WIP Taliban 1/35 (first Attempts)

[Gonzodi]

Hi all!

I'm new in the forum and new in figure modelling. I have been trying to model figures from time to time since one year. Reading books, guides, etc... I have learn the basic theory but there are many things that I can't learn from books and magazines. I need practice and some guidance form advanced modellers, so I will post my wip here so you can see it.

Now Im trying to make something "easy". Something like a Taliban.

The first problems that I have is making a correct anatomy to dress the figure. I allways part from a wire mannequin but many times it seems difficult to put the correct ammount of putty in the correct site.

 

[Fex]

Bad choice for undertaking. Talibs have (духи))) a lot of different clothes, it is a lot of folds, it is correct arrange folds on clothes each sculptor can not. To train it is necessary to choose easier.

 

[ChaosCossack]

Bad choice for undertaking. Talibs have (духи))) a lot of different clothes, it is a lot of folds, it is correct arrange folds on clothes each sculptor can not. To train it is necessary to choose easier.

Agreed... That's alot of drapery

 

[Gaudin]

Start with setting the mannequin properly - like you said - it needs to be anatomically correct from the start. You need to post more - more pictures of your work will allow people to see what's going on and hence to give you advice how to proceed.

Have a look at this mannequin - it helped me at some point. Top figure is incorrect as it doesn't account for curvature of spine and long bones - you will see how lively it becomes on the bottom pic.
If you print out a template figure in the scale, you will see what volumes of putty you need to add and where. Remember that your body/muscle bulk needs to be slightly thinner than actual body to compensate for clothing on top.
Fex is right, unless you completely simplify it, the drapery will be a pain. Go simpler - it will be faster and more enjoyable.

 

[Gaudin]

Despite being at risk of sounding like a preacher or a prophet I will also give you this quote from Ira Glass (producer of This American Life)

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

I found nothing else that rings more truth...

 

[Gonzodi]

Fex, Im agree, there is too many drapery, so I will try with something more easy.

Gaudin, this text represents very well what I have been doing since 5 years ago, when I started with military vehicles. Recently I won my first gold medal in a modelling contest in Zaragoza 2012 wich made me very happy. As I started with modelling universe with 18 years and now I have 24, I had to learn a lot because I want to make top quality dioramas, such as Volker Bemmbenek, Per Olav lund, etc... I need to be enough good at painting vehicles, figures, scratch, making terrains, and of course modelling figures. And for that I have to learn learn learn.
Here you can see some of my lastest works.
http://www.facebook.com/gonzalo.diezmata/photos

I use this guide printed to scale. So, making the mannequin, I have to use this drawings to make the correct anatomy, making it a little smaller to compensate the clothing volumes.

 

[bigtodd]

Despite being at risk of sounding like a preacher or a prophet I will also give you this quote from Ira Glass (producer of This American Life)

“What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

I found nothing else that rings more truth...

What a great montra to run through your head everytime you approach the workbench. As one who listens to Ira Glass every now and then, I can hear his voice and inflections when i read this.


Thanks for sharing it.

Todd

 

[Gaudin]

Todd, my pleasure

Gonzodi, if you are specifically after tank/ diorama scale - search for posts by Boris Knokhov and get in touch with him - he is second to none in that scale.
http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/german-panzer-soldiers-1-72.50248/

 

[ausf]

Now I'm waiting to hear the three stories about beginners.

 

[Gonzodi]

Gaudin, thanks for the link. He makes incredible 1/72 figures.

I have a problem. When I put the magic sculp in an arm or a leg, i left it 20 minutes to dry a little. But when Im creating the drapery with my tools, the magic sculp starts to come loose and create a space of air, sometimes very big. Something that is very hard to work with. How can I avoid this problem?

 

[Gaudin]

Should be easy to avoid if you take another wire of much thinner diameter and wrap around along your armature as a thin spiral - that way the putty will have much more purchase. Also make sure you mix clay well and that it isnt to old? That's just a guess. You can also make basic volumes in some cheap thermal clay - it will save you waiting times.

 

[Einion]

I have a problem. When I put the magic sculp in an arm or a leg, i left it 20 minutes to dry a little. But when Im creating the drapery with my tools, the magic sculp starts to come loose and create a space of air, sometimes very big. Something that is very hard to work with. How can I avoid this problem?

This is a very common complaint when starting sculpting, but the fix is very easy - don't try to sculpt with the first application of putty.

The first layer should just be to bulk out the wire to make a roughly human shape out of the mannequin (and usually you aim to have it quite skinny, very easy otherwise to have the sculpt become too bulky or thick-limbed). Then you wait for it to set and when it's ready you mix fresh putty and apply a second layer, pressing and/or rolling it into place before you begin shaping it and creating the drapery.

Another good tip is to work small areas at a time, to prevent accidentally ruining a finished section by pressing against it with the side of the sculpting tool or a knuckle. If you have to it's okay to do one trouser leg at a time, the main body of the shirt or coat and then the sleeves afterwards.

A couple of step-by-step guides showing the basic idea:
http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.ie/2010/01/massive-voodoo-sculpting-tutorial.html
http://www.geocities.ws/y_wong62/wipsite/mannequin.html

Einion

 

[Gonzodi]

Many thanks for the help.

I have bought an anatomy for artists book because i need to learn a lot about human figure. I feel a little lost sometimes when where to add the putty and if I want to get into sculpting, I want to have a good base.

 

[Gonzodi]

Finally arrived some days ago. I'm reading a lot and trying to learn theory more than practice with the putty. Meanwhile I'm also painting some tanks in 1/35, so I don't have too much time.

 

[Gonzodi]

Now I have a new pair of books from Giovanni Civardi. Drawing the anatomy and Male nude. The drawings are awesome!!, much better than the last one I bought.