Miniature Wizards set (looking for advice and tips)

matstar102

New Member
Hi everyone,

I'm not entirely sure if this stuff I'm about to post belongs in this section or not because this is my first post but it says general modelling so I presume this is were it belongs :) . This is my first post more or less.

My name is Matt Smith (not the doctor) and I am a model maker. I recently finished my degree in design however my experience with university led me to learn everything by myself (youtube mainly), tutors leaving left, right and centre and the experience becoming an expensive mess. I'm extremely enthusiastic about creating and want to try and pursue a career in the field of model making. I live in the UK but I can travel anywhere if it meant that I would gain experience and knowledge in the field. I am looking for any tips or people to contact for information about taking my work to the next level.

Below is my final piece that was a scale wizard set 1/12 scale.

tumblr_n8cgp5Q4v11qjp428o7_1280.jpgtumblr_n8cgp5Q4v11qjp428o1_1280.jpgtumblr_n8cgp5Q4v11qjp428o5_1280.jpgtumblr_n8cgp5Q4v11qjp428o3_1280.jpgtumblr_n8cgp5Q4v11qjp428o2_1280.jpg

tumblr_n8cgp5Q4v11qjp428o6_1280.jpgtumblr_n8cgp5Q4v11qjp428o8_1280.jpgtumblr_n8cgp5Q4v11qjp428o4_1280.jpg

I would love to know what everyone thinks as I am not too sure about myself as I am self taught and want to know the next steps to take in order to let me carry on doing what I love as well as improve my model making skills as a whole. If there is anyone anyone knows who even could give me advice in any way, shape or form can either comment here or email me: mattsmithdesigns@gmail.com (I had this email as part of my course)

I would love to hear what you guys think :)

Thank you
Matt
 
Wow. I don't know anyone to refer you to, other than just show and tell here on the RPF.

I think your work is quite good. The furniture and scrolls especially look wonderful.

If I would have any nits to pick, they would be fairly minor. First of all the stonework on the walls. It looks like you took some sort of pointy object and basically just drew the fieldstones.... the mortar width is too uniform and the faces of the stone are too flat and even. Had you scribed it as brickwork, it would look fine, but the fieldstone pattern really begs for a more varied surface. As a technique suggestion... it seems like you used some sort of dense insulation foam for the stonework? I've done some pretty nice looking stonework using the same technique as here, except, after scribing the mortar lines, take a big chunk of lava rock and just beat the hell out of the smooth surface. This will dent and pit up the individual "rocks" making the whole surface seem more natural. Then you can paint and drybrush just like you did have will have a rougher, more realistic surface.

Second would be the corked vials. The cork itself breaks the illusion of scale as do some of the contents (seeds, rice, et al). I might have tried to make some other sort of in-scale lids rather than just cork stoppers.

Third are the books. They look good in the thumbnails, but don't really stand up to close scrutiny. The biggest tell is the lack of detail where the spine meets the covers, there should be a fine crease there, especially on large leather-bound tomes such as these.

Now, like I said, the over all effect is outstanding, and I wouldn't have even mentioned the nits except that it seems like you want constructive criticism. For me, it's the little details that really sell a scale.

I would love to see more of your work. You have a lot of talent.

Welcome to the RPF!

--Alex
 
Last edited:
If i were looking at getting into the industry i'd look at working for a couple of fan-films (many are displayed here) that will give you something to put in your portfolio.
 
Wow. I don't know anyone to refer you to, other than just show and tell here on the RPF.

I think your work is quite good. The furniture and scrolls especially look wonderful.

If I would have any nits to pick, they would be fairly minor. First of all the stonework on the walls. It looks like you took some sort of pointy object and basically just drew the fieldstones.... the mortar width is too uniform and the faces of the stone are too flat and even. Had you scribed it as brickwork, it would look fine, but the fieldstone pattern really begs for a more varied surface. As a technique suggestion... it seems like you used some sort of dense insulation foam for the stonework? I've done some pretty nice looking stonework using the same technique as here, except, after scribing the mortar lines, take a big chunk of lava rock and just beat the hell out of the smooth surface. This will dent and pit up the individual "rocks" making the whole surface seem more natural. Then you can paint and drybrush just like you did have will have a rougher, more realistic surface.

Second would be the corked vials. The cork itself breaks the illusion of scale as do some of the contents (seeds, rice, et al). I might have tried to make some other sort of in-scale lids rather than just cork stoppers.

Third are the books. They look good in the thumbnails, but don't really stand up to close scrutiny. The biggest tell is the lack of detail where the spine meets the covers, there should be a fine crease there, especially on large leather-bound tomes such as these.

Now, like I said, the over all effect is outstanding, and I wouldn't have even mentioned the nits except that it seems like you want constructive criticism. For me, it's the little details that really sell a scale.

I would love to see more of your work. You have a lot of talent.

Welcome to the RPF!

--Alex
No I'm wanting criticism I welcome it it will make me look at things better. The wall I originally wanted to do a brickwork pattern and is melted out of polystyrene using a soldering iron but my tutor and many classmates told be not too and it was one of the things that I wished I hadn't took on board whilst building it. The other things you brought up all suffered due to time constraints sadly. I would have loved to have made the books out of paper so they had individual pages but making 50 of them would have taken too long for this project :/ The cork vials is a good point to bring up and one I didn't really notice till after you pointed it out and I see it as a good point especially in the scale aspect.

Thank you for the advice saying that it's the details that sell scale as no one told me nothing whilst building/learning at uni so thank you :)

I hope to post more on here in the future :D

If i were looking at getting into the industry i'd look at working for a couple of fan-films (many are displayed here) that will give you something to put in your portfolio.

Awesome :D however I'm kind of new when it comes to forums which sections would this type of stuff be posted in or how do I find these kind of posts? And yeah even anything to build my portfolio would be a huge help.
 
This thread is more than 9 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top