Face adjustment bureau

Making adjustments to my face. I'd like to get it a bit smoother before I bake it, but it's getting there.

Phase 2 of the face experiment. Seems to have gone over well! It's a bit un-refined in places and slightly over sized but I think this technique has some merit. On the other hand it does require to either plan very well ahead in terms of what you want the face to look like or simply live with however it turns out. No "editing" on  the fly. Maybe more deconstruction will bring better results? Maybe...

Creepy corpse face

An experimental miniature head in Super Sculpey Firm. I learned some interesting lessons just working the shapes over and over but I think it's too unwieldy for me to make any use of in this scale.  I've read about a particular mix of FIMO of all things that miniature sculptors are making use of. I'd like to give it a try some time.

Meanwhile we must soldier onward! Here is my next face experiment. 

I figured the nose and lips are my biggest weak point that I really need to be able to control from all angles. We'll see how it comes out.

A little corpsy creepy there buddy old pal

Face practice

Another practice head today. It's quite an intense process to do these. Mostly because I'm winging it most of the way. I expect once I have a method or at least a good road map they'll be smoother to make. I've tried to apply some of the lessons I've learned and had some success. Ultimately I am very displeased with the result but I think I've got some good ideas on how to work on the next face. Notably I need some structure for the nose to sit on so I'm not at the mercy of pushing materials around. Also a more pronounced teeth area so the lips can protrude more forward, you can see now he looks sort of like a toothless old man.

I'd like to get a result I'm happy with before I proceed in making the rest of the body. It's going to be another ETC trooper in the light/assault configuration.

Trust me, I'm from the future

My modular system is working well. The pistol came out more bulky than I had foreseen but I think it fits nicely. The hole and peg will hold the items well once glued by a hobbyist and they can be conveniently cast separately from the main mass so the "flow back"(I mean where a protrusion goes against the direction of the cast material and needs a tube for air to escape) isn't an issue. Now there's the matter of the hands themselves. I think I'll try chopping them off and fitting a special join. Might destroy the guy, might not. In any event, I'm getting a nebular feeling/plan that my basic mini guy making technique will change soon to fit cast-ability and modularity. Mainly in terms of posing arms and other bits so that I make more progress on the upper body in the initial stages of work.

I've made another tiny face. I'm not pleased at all. I want to practice more and get the faces looking better. I'll try changing up some of my material use. 

Made progress on my self portrait sci fi bust. I've shaved some mass off the top of the head and moved around some masses on the cranium. I added the heavy armor plates and under garment showing through there. I'll render out the ears more and probably bake it then.

Cthulhu wears the most ridiculous sweaters

I've used a high speed cutter bit that's 1mm thick in my awesome pin vise to drill two holes. One in the leg drop padding you can see here and one on the vest where the tomahawk is at the moment. I coated the higher hole with Vaseline and applied some Green Stuff to the back of the ax. I then pressed one into the other. My hope is that after curing I can just pull out the ax and have a super snug fitting dowel and hole business so you can cast the ax separately. 

This will be the gun in the holster on the leg drop:

I'll shave and abrade it so it'll serve as a base for the design there. Afterwards I'll fit it the same way to the appropriate hole.

I received a nice envelope with the following tools:

Those are size 0 extra firm Clay Shapers by Royal Sovereign. They were an absolute STEAL on eBay.co.uk. The seller was called "buy-for-less-online" if anyone is interested (I think he doesn't ship to the U.S. but then again U.S. buyers may find other deals). 

Made some more progress on my busts.

Still waiting to hear from you, loyal blog readers, what you think the costume on the self portrait should be. Science fiction/near future theme, yeah?

The alien Cthuloid is now wearing a ridiculous sweater.

Self Portrait progress

Some more work done on the self portrait piece. I find the work on the Super Sculpey Firm to be more relaxing than the Green Stuff/ Blue Yellow Kneadatite. I'm not racing against the clock as I go. On the other hand since it doesn't automatically cure there is a danger that it will be somehow squashed. Anyhow, it's fun and I like the different scale of the work also.

I placed a mirror in front of me as I worked for reference and constantly had these little moments of revelation on how to do the different areas as they were much different from what I "know" on how to make faces. I suppose its part of the fact that folks look different from one another and there are many ways a face can be built, mine in particular is built in this way. It was most enlightening.

A bit more to go before I'm happy with the sculpt. I want to add some costume or science fiction twist on it. Any ideas? You can write in the comments. "You" being the one guy who reads the blog.

P.S. 
Dear one guy who reads my blog,
If you enjoy reading it so much, why not recommend it to some of your powerful friends with lots of money who want to commission work from me? Huh?!?!
Sincerely,
Nadav.

Arms are for holding hands (on the ends of them)

I completed the left arm. It's a bit on the long side because I planned the pose somewhat erroneously. Chalk it up XP++. Some odds and ends yet remain but soon the next guy will be on the table. In this session I added the left arm and hand, collar (should have added earlier, ho hum), a small pouch on the side of the main pouch and the buckle/strap for the main pouch.

More refinement/progress on the self portrait and some development on the alien concept.