A Ongoing Tutorial in Conversion and Sculpting for Every Modeler

[i8dpeach]

Ok! Here is an offering I have wanted to do for some time and in conjunction with my thread, A Box of Discarded Roses - Cygnar Spades WIP. Why am I spending a lot of time bringing a tutorial about conversion and sculpting to the masses? Because when I started I could have used these pictures and tool list to really advance myself quickly. Instead I had to pick through information and really, essentially teach myself. I love this hobby and the community has been so good to me and many of my gaming buddies through the years are now like family.

So here you go! The beginning of some information that I hope builds our community, helps the young buck understand and appreciate the art and overall gets some good discussion going. Please teach me people! Tell me what you know!

To get started and I think the most important part, Tools!

I have been through them all and used various different things right from the get go. Here is a pic with a description of each article and why I use it. I probably forgot some stuff but I will be sure to talk about it if you see something different pop onto the scene.



1. Privateer Pinning Material: This stuff is great. Remember the old days when you had to find the brass rod, then use your micrometer to find the right drill. The brass rod was too stiff and gave you no play whatsoever and pinning was a royal pain! The Privateer stuff is great, has just enough flex to help with slight errors, comes with two drills and is cheap enough to buy multiple sizes. For 30mm figures I use the smaller stuff but my general rule is "Use the biggest pin you can fit without punching holes or giving yourself tolerance headaches". This is the same rule for me and magnets, but that's for a different time.

2. Gloss White Tile: Here is the holy grail for me. Go to Lowe's, Home Depot or your hardware store and pic up a couple gloss coated ceramic times. This is the end all of palettes for sculpting. What? A palette for sculpting. Yes, consider this the desktop for all the magic to happen. In upper left corner of the tile you see an old X-Acto blade. This is where I will pool super glue. I use the old blade as an applicator for less mess and the glue goes only where I put it. I use oil instead of water or spit as the lubricant for all my work. this tends to make "sticking" a problem sometimes. I will use superglue (very carefully) to get the putty stuck and then start working it out from there. When you are done with a job you can scrape the whole tile under hot water and your back to square one!

3. Miniature: The model you want to convert. Make sure you give a good hard look and study what you want to happen. You need to see every cut and the steps involved. This is the most important part. Sometimes I will stare at a model for an hour and still not see the whole procedure. Once I see the whole job it's like "Pop!!!! Ok here we go"! This takes time an practice and constant trial and error. I used to have trouble visualizing until I finally procured my methods. Now I can look at a model and see everything moving about, what I can and can't do and the limitations. You should figure every cut will turn into 1+ hours of work so think about it.

4. Cork Sheeting - I build this up to make shapes on my bases. I use superglue. BE CAREFUL!!!! The fumes will get up in your eyes and nose. This is bad! Do this in a ventilate area. (Don't end up in a roadside ditch!)

5. Vegetable Oil - This is what I use as a lubricant. It's non toxic, stays on your rubber sculpting tool and it requires very little to decrease the friction of the sticky putty. You can use water or spit (yuck) but this is what I found to make the smoothest most enjoyable experience with the least amount of dipping. I put it in a plastic sealable jar and use the cap to pull from which you will see in the following tutorials. I haven't had any trouble with primer sticking and I give the finished model a gentle rinse in water to clean it before spraying. This for me was a ground-breaker!

6. Needle files of various shape. I also use the rubber end for a super hard grey stuff feathering tool. The hardness of this rubber makes it possible to smooth new grey stuff onto previously hardened putty without any noticeable seam.

7. Plasticard (Styrene Sheeting)

8. Superglue - I buy the Locktite brand at Walmart for under 6 bucks. Hasn't let me down yet.

9. P3 Grey Stuff. I love grey stuff. It's strong and easy to smooth. Everything here can be done with green stuff but I just prefer grey. It is also easier to sand, harder once cured and woks very well for me. The other thing is it cures in 10 min's @ 140 degrees. When I pop it in the oven I am ready to go again in 10 mins. Makes progress very easy.

10. Pin Vise - I hand drill everything. It's more work but I haven't drilled through a models foot in 2 years

11. Metal Sculpting Tool - I like the the one with the curved leaf at one and and the sharp needle point at the other.

12. Scratch Awl - Hardened tool steel scratch awl for marking my holes for drilling, pushing nail hole detail in plasticard and sculpting! I use this thing a lot.

13. X-Acto Knife with smooth round handle.

14, 15, 16, 17 Rubber Tipped Sculpting Tool - These are the most expensive and the most important tool to this trade. You can get these at a high end art supply or order them online. They come in various hardnesses. White is soft, grey is medium and black is firm. I use various shapes and sizes. #17 is a larger conical soft for feathering and smoothing. You just need to get some and start working with them. Don't let them touch superglue or it's all over with.!!!!

Disclaimer: As you can see some of these tools are dangerous and I find the conversion process will give you cuts and pokes. I have successfully drawn blood with every tool here and I am very careful (been a woodworker for years and even been a violin maker years ago so I know how to use tools? I still get stuck). The parts are so small that sometimes it takes a huge amount of patience, even pressure and a little luck to pull this stuff off. Please be careful with your tools, don't rush and breath. If it's not working or cutting check your tool. Remember, a sharp tool is a good tool. When they get dull is when you will get hurt. You probably want to wear eye protection when carving resin or pewter. Once you get a shard in your eye that you can't get out you will know what I mean.


Now? On with the Conversion.

[SpiderJ]

Awesome. Please keep it coming.

[tatsumaru]

Great beginning, fantastic idea for a thread. Can't wait to see more!

[i8dpeach]

Ok! I am going to start with a Privateer Press Cygnar Journeyman Warcaster (Variant) model and let's call her Suzy Q. As you can see from the pictures above I am thinking about the cuts I would like to make. I want to spin her head so I need to cut at the neck. I will be giving her a cloak that will wrap around so this will be an easy backfill later (think ahead). I want her left arm to shoot out straight and be pointing the gun at an enemy, not the moon. How will I do this…. I have to raise her shoulder pad so it looks right, yikes; I don't want to re-sculpt a whole new shoulder. A dirty little trick is to make a hinge out of it by cutting a little less than half way from both sides and then apply pressure from the bottom and push it up. You get one shot before you break it so you must make one movement. Ok… now I will need to straighten the arm out. When you hold a pistol it's better to have a straight arm then bent so I need to cut it away from the elbow pad, pin through and then backfill with grey stuff any gaps (and there will be gaps). I should be able to carefully bend the hand and gun where I want it after that. Remember when bending pewter, you only get a little room for movement before you break the temper of the metal and it breaks, cracks and looses structural integrity. We have all bent pewter in one direction, didn't like it and then bent it back only to have it break. You get one move, that's it… period.

So how do I make this:


Turn into this:

[i8dpeach]

First we start with the cuts!



Off with her head!!



Ok. once we get those made (please take your time and be careful. Move the model 360 degrees and make sure your not cutting things you don't want to. This stuff takes practice. Do not have your fingers behind the blade because they can break cutting pewter, slip and then your bleeding to death.

As you can see afterward this picture details a cut to help make the arm straighten out better to receive the elbow pad. I will be sending a pin strait through from under the shoulder pad, through the elbow pad and into the right forearm. I will show you in the following pics. I also didn't show every single little cut and chip and shard. This is just generally what I did with the big cuts lined out for you.

[i8dpeach]

And cutting off the shoulder pad?



And pinning all parts?



And pinning the head?

[i8dpeach]

Now some notes on Pinning! This is very important stuff. As you can see form the pics I drilled into the shoulder pad, through the elbow pad completely and into the right forearm. The elbow pad was small and tricky. I probably should have drilled through it before I cut it off the forearm so I had something to hold onto but I did get it When I pin I first mark with my handy scratch awl and make a decent indent. This guides my drill so it isn't all over the place. This is essential for being precise. I push deep enough so I know my drill will track true and be right where I want it. I drill so I get about 2-3 millimeters deep, put a drop of glue, stick the brass rod in and clip it with metal snips (wasn't on list?lol) so I have about 10 millimeters extra coming out. I will be trimming this later to suite. You can see how I thread the elbow pad onto the brass rod. Superglue is sufficient to hold all objects. The gaps will be getting backfilled later with grey stuff to make them strong (a reason I love grey stuff). My goal is to be able to chuck this model across a room and it not break at the pinning joints.

With some extra work and brass rod trimming it all comes together. Take your time and make sure it's ergonomically sound. At first the arm was too long to I had to carve some extra off the insides of the parts to make it look right. This whole process should take around 2+ hours.

And here we go! Pinned head and pinned, straightened arm.



Next update will be he beginnings of the cloak. You will notice I left right arm off and alone. Much easier to do all the work without it getting in the way. I am also going to convert the weapon into something custom.

[loftybloke]

Sub'd!

Some very useful tips & write-ups here

[RMH420]

This is awesome and absurdly useful so far. Thanks a bunch.

[Shinji]

Sweet, thank you. I am very much a greenhorn. Not sure I want to convert stuff. But I am going to start pinning some stuff for stability.

[Autumn Stone]

Which hardness and shapes of colour shapers do you find most useful? (plus what sculpting you use them for)

Cheers
A.S.

[i8dpeach]

I find the rubber tipped sculpting tools with white (soft) are bigger the better. I use the soft for smoothing cloaks and jewels ect. when I want a really light touch and smooth finish. Softer the touch, softer the finish. I really like the black (firm) in most all the shapes they make for grey stuff and milliput. My favorite shape by far is the round one with the flat angle (I will send a pic). I use it for everything but the other shapes have their uses for sure! I use the gray (medium) for green stuff. I have full sets of each. You can get a whole set for around $35. I think it comes with 5 shapes. They are not cheap so I treat them like gold and like I said, don't let them touch superglue!

[Autumn Stone]

The ones I can pick up around here are...
A) over the Internet, sight unseen
B) a modest bit more expensive than that.

So I'm keen to pick up ones I'll use.
When you say the bigger the better, what are we talking? I'd imagine size 0 is what I'd want. What size are you using?

(if capt'n spud is out there I'd love to hear what he's using too)

Cheers
A.S.

[PtotheRice]

Well, I know one thread I'm going to follow a ton! I love these tips! I seriously cannot wait to get my pin vice and my sculpting tools!!!!

[i8dpeach]

The ones I can pick up around here are...
A) over the Internet, sight unseen
B) a modest bit more expensive than that.

So I'm keen to pick up ones I'll use.
When you say the bigger the better, what are we talking? I'd imagine size 0 is what I'd want. What size are you using?

(if capt'n spud is out there I'd love to hear what he's using too)

Cheers
A.S.

Currently my favorites and the ones in the pic for my tool list are of Royal Sovereign LTD UK brand:
#2 Taper Point Soft
#0 Cup Round Firm
#0 Flat Chisel Firm
#0 Cup Round Extra Firm

This is a great starting point for rubber tipped sculpting tools.

[PG_TimVanBoening]

Cool tutorial! I need to get some rubber-tipped tools! I just built a Mauler and I know the green stuff would have been A LOT smoother if I had those tools!

[Overread]

For any looking the soft and firm shapers appear to also go by the name of "Colourshapers " in some shops. And there is certainly quite a range of them. Must say its the first time I've read of their use in greenstuff/modelling work - that said most people I've spoken to in the hobby mostly seem to just use the GW sculpting tool and a lot of water for smoothness or control.

This guide your putting together i8dpeach is fantastic as are the more advanced points you've discovered and shared (eg the use of oil over water/spit). I eagerly look forward to reading more of your methods and processes.

[PBartholdy]

I can warmly recommend acquiring a set of clayshapers - the rubber tipped tools. I mostly use the 0 sized ones just like i8dpeach. I use the firmest, the black ones. I think they are soft enough to get smooth and subtle results on greenstuff, and they are firm enough to work properly with harder materials like grey stuff. I have used them for milliput as well, but I'd advise caution when the milliput blend is fresh. I use water for smoothing milliput and the putty has a tendency to stick to the tips of the tools. It's very difficult to clean them after the putty has dried so if you want to use clayshapers with miliput I would recommend purchasing an additional set solely for that purpose.

EDIT: Great initiative with the tutorial i8dpeach by the way! I'll be following for updates for sure.

[i8dpeach]

Ok? on with the cloak!

The first thing we I have to do is make what I call "grey stuff sheeting". I lay some oil down on my palette with the big soft conical sculpting tool. This will guarantee that my cloak will come off the tile without sticking which is super essential. When we remove it we don't want to stretch the grey stuff. We would like the cloak to be about 1 mil. thick.


Cloak theory: We will do a cloak in 3 steps.

Step 1: Install grey stuff sheeting and cut to size once dry
Step2: Backfill where the cloak meets the model so it looks like it was always part of the casting.
Step 3: Install final top coat to give the cloak it's final side thickness and flow. This is the part where we will model the beautiful curves, rumples and wind effect.

When we make the initial "place holder" we will need to spread some grey stuff out, roll it out and then cut it to shape. Then we carefully lift it off the tile. When rolling out grey stuff I have figured out the current method. Create a ball of grey stuff and place it on the oiled tile. Start kneading it out like bread dough. You must have oil on your fingers to keep it from sticking. Also, if you have dry, cracked or broken skin at the end or your fingertips good luck, it will stick to you no matter how much oil you have on your fingers.

[i8dpeach]

Keep kneading it out until you get to about 1.5 mil. thickness. Now oil your x-acto blade handle and use it like a rolling pin carefully bringing it down to 1 mil.


This takes a little practice but it's how I make cloaks, flags, ribbons and even the rose petals you can see in my other thread. Once your close to thickness take some oil on your finger and do a light circular motion to finish the smoothing. Now you are ready to cut your cloak. Make sure you cut way bigger than you need. You will be tripping this while it's wet and when it's cure after you put the model in the oven to cook. Don't make the mistake of making the cape too narrow at the cop. It must go up underneath the shoulder pads to look correct.



Now that i have cut my shape I will take my old x-acto blade and some glue and put a dot in-between the shoulder blades. This will guarantee that my cloak will stick even though it has oil on it. Then I can start working it. At this point don't worry about get fingerprints on the cloak but don't touch it as much as possible with your fingers. You need to get in the practice of only using your tools to touch your putty. The sooner you get used to this the sooner you will have good results. Here I have stuck the cloak and cut with an oiled x-acto blade (must oil the blade or it will stick and pull on you) around the shoulder pads. You can start shaping it it around using your rubber shaping tools and your x-acto blade. You can even use your "oiled" scratch awl to tuck it into cracks. Like I said, this is step 1 of 3, just a working shelf to put the rest of the detail on.



I leave some extra up by the neck (we planned this out) and I shape it to come around while covering the gaps form the pinning job and making a realistic clasping action.

[i8dpeach]

Now that I have the general shape and flow of the cloak and it's wrapped up around the neck it is tips to install the backpack. I do this while the putty is still wet so it make a good seamless indent. Make sure you model the putty above where you will be installing the backpack, place a spot of glue and press the piece into position…. and…. done.



Now a word on working with putty. BREATH!!!!! Don't get intimidated, you have time, lots of time. Relax and enjoy pushing and moving it around. It doesn't start getting hard for 30 mins and even then you can still work it. You have time…. BREATH!!!

Now that i have everything in place, it's pretty much trimmed to size (but not all the way) and i'm happy with the flow and positioning I put it in the oven. I place it on a ceramic plate, base and all and cook it at 140 degrees for 10-15 mins. Do not go any hotter than this or it will melt the base but at this temperature it will be fine. Experiment with plastics but I know for a fact GW style resins will melt so be careful. Take your model out of the oven, trim the cape with scissors, x-acto knives (fresh and sharp) and get it where you want it. We are 1/3 of the way there.

[i8dpeach]

The second part of the cloak requires backfilling to the model. I don't believe pictures will do us any good here. What essentially has to happen is putting putty between where inside of the cloak meets the model. This gives the appearance that the cloak was cast with the model and not an add on which I believe helps with a good conversion. The goal is to make it look a part of the model. It also helps because you won't have to paint impossible gaps in behind the models back and the cloak.

Take some putty and carefully fill the gap making a bevel up to the edge of the cloak. Take a look at some of your models that have cloaks modeled on then to begin with and you will see what I mean. This part is not absolutely required but something I do on commissions to give a finished, professional look.

My goal is to make it look like it lives there within the convention of the model. This is when I putty the gaps on the arm as well and any other gaps that have been created when cutting and pinning.

[i8dpeach]

Ok. Now the exciting part. Giving the cloak some really dynamic flow and sculpting.

Make another piece of putty like we did with the fist part of the cloak. Roll out some grey/green stuff, cut and lift off of the tile palette. This is be applied right onto the top of what we just did (hence why marks and fingerprints didn't matter).

Now apply this (with super glue, just a little if needed in the shoulder blade area) and work, sculpt your valleys and hills. You can give it any shape you want but I usually copy the flow direction of the cloth that is on the model already? and the hair. Looking at the back it appears the wind is blowing from left to right of the model, the hair is going in that direction and so will the cloak. Also, at the beginning of this project I wanted all the flow to match with my Kara Sloan so when they are standing next to each other they are facing the same direction with the wind effecting their clothing in the same manner. Details, details.



Take your time and smooth it out with the bigger rubber tipped sculpting tool that you have. The softness and bigger size is perfect for smoothing a larger area and make sure you use plenty of oil.

TIP: Make sure you leave it over the edge and bigger. You can trim it after it's time in the oven with a sharp x-acto.

Ok, now when you are happy you can put it in the oven. Once fired you can sand, cut, bevel ect. That's why I like P3 grey stuff. It is easier to work, chip and sand then green stuff for me.

When sanding I have found the Testors modeling sandpaper kit for $3.50 to be great. It has many different grits. I use the heaviest one to start and work my way through them to smooth out and give a nice finished product. The oil also helps to lubricate the sanding action giving it almost a wet sanding, polished effect.

You will probably find areas you don't like or that need to be smoothed further. Use your putty and work them out putting them back to the oven, taking them out to cut, sand or file.

There we have it!!!! A cloak and conversion for an interesting Journeyman! I will be posting other, more direct tutorials in the days to come. Please ask me any questions or tell me I'm crazy, wither one works for me!




Cheers!!

[i8dpeach]

Painted and converted Journeyman.

[captainspud]

(if capt'n spud is out there I'd love to hear what he's using too)

I use #0 Firm Colour Shapers (light grey silicone). Here's an old pic (they're 3, 4, and 5):



They're amazing. I do my rough work with metal tools, and then basically every final surface is done with clayshapers to ensure smoothness. The three in the picture are the ones I use most often-- Taper (pointy cone), Angle Chisel (pointy cone with an edge down the side), and Flat. I have a few others, including a #5 Taper I use for very large surfaces (capes, jack plates, etc), but these are only for specific tasks and generally live in my toolbox (instead of perpetually out on my desk, like the eleven tools above).

Heartily recommended to any aspiring sculptor.

[i8dpeach]

Cool!!! Thanks Capt. Spud!!! Glad to have some more folks posting how they do it!

[Autumn Stone]

Thanks peach and spud. I've been wanting to get some, but between cost, difficulty ordering, and my better half critiquing my hobby spending, I've really needed to know which to get.

So far my sculpting has been metal tools and spitty fingers. It works, but keeping grissel and janissa's face fingerprintless was a b!tch. Has to be an easier way and I suspect the right tools my be it.

Cheers
A.S.

edit: peach, if you want more of how others sculpt, spud's free time black hole is awesome. My stuff is over at handcannononline (sig link), and is less awesome.

[captainspud]

keeping grissel and janissa's face fingerprintless was a b!tch.

Avoiding fingerprints on models isn't a matter of the tools you use-- it simply requires not putting your fingers on the model.

Try mounting the model on a decent-sized wine cork. Having a large enough handle to grip firmly removes most of the urge to re-grip by the model itself.

[Autumn Stone]

Kinda my point.

Lack of a good smoothing tool (colour shapers) means my smoothing tool was my spitty fingers. Using fingers to smooth made keeping finger prints off ... Tricky.

Hoping right tools may help me avoid this.

Now I have some idea of which expensive tools to buy while running less risk of making a purchase I'll regret (thanks guys)

Cheers
A.S.