By Jason Miller
Tools of the Trade
1. The most common sculpting tools seem to be 'putty
pushers'. That is they are hard metal tools with tips set at a low thin angle
so you can scoop, smooth, push, pull. I use a variety of sizes-as you can see
top to bottom the flat thin part of each tool gets smaller and smaller- in fact
I had to tweak the contrast to even see the smaller ones clearly. Of particular
interest is the one second from the top. It started life as a 'nut pick' as
seen in the next pic below. Simply smash the end flat on a small blue anvil or
other strong hard flat surface. I then cut and filed the surface to get it as
smooth as possible. (I also do my swords this way for my minis- after all flat
metal is pretty easy to turn into a sculpt of flat metal lol.) Cost: Most metal
tools range from $5-20 USD although I have found that well stocked Gem Stores
have them for around $9 USD. The nut picks are 4 for $1. In addition I have
made some tools out of thicker wire (coat hanger even).
2. This section of sculpting tools is best used for
smoothing... in a large part this is due to the soft naturally curvy nature of
the clay shapers and the eraser. See when you push with a hard tool the force
is unevenly distributed across the tip unless you apply the pressure evenly. With
a soft clay shaper the pressure across the surface of the tool seems to more
evenly distribute itself- making the putty smooth and fairly easy to 'tease'
into shape. Usually I use the first section of tools to push the putty into
place then I use this section of tools to actually shape the putty. Then I go
back to the first set to really put 'crisp' edges on the shapes. The only
exception is the nut pick- I use this little fellow to seal along the line
between two different applications of putty- the 'seam' if you will. Then I use
one of the softer smoothers to make it level. Cost: I get my Clay Shapers for
around $6 USD at a local art store. Color Shapers (used for painting) are a
softer substitute for Clay Shapers. Erasers are slightly stiffer clay shapers
but the principle is similar.
5. Wooden tools can be used for a variety of things- I personally have moved away from them as the wood grain texture always seems to get my putty stuck to it unless I heavily lube it. We typically use all of our wood for terrain projects now.
Skellies, Dollys, Greens Skellies and Dollys are sometimes mentioned- basically it is just a way of refering to how 'bulked out' a sculpt or 'green' is. A 'Green' is usually a finished sculpt although sometimes people will call them WIP (Work In Progress) Cork Although a variety of methods can be used to hold a green I much prefer cork as I usually work with wire Skellies. Cost: I get 90 corks for $7USD at the Wine making store.
Putty Pit/ Monster It never fails- I'll mix up some green
stuff and the phone rings or I have to leave. Although some people have had
limited success with freezing mixed green stuff I much prefer to have a bunch
of wires, or a Skelly already handy to add putty to. I call it a pit or monster
because I usually only add putty to it when I have no time to use it or when I
come back and it has lost much of its adhesiveness and is starting to get too
rubbery. This way within a few short weeks I have slowly made a skelly into a
dolly. Large Cork For larger sculpts - same place as the smaller corks but
these are 'bungs' for barrels so the clerk may not consider them corks. I've
tried rubber bungs (ha ha ha) but they are pretty springy and it was a good bit
of effort to make holes in them without launching your skelly across the room
Cost: $3 USD.
Vaseline/Jelly, Cotton Swabs In some cases I make use of vaseline as a lube for both the sculpting tools as well as to be sure that two levels of green stuff do not fully adhere. Dollar stores win here again.
Measurement Devices Good for seeing how long, tall, wide, round, flat whatever. The shapes are great for base sizes for example I also make 'scale rulers' although I have recently found them available commercially. A scale ruler is great because it tells you at a quick glance how tall your model is in that scale. (Scale should not be confused with style) Cost: The fancy-pants shape thing was $7USD at Staples, the Scale Ruler was $9USD at a local hobby store.
Hobby Knives, felt pen, razor, sharpening stone, pin vise, cutting board.
Files: I originally got these from a mechanic but now every dollar store has them too so go there. I use the file to remove wire knubs from the bottom of the green.
Sandpaper: You can get most
rough grades at dollar stores but for real fine (smooth) paper go to a hardware
store.
Putty Oven: A metal coffee can with either a low Watt bulb or
small candle (never leave a candle unattended). With just a small amount of
heat you can speed up the curing process on putty- but remember not to put
plastic bits in as some of them have low melting points
Hammers, Small Anvil: For smashing wire flat.
Needle Nose
Pliers, Cutter/snip: I use the pliers to bend the wire for the Skellys and
twists. The snips are essential for cutting and trimming wire.
Clipboard, paper, pencils, eraser, pens: I use concept art a lot because it is the 2-d 'sculpture' that my 3-d representation is based on. Although I got my fancy metal tin of pencils from Michaels I got the small set for $1 at the dollar store and they both seem to be pretty similar. Of course I usually only use the 2H pencil so maybe thats why. The 2H allows me to make a nice light sketch that I later go over with my pens. Note I do not use the same eraser that I sculpt with!
Natural light bulbs: My lamp is a full spectrum one as I
find that up here in Canada
1. The most common sculpting tools seem to be 'putty
pushers'. That is they are hard metal tools with tips set at a low thin angle
so you can scoop, smooth, push, pull. I use a variety of sizes-as you can see
top to bottom the flat thin part of each tool gets smaller and smaller- in fact
I had to tweak the contrast to even see the smaller ones clearly. Of particular
interest is the one second from the top. It started life as a 'nut pick' as
seen in the next pic below. Simply smash the end flat on a small blue anvil or
other strong hard flat surface. I then cut and filed the surface to get it as
smooth as possible. (I also do my swords this way for my minis- after all flat
metal is pretty easy to turn into a sculpt of flat metal lol.) Cost: Most metal
tools range from $5-20 USD although I have found that well stocked Gem Stores
have them for around $9 USD. The nut picks are 4 for $1. In addition I have
made some tools out of thicker wire (coat hanger even).2. This section of sculpting tools is best used for
smoothing... in a large part this is due to the soft naturally curvy nature of
the clay shapers and the eraser. See when you push with a hard tool the force
is unevenly distributed across the tip unless you apply the pressure evenly. With
a soft clay shaper the pressure across the surface of the tool seems to more
evenly distribute itself- making the putty smooth and fairly easy to 'tease'
into shape. Usually I use the first section of tools to push the putty into
place then I use this section of tools to actually shape the putty. Then I go
back to the first set to really put 'crisp' edges on the shapes. The only
exception is the nut pick- I use this little fellow to seal along the line
between two different applications of putty- the 'seam' if you will. Then I use
one of the softer smoothers to make it level. Cost: I get my Clay Shapers for
around $6 USD at a local art store. Color Shapers (used for painting) are a
softer substitute for Clay Shapers. Erasers are slightly stiffer clay shapers
but the principle is similar.5. Wooden tools can be used for a variety of things- I personally have moved away from them as the wood grain texture always seems to get my putty stuck to it unless I heavily lube it. We typically use all of our wood for terrain projects now.
Skellies, Dollys, Greens Skellies and Dollys are sometimes mentioned- basically it is just a way of refering to how 'bulked out' a sculpt or 'green' is. A 'Green' is usually a finished sculpt although sometimes people will call them WIP (Work In Progress) Cork Although a variety of methods can be used to hold a green I much prefer cork as I usually work with wire Skellies. Cost: I get 90 corks for $7USD at the Wine making store.
Putty Pit/ Monster It never fails- I'll mix up some green
stuff and the phone rings or I have to leave. Although some people have had
limited success with freezing mixed green stuff I much prefer to have a bunch
of wires, or a Skelly already handy to add putty to. I call it a pit or monster
because I usually only add putty to it when I have no time to use it or when I
come back and it has lost much of its adhesiveness and is starting to get too
rubbery. This way within a few short weeks I have slowly made a skelly into a
dolly. Large Cork For larger sculpts - same place as the smaller corks but
these are 'bungs' for barrels so the clerk may not consider them corks. I've
tried rubber bungs (ha ha ha) but they are pretty springy and it was a good bit
of effort to make holes in them without launching your skelly across the room
Cost: $3 USD.Vaseline/Jelly, Cotton Swabs In some cases I make use of vaseline as a lube for both the sculpting tools as well as to be sure that two levels of green stuff do not fully adhere. Dollar stores win here again.
Measurement Devices Good for seeing how long, tall, wide, round, flat whatever. The shapes are great for base sizes for example I also make 'scale rulers' although I have recently found them available commercially. A scale ruler is great because it tells you at a quick glance how tall your model is in that scale. (Scale should not be confused with style) Cost: The fancy-pants shape thing was $7USD at Staples, the Scale Ruler was $9USD at a local hobby store.
Hobby Knives, felt pen, razor, sharpening stone, pin vise, cutting board.
Files: I originally got these from a mechanic but now every dollar store has them too so go there. I use the file to remove wire knubs from the bottom of the green.
Sandpaper: You can get most
rough grades at dollar stores but for real fine (smooth) paper go to a hardware
store.Putty Oven: A metal coffee can with either a low Watt bulb or
small candle (never leave a candle unattended). With just a small amount of
heat you can speed up the curing process on putty- but remember not to put
plastic bits in as some of them have low melting pointsHammers, Small Anvil: For smashing wire flat.
Needle Nose
Pliers, Cutter/snip: I use the pliers to bend the wire for the Skellys and
twists. The snips are essential for cutting and trimming wire.Clipboard, paper, pencils, eraser, pens: I use concept art a lot because it is the 2-d 'sculpture' that my 3-d representation is based on. Although I got my fancy metal tin of pencils from Michaels I got the small set for $1 at the dollar store and they both seem to be pretty similar. Of course I usually only use the 2H pencil so maybe thats why. The 2H allows me to make a nice light sketch that I later go over with my pens. Note I do not use the same eraser that I sculpt with!
Natural light bulbs: My lamp is a full spectrum one as I
find that up here in
