First sculpting effort in progress

[maartenbilo]

Hi folks,
here's my first post and first effort at sculpting. Any commentary and/or help is very much welcomed and needed! :lol:
As you can see, it's far from finished as of yet. It needs a set of tusks on the lower jaw, some eyes (any ideas anybody? It needs to look very alien) and the head needs texture.

Third one is colored in a bit with PS to show the spikes.

Thanks and best regards,
Maarten

PS: It's made from FIMO, just because it was the first thing available

 

[Roy]

Hi Maarten and welcome.....looks like you are having a lot of fun with this, are you working from any pics or are you just letting it develop from your own ideas.??

Anything like this is good for you as a sculptor as it gives you a lot of freedom to develop your ideas into something unique.

keep us posted on your progress, maybe take a look at some reptile images on the web, that should give you plenty of ideas for the eyes and texture.

all the best.

Roy.

 

[maartenbilo]

Thanks Roy! Your welcome and reply are much appreciated.
It's really pure imagination - a bit of all sorts of SF aliens I've seen over the years put together. And thanks for the tip on reptile images on the web - hadn't thought of that and I already have some ideas on how to do the eyes.

Best regards,
Maarten

 

[MinasTirithGuard]

The texture is really nice. For aliens, maybe a split jaw like the Elites in Halo? When I looked at it an Elite came to mind, I don't know why. Looking good, it'll be nice to see it done.

 

[gordy]

Very nice!

What is the material your working with?

 

[maartenbilo]

Thanks for the compliments Ethan & Gordy! Means a lot to me. Keep in mind, this piece is about 3 inches long and 2 inches high - I'm not ready for the brilliant small stuff I've seen you guys do! :lol:
@ Ethan: Good idea on the hinged jaw - That's my next project as this one has been baked a couple of times already - I figure it's about as easy to make a new piece as it is to start cutting into this material cleanly once baked.
Here's some more progress: Put in the eyes, as per Roy's advice I looked at some reptile pics on the web - this is supposed to look somewhat snakelike. Also put on a set of tusks but those are not baked in as I'm not entirely sure I'd like to keep them this way (or at all) My other idea would be a mouth full of sharks teeth
Last is a pic of the Fimo clay I use (for Gordy) - from what I read it's fairly similar to Sculpey and the large pack comes in a lovely shade of pink, which I mixed up with some black to get a more workable grey.

Best regards,
Maarten

PS: And just for fun a bit of PS for the eyes:

 

[maartenbilo]

Hi again folks, looking for your opnion on the next step.
Thought I would throw this out there; what do you think looks better for the eyes? The way I have them now (as above) or like this PS image? I'm a bit undecided myself.

Thanks and regards,
Maarten

 

[Brad S]

Maarten,

This is Great! I appreciate you showing your progress with this sculpt. I have toyed with the idea of trying a sculpt. I tried sculpey a few years ago, but even though I like the material, I had baked it several times to save my progress. It seemed to crack and become brittle. Are you baking it several times? Should i use super sculpey? Any input would be great. I will be anxiously waiting for more of your progress.

Brad Spelts

 

[amherbert]

Cool!

It's nice to see him/her/it coming together!
All those scales look like fun!

Andy

 

[maartenbilo]

@ Andy and Brad: Thanks guys! I must say the feedback I'm getting here is far more fun than just looking & working at the "thing" myself
The scales were actually darn easy to do, but they do take a bit of time (As in 1-2 hours - fast I am not). I just rolled up a bit of clay to a string of about 1mm thick and cut off thin slices which I pressed on the surface with the same scalpel I used to cut it.
About the clay; sorry Brad, can't say I've tried Sculpey yet - the FIMO was the only stuff available locally. I can tell you though, this does not become brittle at all. I must have baked it 5-6 times already and it keeps the consistency of eh...well something I would imagine frozen soap to be. It still cuts fairly easily and doesn't chip when baked but I have not been able to sand it smooth - that's the marks you see on the upper lip and back of the head. However, I've used white spirit later on to smooth it down before baking and that works like a treat. The other nice thing I've noticed is that you can bake the piece and when doing correction/detail work you can put on very thin layers or small parts, and they will more or less "fuse"with the base once baked (provided you smoothed it down nicely with the white spirit)

Best regards,
Maarten

PS: I hope I'm making sense here Brad :lol: I tend to be a bit longwinded

 

[Brad S]

Maarten,

Thanks for the input. At the craft store they have both sculpey and fimo. I think I will buy a little pack of fimo and play with it to see what happens. If I do this, it will also be my first sculpt. Thanks again.

Brad Spelts

 

[garyjd]

Brad, Neat to see you might soon be taking the plunge into scratchbuilding. Don't give up if it does not work out for you right away. It's like anything else, just requires the investment of time and patience. The downside is almost never knowing what we have to put into it to get something back. Remember the important thing is to have FUN doing it. ENJOY. ~Gary


An important thing to remember about sculpey is to let it cool in the oven. There are times when taking the piece out of a 250 degree oven to room temperature is too drastic a change. This can sometimes be the major cause of cracks and fractures.

 

[Brent Fordham]

Nice work Maarten! Excellent inspiration for all of us who never tried to scuplt before.

 

[maartenbilo]

Brad, happy to help. Good luck and have fun. Be sure to show what you're coming up with!
@ Brent - thanks for the compliment! Do give it a try - It's very forgiving as every mistake you might make can be undone at all times - trust me, I "erased" quite a few goofs, plus it gives you the option of trying different "looks" without having to make a new piece.
I've been making a bit of progress again (emphasis on the bit) The head is now finished as far as the shape is concerned, need to start on the texture now.

Only thing I'm still thinking about is adding a tongue. (I was thinking a forked one like a snake)

Best regards,
Maarten

PS: Tried the four-eyes as on the PS image - didn't really work so I just "erased" it

 

[Brad S]

Maarten & Gary

Thanks again for your words of incouragement. I never thought of the idea of letting it cool in the oven. Totally makes sense. I will keep you up to date on it as I start it. It might be pretty slow though as my busy season will be starting soon. Winter is my modeling time.

Brad Spelts

 

[Dan Morton]

Cool man! I really like your alien monster! Almost even better is your reported progress and obvious success using Fimo. I'll have to try it myself!

All the best,
Dan

 

[MinasTirithGuard]

Wow, that is sooo cool. I love the expression, it looks inteligent but still beastly
I'm glad you stuck with the two eyes, I think it works out a lot better. As for the toungue... I probably wouldn't make it too prominent but it's your sculpt. The eyes turned out rel well, they're hard to do. Watch its right eye though, the upper eyelid seems to be a tad uneven. All this is really minor, I think the sculpt is superb. Now it reminds me of these animals that they origionally put in Halo... man I do love that game. I spend more time looking around the levels sketching stuff than shooting aliens, go figure. Nice progress, keep it up!

 

[Guayo]

Dear Maarten

Congrats on your work, it looks great, I always say to myself that I would make one day a figure, but the fear to wake up Frankestein and make a horrible figure hunt me, so I live it to the professionals.

Where do you get your inspiration for this work.

Eduardo

 

[yeo_64]

Maarten,GOOD JOB so far !! Looking forward to how you progress with the forked tongue,etc. Cheers !
Kenneth :lol: