Sculpting Chain Mail?

[renarts]

Hey guys,
I'm interested in sculpting a figure and I'd like to start with a medieval subject.
Below are two examples of mail.
Any advice on how to sculpt this? Types of tools and techniques that might be used?

My thanks for any advice you can give me.

regards,

Mike

 

[rdclaeps]

A hypodermic needle ground down on the side to form a C. The figure’s scale would dictate which gauge of needle to use. Apply your putty; impress the needle into the putty to form a line of C’s. For the second row, reverse your needle to form a backward C and do another line under the previous row. The two rows with give you an S shape and from there just keep adding rows. I’ve used this technique several times and it works pretty good. At the moment I don’t recall where, but there are a few magazine articles out there on this subject.

 

[Anders Heintz]

Another thing you can do depending on the scale is to use some fine wire, roll it around something round like a brass rod or similar in the required diameter, then pull the newly made 'spring' off the rod and flatten it out. Apply some duro to the figure then attach the flattened 'spring' into the putty, arranging it to look realistic. Make sure to change direction of the rings for each layer. This works well for larger scales, but it is quite tedious when you have to join up two pieces of flattened rolled wire.

Rogers method is probably the best option, unless you want to go nuts and do like Augie did for one of his busts, make the real deal in scale!

 

[minimaker]

There is an demo on this page:
http://www.lyonstudio.com/Sculpting/Sculpting%20Textures.htm

I've used this technique as well as something like rdclaeps describes but with an additional rod in the middle op the needle/tube. The edge of a ring is formed between the rod and tube.

Ming-Hua

 

[Shane]

How you go about it depends entirely on the scale. IMO, mail should be only a texture in 90mm and smaller. Almost every figure made today depicts the mail rings way out of scale. I guess modelers want to see indivudual rings even though it isn't possible in most scales. Some of the best scale mail work I've seen in 54mm are LaTorre's Northumberland warrior and Blank's Alexander Nevesky. In both cases the sculptors downplayed the rings, especially LaTorre. The result is far more realistic than when actual rings are attempted.

In large scale, 120mm, it might still be best to go for a texture rather than actual rings. Frankly, I haven't created mail that I've been happy with in the larger scales. 70mm and smaller are much easier to create a realistic appearance. An important consideration is the firmness of the putty. It needs to be fairly firm, otherwise your texture will be too deep. Soft putty means soft detail also. This all requires you to work small areas, don't tackle too much at one time since your window is narrow before the putty sets up too much.

In busts, forget it. Unless you're ready to go Augie's route, there is no convincing method. Again, that's just my opinion.

HTHs

 

[MinasTirithGuard]

My technique is the same as the first post, except I use a sanded down sewing needle instead of a hypodermic needle. Either would work. Keep it as a texture, make the rings as small as possible. Don't ever try to sculpt rivets or make the rings flattened, in smaller scales this never works. Keep in mind that when mail is worn it bunches up, so you aren't likely to see nice, defined, stretched out links. Watch Lord of the Rings for reference if needed, however their links are plastic, though it still gives a good idea of the shape mail assumes when worn. I myself am working on armor for my own LotR movie I'm filming, so I made a mail vest and glove already, and I'm working on some more shirts. It helps to look at the real thing for inspiration and reference, and makes a nice piece to lay under figure bases :lol:
Not the best job or picture, but here's a 1:30 figure, chainmail in Duro, it holds detail the best:

Good luck with your project, feel free to email/pm me.

 

[Einion]

Hi Mike, to add to what Shane said a lot of mediaeval mail was very fine in construction (12mm / 1/2" outside diameter being large by their standards) so generally speaking you should aim for a very fine texture. One has to be careful about using modern reconstruction mail as a guide to the correct appearance because many reenactors just can't afford mail that's made as well as the genuine article was!

With commercial sculpting the texture is to some extent governed by the needs of the casting process but when you're sculpting for yourself less is more when it comes to mail texture

Einion

 

[Alan]

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[Uruk-Hai]

A good scale model isnt always a perfect portraying in the smallest detail.
Some things are overscaled while others are underscaled to meet the expectations of the viewers.

 

[gordy]

Nice work Ethan

 

[renarts]

Thanks so much for the input and information guys.
I've been experimenting with several techniques with varying results. Ground hypodermic needles, rod inserted in tubes, d shaped rod, wire looped and shape to give a particular diameter of ring, and even a crescent shaped tool I made from scratch. The tedium of the task is not so bad (I made the examples of the mail I included in my original post...now thats a lesson in tedium )

As Alan and others pointed out, I think it comes down to the perception of mail rather than the accurate depiction of it.

I am trying some other things and I've made a sampler of my efforts and will post a photo of them when I'm finished with experimenting.

Regards,
Mike

 

[Alan]

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