Gary's Miniature Sculpting

Sculpting completed

2012-01-16T15:29:00.000-05:00

The sculpting portion of the figure is now done, finally! I have to now add some fring to the shoulders and sleeves. I believe I'm going to use lead coated with superglue for strength. The only piece missing from the figure is the powder horn which attaches around the upper right corner of his bullet pouch/ hunting bag.

Left arm and hand sculpted

2012-01-16T15:21:00.001-05:00

This part was a little tricky. The remainder of this figure is turning into a bit of a learning experience. The rough body of the hand overlapped the barrel of the rifle too much. I thinned it down as much as I could with the hand glued to the rifle barrel. It was a nail biting process as it was not holding onto much. The addition of the fingers gave it additional strength. So if you're wondering why the fingers are not wrapped around the entire barrel that's why.

Let's get moving!!!

2012-01-12T10:02:00.006-05:00

It's finally time to get this project done. What's the deal with work on a piece coming to a dead stop when it's about 70 to 90% done? I almost always seem to run out of steam went a piece gets to that level of completion. Let's get on to what's new on the trapper.

Trigger Guard and rifle placement

Originally I planed to make the trigger guard out of putty rolled out and cut into a strip. Due to the size and shape I decide to try a different approach. The first 2/3 of the guard was made from flattened sheet lead ( yes lead ) cut into three small individual pieces. Each piece was shaped and applied using Gorilla Glue ( super glue ) to assemble the pieces. The last 1/3 was made from Magic-Sculpt. The rifle was then fitted and glued to the blocked out left hand. After the glue thoroughly dries I'll add the fingers.

What's left?

After the hand I'll then sculpt the remainder of the coat sleeve. After that comes strips of fringe that will run down the back center of the sleeves. I'm thinking that more flattened sheet lead will work best here. After that a little detail on the powder horn and a feather for his hat will see it complete.

Pyle's Pirate complete

2011-01-16T16:36:00.002-05:00

Pyle's Pirate: Hat and torso roughed in

2010-10-11T14:50:00.000-04:00

Pyle's Pirate: Head Sculpt

2010-09-29T08:38:00.000-04:00

Here are the first shots of the head sculpt for the bust. I tried to work in some finer wrinkles and skin texture to help convey that rough searfarer look.

Pyle's Pirate; The Sculpey Sketch

2010-09-28T19:02:00.000-04:00

Though I've never done this for a figure I find a Sculpey sketch of a bust to be a big help in it's development. The sketch is a nice warm up and helps to establish the character of the piece. It also helps to identify those areas that might be more difficult than others.

Here are a the first views of the sketch. I also added a piece of wire to represent one of the hoop earrings he will be wearing.

Slow but sure

2010-09-28T18:55:00.000-04:00

I'm finally back at it. Here's a quick update on the small amount of work that's been done the past few days.

Coming next: Pyle's Pirate

2010-09-28T18:45:00.000-04:00

On the heels of the trapper will come this 1/10 bust of a pirate based on a sketch by illustrator Howard Pyle. I've always wanted to do a bust based on this sketch in hopes of at least capturing the spirit of Pyle's drawing.

Although I found two other sketches this one is the main inspiration for the bust. Pyle's pirate had that look that went on to firmly establish themselves in print and film that continues today.

Fast forward

2010-05-16T13:42:00.003-04:00

With the APG show fast approaching I need to get this and other projects out of the way. So I'm going to skip any sbs material I was going to do for this progress.

Coat update

2010-04-19T15:11:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the delay in getting some new pictures and information. I'm trying to play catch up and here is where the coat is at today. In order to keep what momentum I have there will not be much in the way of an sbs. When I get to his equipment I'll be doing a more detailed look at making his pouch, powder horn, knife and sheath. Now it's time to get back to work.

The Buckskin Coat Part 2

2010-03-05T10:57:00.002-05:00

Refer to photos 4-6. CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL FOR AN ENLARGEMENT.

4. Thought the Sculpey form was somewhat soft it did a decent job of supporting the putty.I ran hot water over the piece after it had cured in order for the putty to separate itself from the Sculpey form.

5. I had to turn the piece and slide it out sideways to remove it. There are some rough edges and excess material to clean up, but overall it came out okay. At this stage I'm not too worried about detail. That step will come after I permanently attach the piece to the lower body.The photos show both the inside and outside of the coat.

6. Here is the lower coat placed back on the figure following removal of the Sculpey form.

The Buckskin Coat Part 1

2010-03-04T11:49:00.012-05:00

Refer to photos 1-3. CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL FOR AN ENLARGEMENT.

1. The first thing I needed to do was make the belt worn over the coat. I rolled out a snake of AVES putty and flattened it out to an even thickness. It was then trimmed using a small ruler.

2. A form that will support the sheet of putty that will become the lower coat was made using Sculpey. Typically sculptors add a partially cured sheet to the area and manipulate it as it's curing. The Sculpey form not only supports the putty but allows you work in a fold pattern that looks more natural. Using sheets of putty to represent coat tails, capes, or flags are often used to add drama to a piece. A lot of the time these additions lack life and end up looking like sheets of putty painted to look like a coat tail or cape.

3. The completed Sculpey form with major folds worked into the Sculpey. Before adding the sheet of putty the form was given a very light coating of Vaseline so it does not stick to the putty.

Sculpting the fringe

2010-02-22T18:18:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the long delay. In the process of sculpting the fringe I managed to come up with a few ways to approach doing this particular detail. The method I planned to use just became not only too time consuming but not practical for this scale of figure. I hope to use the other method on a larger scale figure in the future. The method shown here on the following pages is fairly simple, yet yields satisfactory results.

Sculpting the fringe Part 1

2010-02-22T18:16:00.003-05:00

This step covers the application of putty to the area of the trousers where there is fringe.

Sculpting the fringe Part 2

2010-02-22T18:05:00.002-05:00

This section shows the final details added to the fringe. I tried to limit the number of steps in order to beak the process down in a simple manner.

The sculpey sketch

2010-01-25T16:51:00.001-05:00

Further establishment of the pose

2010-01-23T17:41:00.003-05:00

The next set of photos will show the lower half of the coat sketched in using Sculpey. This dry run helps to plan the actual garment for when it's done using putty. This method may be a bit overkill, but I want my garment to look like a garment not a sheet of putty with a few folds in it (OOOH AAAH!). Some may be satisfied with that but why not kick it up to the next level?

The sculpted trousers

2010-01-17T23:21:00.003-05:00

Sorry there's not much to show on these. Other than refining a few of the folds I have to add some fringe down the outer sides of the legs.What's interesting is that the buckskin trousers are tailored similiar to period trousers. The waist on the trousers back then were even with the navel instead of lower down on the hips.

Trapper's coat and trousers

2010-01-14T12:17:00.002-05:00

I'm working on the trapper's trousers and coat next. The trousers are close fitting so there will not be much in the way of in progress pictures. Buckskin is tough to replicate in this scale. So painting would play a big part of getting that look that separates it from man made type fabrics.

Sculpting the shirt continued

2010-01-04T08:01:00.006-05:00

Sculpting the shirt

2010-01-01T03:04:00.003-05:00

The shirt

2010-01-01T03:01:00.006-05:00

Miller's paintings do not appear to go into much detail about the everyday shirts worn by the trappers he painted. Fortunately I have a book on men's shirts and there were plenty examples from the period of 1800-40 that were a big help in putting this together.

Alternate moccasin construction

2009-12-30T00:32:00.001-05:00

Moccasin construction continued

2009-12-27T08:42:00.004-05:00

Moccasin Construction

2009-12-22T23:45:00.002-05:00

The Moccasins

2009-12-16T08:17:00.004-05:00

The type of moccasin worn by the trappers was called a "Pucker Vamp". Two variations of this style can be seen, one with a center seam to the toe and the other without. A piece of red cloth covers the vamp in nearly all the examples. In some cases white beads are sometimes seen in small touches. Alfred Miller said that the trappers obtained their moccasins from Indian women. This style of moccasin was called a "Kootanee" or "Chippewa". It was a style common among Eastern and Great Lakes tribes.

The Hat Brim Continued

2009-12-13T21:45:00.005-05:00

Please refer to an old thread on Planet figure HERE where I made a tricorn hat for a 1/16 head. The somewhat different approach gives you another option for making a hat.

I'll now move onto the moccasins and shirt.

The Hat Brim

2009-12-13T21:42:00.001-05:00

Hat Crown

2009-12-11T07:25:00.003-05:00

The creation of the hat crown is the first step in making the hat. I learned this method of hat making from Mike Blank's book about sculpting figures. The first step is to lightly coat the top half of the head with Vaseline to facilitate easy removal when complete. For step 1 a small blob of putty is pushed down onto the top of the head. The objective is to work the putty down to the proper height and thickness required. In step 2 the material is worked down and marked to where I want the edge of the crown to be. In step 3 you see the amount material that has been removed. This process is repeated until you get the crown to where you want it. In step 7 I then go in with sandpaper or fingernail sanding boards and clean up the shape and thickness of the crown around the bottom edge.

The hat

2009-12-10T08:40:00.005-05:00

This will be the first thing I do before moving on to the sculpting/carving portion of the figure. The figures in Miller's paintings appear to wear one of two different hat types. The first is a slouch or "round" felt hat with a three to six inch brim. These sometimes have decorations that consist of feathers, fur, and or tails tucked into the hatbands of strap, cord, or ribbon. The second is a type of "hunter's hood" mostly made from hide or cloth. They have small "ears" on either side and are also shown decorated with feathers, bird wings, and other ornaments. I'll be making a felt slouch hat that will be in the figure's right hand.

The 1837 Sketchbook

2009-12-10T08:34:00.002-05:00

This sketchbook will be one of, if not the primary source for sculpting the figure. The reason being is that the author has translated Miller's paintings into a series of sections illustrated with line drawings covering every facet of the trapper's dress and equipment that can be seen in the paintings. This will save a lot of time as the research I would need (and find important) to do taken care of already.

Armature

2009-12-08T09:03:00.004-05:00

Here is the roughed in armature for the figure. If you want to see the step by step process for putting an armature together look at my vBench on Planet Figure. Before "fleshing" the armature out I take a few left over pieces of putty that has cured and I cut and or sand them into a small square (chest/torso) and a small triangle (pelvis). I connect the torso with copper wire and then take brass wire and run it out from the area of the hip sockets and form the legs. Proportions are very very important at this stage and they could make or break your figure. There is very little to nothing that the best sculpting can do to hide an ill proportioned figure. After you're satisfied that everything is measured correctly you can then go about posing the figure. Though this figure may look somewhat stiff there are ways to add movement and drama to a somewhat static pose.

The figure

2009-12-07T16:12:00.004-05:00

The figure will be 1/32 and I'll be using a Shenandoah Miniatures bare head and a scratchbuilt rifle. In keeping with the simplicity theme this figure will not be wildly animated. There are other ways to suggest movement in what appears to be a relaxed or fairly static figure, which is the route that will be taken here.

A visual record

2009-12-06T21:02:00.005-05:00

Miller's Mountain men appear to be very similar in appearance. While there is some variety it's not much. The amount of detail depends on if you're looking at a sketch or a larger more finished painting. Their dress is definitely influenced by that of Native American dress coupled with everyday type clothing. The collage of figures taken from a very small sample of paintings shows how he saw or at least depicted Mountain men.

In addition to Miller's paintings I'm also going to be using a modern day "sketchbook" that focuses on the clothing and other details that are sometimes hard to decipher using reconstructions done with line drawings.

Alfred Jacob Miller

2009-12-06T15:39:00.003-05:00

Alfred Jacob Miller was born in 1810 and raised in Baltimore Maryland. He studied portraiture with the painter Thomas Sully from 1831 to 1832. He then traveled to Paris in 1833 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and later at the English Life School in Rome. When he returned to America, he opened a portrait studio in Baltimore but had limited success. In 1837 he moved to New Orleans, where he encountered Sir William Drummond Stewart, a Scottish nobleman who had served with distinction at the battle of Waterloo 20 years earlier. Stewart had come to America to experience the allure of the Transmississippi West. Stewart was preparing for his fifth trek west to attend the annual rendezvous of trappers at Horse Creek in the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming. Stewart immediately admired Miller's work and invited him to join his expedition to record its exploits.

Although Miller spent more than six months in the West, the number of works he actually produced while on this trip is relatively small -- probably less than 100. Shortly after his return to Baltimore in the autumn of 1837, Miller reworked his field sketches into an album of 87 watercolors for Stewart. After Miller finished the sketchbook, he journeyed to Scotland to paint at least ten large oils for Stewart at his ancestral home, Murthly Castle. The work that he created for his patron featured Stewart at the center of the action: leading the expedition, hunting on the prairies, or engaging in acts of diplomacy with the Indians.

Returning to America, Miller spent the rest of his life painting and repainting nearly 1,000 works of the western genre for Baltimore's patrons and citizens until he retired in 1872. He developed patronage among Baltimore merchants whose business interests included the American West, men who sought the frontiers of opportunity that the West presented and who were willing to invest their resources there. For these patrons, Miller painted his subjects in a stylized, romantic, and sentimental manner, capitalizing on the prevalent tastes and trends of his time by drawing from the story lines and characterizations that could be found in the popular literature of the day.

The first sculpting project will be a trapper reconstructed using the art of Jacob Miller.

Sculpting blog open

2009-12-06T15:26:00.003-05:00

I know, it's about time. Though I have some older projects in various stages of completion it's time to start posting here. So while I wrap those projects up I'm going to start something new here. This blog will mostly consist of step by step, how to, and other miniature related subjects.

The next posting will give you a little background information about the subject of my first sculpting blog project.I wanted to start out with something simple that hopefully can be completed in a reasonable amount of time and not a ton of posts.