German Motorcyclist WWII sculpt

[Marcel]

Superb looking details and progress Mike! Looking forward to the next update.

Cheers,
Marcel.

 

[garyjd]

Next I added the rifle sling. This is just a piece of evergreen plastic strip. I don't think I will have any copyright issues using that stuff instead of scratchbuilding.

I think your pretty safe here. ~Gary

 

[stu]

Superb , like being at school learning new ideas and seeing what i do wrong !.

Stuart

 

[garyjd]

Superb , like being at school learning new ideas and seeing what i do wrong !.

Stuart

Stuart, Try to look at it more from the standpoint of the best way to do something and not so much the wrong way. Engineering can be a tricky thing at times. Rarely (if at all) do we see an sbs that focuses more on this aspect of sculpting like Mike has. ~Gary

 

[Johan]

Tamiya currently makes one too. It is gray in color. I just get a glob of the stuff out of the tube, put it on a pallet and thin it with Testor liquid plastic cement and apply it with a brush. Slightly thicker mixes are then used to fill minor imperfections. Any auto paint supply or auto parts store should have similar stuff. Or, you can try the Tamiya putty which just says: "Tamiya Putty for Plastic Models" on my tube

OK understood now how one can eliminate imperfections etc. and I do have that tamiya putty, and know it can be thinned with tamiya liquid plastic cement ... just one question, does the tamiya putty + liquid cement work on metal and resin too ?

 

[Jeff]

Hey Mike ,

I have to say I have always wondered what your primer was as well. I have had the masters you have done foe me in my hands and was always kind of curious about the red primer you use. Your figures have always been well engineered and it is something I have always liked about your pieces. I had someone complain to me about the fit of a shoulder on the Cal Rogers you did for us. I asked him to send a photo and he had glued the arm on too far forward. I told him what was wrong he popped it off moved it back and the fit was perfect. Thanks for posting this it is fun to see a figure from start to finish.

Best
Jeff

 

[Tarok]

Lovely work thus far, Mike.

Really curious to see who this figure is for. 1/24 is about 90mm?

 

[Panzer]

Mikey
As always, first class sculpting! I still have the two sets of sculpting tools that you made for me back in the day when we used to chug bean burritos together, LOL!

I also had a set or two turn in brass to your specs.
Bro. I can't wait to see the completed figures and have one in my collection.
Hows Kat doing these days?
All the best a I wish you a Merry Christmas.
Mrosko

 

[Panzer]

More like 75mm if I am correct

. 1/24 is about 90mm?

More like 75mm if I am correct.
Mrosko

 

[JasonB]

Right
1/24 is about 75mm
90mm would be around 1/20th

 

[Einion]

75mm is 1/23 and 90mm 1/19. But of course everything depends on what height you decide to base your calculations on; I used 5'8" / 1.73m.

More here.

Einion

 

[bonehead]

Lovely work thus far, Mike.

Really curious to see who this figure is for. 1/24 is about 90mm?

The figure is 1/24th scale. I did him about 72mm tall (not counting shoes). In my experience figures have a tendency to grow a bit while working on them. I suspect that this happens at night while I am sleeping.

We just got a new computer and I have not worked out the program to download photos from my camera. So, sorry folks, it will be sometime next week before I can do any updates. The dude abides and is almost done now - so be a little patient with me. I am a sculptor, not a computer geek......

Mike

 

[alexwencho]

I am a sculptor, not a computer geek......

Mike

I want to be both, and in this business see much advantages being proficient in sculpting and computers.

Just here in my little adobe hut in south Texas, trying to stay ahead of the (learning) curve.

alex wence

 

[bonehead]

Okay, I lied! It was messy, but I did get it to work.......

Here you see one arm finished. Just for grins, I am showing the process of getting there on the second arm. I start by greasing up the torso and adding a blob of putty inside the arm. This is just pushed on with the finger and squished onto the body, then the putty is squished around the upper arm.

The same is done for the lower arm. The idea here is to get the basic shape and bulk of the sleeve in place. Notice that the bulk of the sleeve disappears to almost nothing at the elbow and the shoulder since the body would be pushing against the fabric in these areas.

Now that I have the basic shape of the sleeve worked out, I can start adding wrinkles. These are simply pushed into the fabric with the toothpick tools. With the tool moist and a little rolling action, the folds can be made fairly smooth. Then it is just a matter of working and reworking until you get the surface and the folds just right......

Like this. See? That wasn't so hard!

In fact it was kinda soft and squishy - until toward the end when things started to stiffen up. Once the putty gets to that state, then the fine details like seams can be pushed in with the x-acto knife. The "puckers" caused by the stitching are then lightly pushed in with the end of a not quite sharp toothpick.

It might be hard to tell now, but there has been quite a bit of bulk added to the arm between this photo and the last one. Such adjustments are frequently necessary to get a decent balance between one arm and the next. Fake it till you make it, that's how I do it.

Here I have added the collar with putty. The gas mask canister slings are made from sheet lead from a wine bottle. The ends are simply pushed into the collar while it is still a little soft. Boy, that didn't go too well! The strap looks a little wonky right now where it goes around the neck, but the end parts are copascetic. That was the major object. It is just another job to go back and remove the bad parts and redo them with putty.

As can be seen, we are on the finishing stretch now. All that is left is that wretched strap at the collar and some miscellaneous buckles and doodads to make him complete. But that will be next week.....

Cheers!!

Mike

 

[Ferris]

Great work Mike!

Great to see how you do your thing! I like your crispy sculpting (don't know how exactly to say what I mean, but in simple words: I like your folds).

Following your thread really makes me want to do some toothpick rolling myself!

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[bonehead]

Stuart, Try to look at it more from the standpoint of the best way to do something and not so much the wrong way. Engineering can be a tricky thing at times. Rarely (if at all) do we see an sbs that focuses more on this aspect of sculpting like Mike has. ~Gary

The "best way"? I don't think so.

This is- A - way to do things. There can be thousands of other ways which are just as efficient for the right person. One way is not the be-all to end-all. But if it works for you it is close enough.....

OK understood now how one can eliminate imperfections etc. and I do have that tamiya putty, and know it can be thinned with tamiya liquid plastic cement ... just one question, does the tamiya putty + liquid cement work on metal and resin too ?

Yes. It works for anything that it sticks too. In my experience that is Sculpey, epoxy putty, plastic and metal.

Hey Mike ,

Your figures have always been well engineered and it is something I have always liked about your pieces. I had someone complain to me about the fit of a shoulder on the Cal Rogers you did for us. I asked him to send a photo and he had glued the arm on too far forward. I told him what was wrong he popped it off moved it back and the fit was perfect. Thanks for posting this it is fun to see a figure from start to finish.

Best
Jeff

When one part is formed against the other, there is no way to get a better fit. To do things otherwise is not only extremely difficult, but a waste of time in my experience. Fake it till you make it.

Cheers!!

Mike

 

[JasonB]

75mm is 1/23 and 90mm 1/19. But of course everything depends on what height you decide to base your calculations on; I used 5'8" / 1.73m.

More here.

Einion

I was lead to believe the current 'standard', if thats the right term, is based on a 6' (72") man. So that would lead to the difference in scales based on a given height of a figure. That being from the top of the head to the feet. Why they ever measured any differently (from the eyes to the feet?) is beyond me. Then again, 'standard' scale when referring to any figures is really stretching it a bit.
Mike,
Beautiful work, thanks for sharing. I think it will help me a lot with some of my sculpting difficulties.
Cheers
Jason

 

[T50]

The figure looks great. Mike's figures are always butter-smooth.

Novice sculptors should learn how Mike makes the details casting-friendly.
The parts in his figures are always ready for casting.

 

[Brian Mikulencak]

Mike, thanks for showing the sbs.Do you have any problem's with fresh putty sticking to already hardend putty?

 

[garyjd]

The "best way"? I don't think so.

This is- A - way to do things. There can be thousands of other ways which are just as efficient for the right person. One way is not the be-all to end-all. But if it works for you it is close enough.....

Mike

Okay Mike, How about the way that works best for you or yields the best results. Is that better? ~Gary