going for this look, no part of the body will be visible at all; perhaps another body is worth considering. If you still want to use a TBLeague body anyway, apart from principle, why worry whether you can successfully paint it white? Whether you use an unsuccessfully painted experiment or just a (pale?) TBLeague body the way it comes out of the box -- either way we wouldn't know any better. But perhaps it is the principle. Or maybe you could change the narrative, so to speak. Unless we have seen the character disrobe and expose her snow-white flesh, maybe her head and hands are the only parts of her that are white. Yes, I don't know, just trying to help LOL. And if it is principle, I actually get it...

Ahh, sorry for not explaining more thoroughly. The issue with the collar is due to the fact that it is both too short and sits too 'high' on the tbleague body and on the neck. I think the base of the neck is too thick for it, so it kind of floats in the air above her chest, lol. At least, when I'm using the tbleague body, which is an s12d. 

But backing up a bit, the reason I was using that body is because when I purchased it, I'd intended to colour it white with oil pastels. I didn't even think it being a suntan would matter, and in fact thought it would be better since the tbleague suntan at that point was very 'grey', and Ventress' skintone is probably more accurately a sort of greyish white. The reason I needed some of the skin to be white, is that the outfit I orignally planned to do, and which I still intend to do eventually, was one that revealed her upper thighs. Ventress actually has LOTS of different 'looks' -- ranging from her original concept design from sometime between TPM and AotC, to her Expanded Universe comics and 2D Clone Wars style, to her various and sundry outfits that she wears in the later The Clone Wars 3D-animated series. The first outfit I wanted to make, and which I still plan to, is from the later TCW animated series. 

After the white oil pastel experiment failed, I actually did try to use a VeryCool body instead. But I ended up hating the way the joints looked under the tight animated-style outfit. I put the whole project aside for a while and decided to wait until the flagset headsculpt became available before proceeding. Once it did, I resumed the project and decided to try to work on it again. Since I still had the old tbleague body that I'd used for the experiment, and which I couldn't really use for anything else [since it does still have some white residue on it], I thought I might as well use it for this figure anyway. But I'm starting to reconsider again, due to all the issues I'm having. I'm torn as to whether I should try yet another body, or wait til I find a more suitable one, or what... 

As I noted, my initial aim was to do a TCW-inspired outfit, but it's tough since most of her outfits in that series show skin. Hence why I've put that on hold temporarily. But I don't mind having one of the older concepts for her, as well. The original Sideshow figure pictured above was an interpretation of the look she has in both the comics and the 2D series, and while it's not my most favourite outfit, I'd consider doing a slightly different interpretation of it. 

To be clear, I have enough materials to make two separate figures, if need be. I did that because I knew the first one would have to be experimental anyway, and wanted to make sure I had something as back up, just in case. 

So right now, the plan is: 

Figure 1 - EU comic book/2D-style Clone Wars outfit, based loosely on the old Sideshow figure as well as drawing on some older concept art. This allows me to work on a figure of this character for the time being without worrying about the white skin issue. 

Figure 2 - Eventually do my original planned TCW animated-inspired version, once I can figure out how to do the skin, or once I can find a more suitable body that I could colour or that already comes in the right colour. 


Apologies for how insanely long this explanation is, but though it might clarify where I'm 'at' mentally with this project. : )