Sculpting A Dragon |
Written by sausage assasin | |
Tuesday, 01 December 2009 | |
Please note that this article merely instructs how I sculpted my dragon and know that you can do yours in whatever manner you like. Now, before any construction ensues, you need a LOT of greenstuff (My dragon consumed about three or four rolls.). I would refrain from buying this from the Games workshop website because there it’s hardly worth the price as well as shipping and handling. Instead, peruse your local hobbyshops ( I found impressive amounts of greenstuff being sold for only $5.00 apiece at a woodcarving store.) or E-Bay, where I’ve found large quantities for sale at dirt-cheap prices. There are also alternative putties to greenstuff that work just as well. For instance, brownstuff is sturdier and good for solid understructures, and greystuff is softer and helpful for details. Ideally, one with a project as ambitious as this would possess all three, but I’ve found it quite maneagable to get by with only greenstuff.
Now, armed with the proper tools and supplies, you need tofamiliarize yourself with dragons and your epoxy/ies. I would draw acouple of dragons to decide on a pose for your sculpt and get used tothe anatomy. Also, play around with some greenstuff to get the feelfor it. Here are some tips that should help:
When you’ve done that, take, cut down, and bend more wire for legs. Glue them on, and, once the glue is dry, take some putty and put itaround the leg wire where it meets the torso wire so that it looks likethis:
When the epoxy helping to hold togethor the wire dries, sculpt theshapes of the head, neck, body, and tail in over that. (Not the legs. And if you want the dragon to be roaring do not sculpt in the lowerfront half of your dragon’s head that includes the jaw. Read more fora more complete explanation.) This is a big part of sculpting yourdragon but it’s really very simple so long as you know what one lookslike. Remember to blend any lumps or crevices in with the rest of yourdragon to give a smooth finish so that it looks like this:
While the epoxy that you just applied is still drying, sculpt theunderbelly of your dragon in whatever way you would like. I made mineto look fleshy and skin-like so I used the blender to make ripples onthe bottom of the neck, tail, and body. It was simple and effective.
So, after your head is complete to your satisfaction start sculptingscales on your dragon by mixing a sheet of putty and wrapping it arounda small part of your dragon stopping at the point where the underbellystarts. (It helps to scale the dragon in patches to avoid fingerprintsor accidentally smudging the detail with your palm.) Then take one ofthe knife-like tools and cut hexagonal or pentagonal shapes into thesheet. Once the scales have been cut into the area that you arefocused on, take the blender and round off the edges (Not thevertices.) of each individual scale to add depth to the crevices. Cover the top half of the dragon and you’re done.
Now comes what is possibly the most difficult phase in theconstruction of your dragon: the wings. So if you feel like skippingthe wings and making your dragon a wyvern I’d say go for it. The restof you, start once again with the wire frames. Take a wire and cut itdown to what you want to be the length of your dragon’s wings and bendthem into the shapes of bat-like wings. (Almost like mountains.) Then,almost exactly following the process used to start the torso, cut threemore wires down to the lengths that you want for fingers, glue them in,and stabilize that with epoxy. Once the epoxy dries, sculpt over thewires with the same pattern you did for your underbelly and then followthat with scales wherever you may want them. Next come the membranes. I spent some time contemplating how to do these while constructing mydragon, I either wanted to cut the membranes from transparent plasticwrap to get a nice translucent effect or simply sculpt them in. Thelatter seemed easier and I stuck with that option but you may want touse an alternative. Whatever you do, don’t add in the membrane that’sclosest to the dragon’s body until the wings are connected. This wayyou’ll know that that membrane will fit properly. So, when you arecontent with the so-fars of your wings, attach one to your dragon byputting a blob of greenstuff between the two and applying superglueover that. Firmly hold the wing to the dragon while the supergluedries and then wait overnight to do the same to attach the next wing. Once the wings are poised in the way you want them to be put more puttyover the bonding blob covered in superglue because you’ll find thatit’s, although efficient for strong bonds, lumpy and crusty. So addanother layer of epoxy over that and blend it in. Then add in yourfinal membranes and your dragon is complete.
I’d like to apologize for any confusion caused by the pictures. I didn’t take any work in progress photos so I had to sketch theinstructions. Also, this is a tough thing to do and it takes a lot of time and patience but it works as a good side project. Mine took at least six months to sculpt, paint, and base and it’s still not entirely complete. Anyway, have fun sculpting everyone and thank GlC for figuring out the pictures for me.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 January 2010 ) |