Sculpting Start up

Warlock0024

New Member
Ok....Ive looked high and low on the forums for info about sculpting. I get some great info...but not exactly what I'm looking for. Soooo hopefully some one can answer a few basics for me.

1. What is a good head armature? I don't intend to wear the costume cause I'm a fat guy... don't see fat preds. So I'm gonna sculpt and cast a resin/foam head.

2. What clay is the standard around here? And how many pounds would I need to purchase to complete a bust say along the lines of usurper P1 head/bust.
(sorry I dunno the scale... Id say 1/1).


3. Any other info a guy starting out sculpting/casting would need to know...like once I sculpt this clay head how do ya go about casting it without f'in it up??

Thanks my Preds

~Matt
 
First I don't want to take your idear down but if you never sculpt before, try some small things.

I did my first pred head after sculpting about 2,5 years.

But if you want to go for a head, we all going to say "go for it".

I use a foam mannekin head for armature. I work with plastilline, you can use this over and over again. But you're going to need alot of it.

I ended up with my headsculpt arround 30 to 35 kilo.

If you'r going for a resin bust, keep in mind that the plastilline must be sulfur free.

You need to make a silicone mold and sulfur can give an agressive reaction on some silcones.

This was my sculpt, I molded it and I still have to do my first pull

ScreenShot062.jpg
 
Thanks Dakath

Ive done various prop builds, and many many forms of art for many years...so I'm not scared of the idea of sculpting or even failing at doing one.

I just have seen people on here using what looks like a Styrofoam head to mannequins to various armatures. Thanks for the name and weights of the clay too. I had read that I needed sulfur free.

Excellent looking sculpt ya got there too.

Really just trying to be prepared...thanks

Any other suggestions?
 
I use a plastic mannequin head from ebay, like these.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

The head circumference is 21 inches which is smaller than most human heads so you can sculpt other things ie life studies if you wish (not me, im preds all the time it seems )

I cut the nose and ears off, this is purely to make is easier for me to remove the head from the mould and clay after, also it gives more of a ball type shape.


I use Chavant clay, both Medium and Soft. I have just orderd 20 x2lb blocks which will be enough for a 1.1 predator sculpt, so thats 40 lb.

My 1st ever sculpt was a pred head, so if you want to do one, go for it and stuff anyone who tells you otherwise, just take your time and enjoy yourself.

As for making resin copies, well get your sculpt done 1st then worry about that
 
Thanks for the link Usurper... that mannequin head is exactly the one i had been looking at getting...thanks.

I'm still in the process of drawing my pred head..I want an original I can make a complete back story to as well as his weapons.

If its kool with you Id like to add you as a friend. I checked your profile and that is awesome work.

Thanks for the encouragement.
 
no problemo, i am in no way shape or form a authority on sculpting, but being as you mentioned my name i thought i would reply as to what i roughly do.
 
Seeing a mannequin head is used for a base for a Predator's head/mask but
what would one use for a bio. Sculpting a bio from scratch just wondering
what would somebody use for a base to put the clay on for sculpting. ;)
 
I started my bio sculpt by putting some plaster bandages on my mask after I had cast it. Then, I built up enough layers of plaster so the thing would stay rigid enough. This gave me the right shape, although I didn't really close the mandibles enough, so the mouth is going to project out a little bit. There's probably not much I can do about it at this point, though.
 
After you put bandages on the mask did you cut and shape the bandages
enough to the head enough to lift off the mask to use that for a base for
the clay or are you talking about shaping the bandages all together for
the bio.
 
I use a plastic mannequin head from ebay, like these.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

The head circumference is 21 inches which is smaller than most human heads so you can sculpt other things ie life studies if you wish (not me, im preds all the time it seems )

I cut the nose and ears off, this is purely to make is easier for me to remove the head from the mould and clay after, also it gives more of a ball type shape.


I use Chavant clay, both Medium and Soft. I have just orderd 20 x2lb blocks which will be enough for a 1.1 predator sculpt, so thats 40 lb.

My 1st ever sculpt was a pred head, so if you want to do one, go for it and stuff anyone who tells you otherwise, just take your time and enjoy yourself.

As for making resin copies, well get your sculpt done 1st then worry about that :D

Wow, 40 lbs of clay...would have thought that 20 lbs would have been enough. Guess I was thinking of the bio instead.
 
After you put bandages on the mask did you cut and shape the bandages
enough to the head enough to lift off the mask to use that for a base for
the clay or are you talking about shaping the bandages all together for
the bio.
The former. I shaped the wet bandages onto the mask and put enough layers on it to make a nice rigid structure. Once they dried, I removed the bandages and used that as a form, applying clay on top of it. The bandages aren't going to be part of the finished product.

I'm still sculpting the thing, but when I'm done, I'll cast it in Smooth-Cast 300. Hez posted an excellent tutorial on casting a bio.
 
I figured the plaster wasnt going to be apart of the bio itself but your post wasnt to clear
on the plaster being the base or sculpting the bandages in a way for a bio hmm a plaster
Bio sculpt. :D I seen Hez's topic on scuplting a bio but I wasn't really sure what he used
as a base for his sculpting on what he used to put the clay on. In the future I might try
to sculpt a bio or two since 90% of my drawings are based on the Wolf Bio so it give me
some ideas on how to approach this. Thanks for the help :lol:
 
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