WIP 54mm Highlanders Feb-1-2010

[Jeff]

Looking good. It seems kind of early to be laying in belts. Especially if they are going to wearing belted plaids. If they are in early versions of little kilts or trews then it makes more sense. Why fit them now if I may ask? This is not a criticism just a technical question.

 

[gordy]

Looking good. It seems kind of early to be laying in belts. Especially if they are going to wearing belted plaids. If they are in early versions of little kilts or trews then it makes more sense. Why fit them now if I may ask? This is not a criticism just a technical question.

I work the beltwork or strapwork early on so that it conforms to the body contours and then allows me to tuck and pucker the underlying cloth (shirt, jacket, etc) for a more convincing drapery effect. This of course is dependent on the items being belted and strapped: a waist belt or rifle sling would be more 'dug in' than say a lanyard and whistle..

In the case of the standard bearer above ( it's hard to see in the pictures) I have done the strapping up the ankles, then on the figs left foot i have already cinched in the hose between the straps with bits of putty, this gives the strapping the look of being tight around the ankle.

I used to do beltings and strappings AFTER the clothing and drapery but could never achieve the 'strapped' look, it always looked as if it was just perched ontop.

It also serves as a visual anchor or cues for where the sculpting is going

BTW, got the duro in the mail - Thanks a bunch!

 

[Anders Heintz]

Interesting to see you use this approach as well Gordy! I also will put on belts onto the torso before adding clothing, it helps in two ways. The first is that you can sculpt the belt with natural impressions in the clothing. If you add the belt after, or during sculpting, it is kind of messy and you have to do everything at once. By adding the belts before the clothing it also gives you the option to sculpt the clothing underneath in sections, rather then the whole thing at once.

The only time I will not use this technique is when the figure is wearing heavy clothing or layers and needs to be thicker then normal.

 

[gordy]

Interesting to see you use this approach as well Gordy! I also will put on belts onto the torso before adding clothing, it helps in two ways. The first is that you can sculpt the belt with natural impressions in the clothing. If you add the belt after, or during sculpting, it is kind of messy and you have to do everything at once. By adding the belts before the clothing it also gives you the option to sculpt the clothing underneath in sections, rather then the whole thing at once.

The only time I will not use this technique is when the figure is wearing heavy clothing or layers and needs to be thicker then normal.

Yup, I can always add or carve away more belting if necessary!

 

[Ray]

Gordy,
I'm with you on this one, I like belting and strapping before clothing for much the same reasons you mention, as well as a belts kind of dividing the figure up into well defined sections for sculpting the clothing. Any difficulties with the clothing layers being too thick at the end (always my fault for not having bette control over the putties thickness) can be addressed later with putty used to thicken the belts etc up.

Nice progress you've made, it will be interesting to see how you progress.


Ray

 

[Anders Heintz]

Even though I most often use leadfoil for the belts, using putty is nice as you can make the belts as thick or thin as you need them. The only real drawback using putty for the belting is that it is harder to keep it a uniform width and it is much more time consuming then leadfoil.

 

[gordy]

Ray, thanks ! And yes the sectional sculpting sessions helps a lot -

Anders, I've rarely used lead foil, mostly due to availability, i always have left over putty and with kids and pets in the room don't want them getting a hold of a scrap, plus nothing sticks better to putty than putty!

I'll try to get up some better pictures next time

 

[housecarl]

Gordy, will it be a kilt or trews? Looking good.
Carl.

 

[gordy]

Gordy, will it be a kilt or trews? Looking good.
Carl.

Thanks! All three kilted (belted plaids) - I have some others planned with trews

 

[gordy]

Here's a better close up of what I mean -

 

[darkeye]

nice anatomy work Gordy! legs look great. i really like Scottish figures, guess there's an associated Romanticism with the Kilted Rebel.


all the best --- tim

 

[gordy]

Thanks Tim ,

I spent more time on the legs than necessary since they will be covered, but it was an anatomy adventure

 

[bonehead]

I often add belting before the clothing too and for the same reasons as stated by the others. One difference is that I sometimes make the belts out of plastic strip. You can frequently find it made in the correct width for your models and it is perfectly uniform. It can save a lot of effort that would be involved in "sculpting" on the belts in putty. But in some situations, sculpting in putty is still the easiest way to get the look you want to the belts.

This is very much a technique where the situation is the primary determinant in what is the best way to go.

Mike

 

[Anders Heintz]

Mike,

When you use the plastic strips for belting, do you use a heat source to speed cure the putty? If so, what effect, if any, does it have on the plastic strip?

 

[gordy]

This is very much a technique where the situation is the primary determinant in what is the best way to go.

Totally - depending on the element of the strapped and belted surface and the belt, strap itself, if the strapping are cloth I can give it a stretched and curled look. Some thin belts have a deeper 'scalloped' middle with raised edges (which catch a painters brush really well!)

 

[mil-mart]

Gordy, a very informative thread and some techniques I'll certainly be trying in the future. Many thanks.

Cheers Ken

 

[Jeff]

I have not done a lot of figure that needed to have belts on. I used plastic strip on the one I did. I laid it over a slightly thin layer of wet putty so in effect it was actually cinched over the jacket it was on, it worked pretty well. Always open to learning a new way to do things.

 

[Ray]

Although I've used un-cured putty for belting (still do on occasion, situation determines the choice, as agreed), my current favorite (favorites do tend to be transitory) is cutting strips from flattened and cured GS. This stuff is great in this application as it is very flexible, even on the wider surface, and follows nicely a figures curves, and it keeps 'forever' in the cured state. I've never really liked lead foil or plastic strip for this application-though I've used both-probably because neither material seems to like me much in this way either (mostly as a brother I’ve been told). Besides cross eyed nights of consuming the contents of the primary source of lead foil aren't necessary with the GS method, I most often get my eyes crossed, now, sculpting instead.

Often I'll use the GS strips as a guide to placement and uniformity of width, rather than as the finished piece. The GS is applied (as alluded to earlier) and later, usually when all the surrounding work is done, the final finish/form of the belting is then sculpted on with fresh putty. Of course in the smaller scale I've been working with mostly very little of this is necessary and the GS strip is fine as a finish.




Ray

 

[gordy]

Ken, Thanks! That's what planetFigure is here for!

Jeff, I've done something similar to that in the way of vehicle bedrolls and baggage, in a way, a kind of 'pre-impress'

i'm doing something similar at the moment for the dirks on these highlanders

 

[gordy]

Interesting points Ray - I take it GS is green stuff ?

I avoid breaking out the superglue when i can..

Plastic strip is great, but for me I can't get it to behave in a 3 way axis for me (compound curvatures) as I can with putty