William Johnson's "Warrior Chieftain", 1755

[garyjd]

In addition to the figure of Robert Rogers I have decided to do another bust. The Rogers sbs will continue but will slow a bit because I need to make a 1/35 "Brown Bess" musket. As I do not want to lose any momentum another project is in order.

Subject I have decided on doing a head study/bust of a Mohawk "Warrior Chieftain" that served on the side of the English during the French & Indian War. The bust will be depicted wearing those items associated with Johnson's native forces, such as a gorget with "WJ" (Johnson's initials) engraved on it, along with a red ostrich feather reserved for important warriors. The bust will be loosely based on a Gary Zaboly drawing mentioned in the Roger's journal book (see references for Rogers figure).

 

[garyjd]

Armature The armature was made from brass tubing. A hobby saw was used to cut about 80% through the tubing that was then bent at various angles. These sections represent where the head, neck, and chest area will be located. The areas cut were then filled in with Aves putty to firm them up. I then took heavy gauge copper wire and wrapped it around the tubing and then super glued it in place. The copper wire will help to give the sculpey something to grip onto.

 

[thegoodsgt]

Awesome armature! I really like the direction your project has taken.

 

[Guy]

Now you have my undivided attention Gary...........I'll pull my chair up close so I don't miss anything here. After just finishing a Mohawk Bust, your timing is excellent..............love your sbs's

 

[JCOX]

Excellent Gary. I'm really excited about this!

-jim cox

 

[bucsfan21]

Gary, Cool idea, William Johnson! I look forward to seeing him come about. Thanks for sharing your work! I appreciate it!

Happy Trails, Terry Martin

 

[garyjd]

Originally posted by bucsfan21@Mar 17 2005, 08:05 AM
Gary, Cool idea, William Johnson! I look forward to seeing him come about.

Terry, It will be a bust of a Mohawk Chieftain not William Johnson (though I have a multi figure scene with Sir William in mind).~Gary

 

[Lancer]

Hi Gary
I have some Scale Model Accessories, Brown Bess muskets. The scale might be 54mm but I have no problem throwing a couple in an envelope if you want them. Might save you some time and effort. Just a thought!
Cheers
Mark

 

[slaj]

I will follow this closely.This should be inspiring to say the least


Stephen Mallia

 

[garyjd]

Guys, Thanks a lot. This is one of my favorite periods, which is strange because most of the stuff I've done comes from other ones.

Mark, I'll PM you later. Thanks.~Gary

 

[garyjd]

Sculpey III With the exception of the detail parts, the majority of this sculpture will be Sculpey. The Midwest Clay Co. is the only place I know of that sells gray Sculpey, so I decided to make my own. I too 1 2oz. package each of #001 WHITE and 042 BLACK and mixed them together. The resulting color is a medium gray. Here is the first application of Sculpey. I make a number of cuts in the Sculpey with an X-acto to gice the clay something to hold onto. After cooling in the oven a second layer is applied. These packages were fairly new so it's very soft and the built up form provides a nice foundation to work on.

 

[garyjd]

Here is the piece after the second layer was added. The pictures came out a bit lighter which is why it looks more white than gray.

 

[garyjd]

Profile view.

 

[fsdesimone]

Gary,

Neat topic choice!

Maybe I missed this but, how is it going to detatch from the base? Is it screwed in?

I must have gotten old Sculpy the last time I bought some - what a pain to mix the colors together. I never tried that revitalizer they sell... maybe I should. But the odd thing is, I find it very hard to mix, but too soft to sculpt in!

Francesca

 

[garyjd]

Francesca, Thanks. When it comes to getting fresh sculpey it's like selecting what looks and feels to be the freshest produce at a grocery store. Even if it appears to be a bit firm that's nothing a little elbow grease won't cure. The diluent is good to bring Sculpey past it's shelf life back to a workable level, at least long enough to finish the piece you're working on. I always put some on my finger and rub it all over the layer that was last baked before adding more. It's almost like gluing it on. It can be really soft to work with at times which is why I build up the rough bust quite a bit before going onto the finish work.~Gary

 

[garyjd]

Now there are enough layers to start refining things before really getting into the finish work. The one thing I realised is that this bust is considerably smaller than the Karl bust. The bare musculature is a bit of challenge and needs to have everything in it's place. I may have to sand down some of it as he looks a little to "bulked up" for my tastes.

 

[garyjd]

Semi profile. The brass tube that forms the central part of the armature goes down into the working base about 1/2". When the majority of it is done I'll pull him off of the base and clean up the sides and back.

 

[garyjd]

The back muscles are fun to do but difficult if you want them to be typical of the way natives may have actually looked. The last thing I want is for it to look like a body builder. Following a little more work on the chest and shoulders I'll then move onto the face.

 

[PeteC]

Gary,
I hate to join the endless stream of back-patters here but your work never ceases to amaze me. I have a sudden urge to try a bust myself. How many times during the sculpting process will you bake it? It seems to me that you get quite a bit of the sculpting done before you put in the oven.

Pete

 

[garyjd]

Pete, Hey buddy where have you been? Thanks for the kind words. I will probably have about 3-4 layers depending upon the size of the piece, so each layer gets baked. I will then probably bake it at least a few times after completion as the more you bake it the harder the sculpture appears to get. I will normally bake it at 250 degrees for 15 minutes and then let it cool in the oven. The manufacturers suggest 15 minutes per 1/4" of sculpey. It's best to build up the piece in stages as sculpey that is really soft is like pushing butter around.~Gary