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Christmas project but some new materials and techniques

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  • wotan
    • May 2018
    • 1151

    #1

    Christmas project but some new materials and techniques

    Hi all

    You were kind enough to tolerate my threads about puppets a while ago, and I am once again working on something a little different. Apart from the project itself I hope that one or two of these new techniques will prove of interest to you.

    I am going to be sculpting a fairy' head for a local christmas project, but I will be using some techniques that may be useful in more usual model building.

    First up I found these styrene balls in a local dollar store, this will provide the armature for the head.

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    In addition I found these wooden beads on Amazon, that will serve as eyes. More later.

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    I started off by carving the styrene ball to a rough head shape. I then opened up the hole in two wooden beads using my Dremel and stuck them in.

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    Next step was to use just a little Magic Sculpt to complete the pupils of the eyes.

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    Now the first new thing for me, I discovered Paper Clay. You can buy this stuff in some art shops, however you can also make it from scratch yourself. The recipe is as follows:

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    1 1/4 cups of damp toilet paper.
    1 cup of premixed drywall compound (also known as Gyproc)
    3/4 cup of PVA glue
    1/2 to 1 cup of plain white flour (this can be adjusted to control the final consistency of the mix)

    This is all mixed together to create a soft white clay substance. Make sure the toilet paper is well soaked and broken down to create a fine consistency. This stuff is great for simple modelling, creating terrain features, etc etc. When dry it can be sanded and carved to create smooth or textured surfaces such as stone walls, paving etc etc.

    This is my first coat of the stuff applied to my styrene armature.

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    One thing I found out is that if you apply it thickly it can take up to 24 hours to dry out. Once dry it can be sanded ( I use 600 grit foam backed sanders) to an almost porcelain finish. More to come

    John
  • Tim Marlow
    • Apr 2018
    • 18938
    • Tim
    • Somerset UK

    #2
    The change between the eyeball pupil shot and the last shot is striking. You are really able to bring this stuff to life John. Just magic :thumb2:

    Comment

    • scottie3158
      • Apr 2018
      • 14238
      • Paul
      • Holbeach

      #3
      John,
      You truly are a very talented man.

      Comment

      • Jim R
        SMF Supporters
        • Apr 2018
        • 15775
        • Jim
        • Shropshire

        #4
        Hi John
        I always find your work very interesting and this will be no exception. As Scottie says you are very talented.
        Jim

        Comment

        • Mini Me
          • Jun 2018
          • 10711

          #5
          Amazing........I was looking at Kermit the Frog and "POOF" next thing you know, there she is!
          Top work John! Rick H.

          Comment

          • wotan
            • May 2018
            • 1151

            #6
            Thanks for all your indulgent comments guys.

            Here is the last "new" product that I will mention. UV resin

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            Picked up on Amazon for not very much money. Clear resin and a small UV flashlight. I use this stuff to pour into the eyes to make a very nice finish. Inly takes about 20 seconds with the UV light to harden off. I could well imagine this being useful for dials on a dash board, headlights and a number of other applications in regular modelling.

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            You can see the effect for eyes. Unfortunately I got a few bubbles in her left eye, I should have been a bit more careful. The right eye came out fine.

            John

            Comment

            • Tim Marlow
              • Apr 2018
              • 18938
              • Tim
              • Somerset UK

              #7
              Wow….moving quickly on isn’t she! Wonderful stuff!

              Comment

              • Neil Merryweather
                • Dec 2018
                • 5204
                • London

                #8
                Great use of the UV resin, John. I have even used it to mould things, both in a press mould and a clear silicone one. As long as you can get the light to it ,it works excellently. And so fast!

                Comment

                • Tim Marlow
                  • Apr 2018
                  • 18938
                  • Tim
                  • Somerset UK

                  #9
                  Is it the same stuff used in 3D resin printers?

                  Comment

                  • Neil Merryweather
                    • Dec 2018
                    • 5204
                    • London

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Tim Marlow
                    Is it the same stuff used in 3D resin printers?
                    I have no idea, Tim.
                    I bet it gets the chemist in you googling :tears-of-joy:
                    Must be related, I would think...

                    Comment

                    • Tim Marlow
                      • Apr 2018
                      • 18938
                      • Tim
                      • Somerset UK

                      #11
                      Seems to be……basically UV catalysed polymerisation in both cases…..not unlike photosynthesis really

                      Comment

                      • wotan
                        • May 2018
                        • 1151

                        #12
                        Thanks guys and I did not know that Tim

                        Comment

                        • rtfoe
                          • Apr 2018
                          • 9111

                          #13
                          Originally posted by wotan
                          Thanks for all your indulgent comments guys.

                          Here is the last "new" product that I will mention. UV resin

                          [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1163261[/ATTACH]

                          Picked up on Amazon for not very much money. Clear resin and a small UV flashlight. I use this stuff to pour into the eyes to make a very nice finish. Inly takes about 20 seconds with the UV light to harden off. I could well imagine this being useful for dials on a dash board, headlights and a number of other applications in regular modelling.

                          [ATTACH=CONFIG]n1163262[/ATTACH]

                          You can see the effect for eyes. Unfortunately I got a few bubbles in her left eye, I should have been a bit more careful. The right eye came out fine.

                          John
                          This is amazing John, from a sphere of polystyrene to this. Coming out nicely. I have a tube of UV resin the size of a tube of watercolor paint and have not used it yet. Now that it's mentioned, I'll try it out on some bubble marks on the rifles that I have casted.

                          Cheers,
                          Richard

                          Comment

                          • wotan
                            • May 2018
                            • 1151

                            #14
                            Here is the final picture. She's ready to go out in the forest where she will decorate a local walk that the community decorates for Christmas.

                            Click image for larger version

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                            John

                            Comment

                            • Jim R
                              SMF Supporters
                              • Apr 2018
                              • 15775
                              • Jim
                              • Shropshire

                              #15
                              Wonderful John. I am sure many people will enjoy seeing it.
                              Jim

                              Comment

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