Sculpting Fins

[PavingMantis]

Tried to search for a fin topic, didn't find anything like I was looking for. I'm a novice at sculpting, and haven't developed or learned many tricks yet.

Basically, I want to sculpt a head fin. I had a few ideas on how to do it.

The first was to roll sculpty out into a sheet the preferred width, cut out my shape and bake it, or bake the sheet and then sand down my fin shape. Then apply it to the sculpt, and touch up as needed.

The other was to get some kind of metal sheeting and cut out the shape, epoxy it onto the sculpt, and then apply my medium (Super Sculpty). The only thing was I'm not sure how well epoxy holds to baked sculpty, and how it would behave during subsequent bakings.

I'm leaning towards the metal sheeting route, as I think it will add more strength to the fin, and I could play around with the shape without worrying about breaking the fin off. I thought I'd bring it up here and maybe get some other tips, opinions, or comments on exposing epoxy to baking. Thanks for your time.

[Mr. Farrell]

I'll tell you how I've done it in the past, but your results may vary:

I make a loop out of thin wire, cover it with a little tinfoil, put it into the body of the sculpture (or head, in this case), then cover both sides of the foil in Sculpey (note: no "T" in "Sculpey!") From there I shape and thin the fins with a flat tool (I used a non-serated butterknife) and sometimes shave it a little thinner with an exacto or clay cutter, which is the best $.75 tool I ever bought! Smooth it with a little dab of petroleum jelly or maybe paint thinner, which I'm careful to let evaporate before I bake it.

Here's an example of this technique used on Chubby da Choona from DC Comics' Seaguy:








Hope that helps, PM! What are you sculpting?

[Curt Chiarelli]

Hi Guys:

Yup, all of the above work really well. Personally, I prefer to cut a sheet of K&S brand thin gauge aluminum to the correct size, rough up the surface with 80 grit sandpaper, spray on a layer of 3-M photo adhesive on one side and then lay on a sheet of Sculpey Premo that's been fed through a pasta machine. I then texture and bake, repeating these steps for the other side.

This technique I've developed works fairly consistently, but occasionally the photo adhesive doesn't completely bond the Premo to the sheet metal, so the clay shifts around when I try to sculpt a texture on it. I'm sure that if I sleuthed around I could find an aerosol adhesive that could do the job better.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with everyone.

[cblakey1]

I pasta-roll Premo, Fimo, or Sculpey and cut it out with a sculpting tool making a "tab" at the base to insert into a slot on the sculpt on final assembly. Lay it flat on aluminum foil and bake.

If it has some movement or wave in it like a cape or hair strands, I will make a "mold" out of aluminum foil and lightly press it in prior to baking.

Once inserted into the figure though, you probably can't bake it again because it is so thin and fragile.

[PavingMantis]

Hrm, thanks for the replies everyone. Some good ideas there I hadn't considered. I like the results you got with Chubby, Mr. Farrell. (Yeah, that sounded funny when I typed it also).

I'm working on a Classic Starman mini-bust. A reference pic for those who aren't familiar with the character.



The Starman series from the late 90's pretty much brought me back to comics after a few years of giving up on them due to the multi-cover, chase variant, chromium encrusted early 90's. So I figured the character that brought me back to comics would be a good one to start me off in sculpting.

I'll try and post some WIP pics eventually.


... Can't believe I made the Sculpey/Sculpty mistake...

[Mr. Farrell]

Oh, old-school Ted Knight! Nice choice! I recently sculpted a mini-bust of Jack Knight (one of six busts done in a weekend Sculpt-A-Thon), and more recently did Ted's old pal Wesley Dodds, the Sandman.

Please keep us posted on your progress!

[marvsandman]

Just joined the forum, so this reply is very late. Considering the fin type and shape, I wouldn't bother sculpting it. Cut it out of styrene, press it into the unbaked sculpey to create a fitted slot, bake the sculpey without the fin, then glue the fin in when the sculpey cools down. Use a two-part putty to fill in any gaps.

[Tommy Allison]

I once met a fish who had no fins and felt bad til I met a dolphin who had no tail. But I felt no pity for the shark who bit the feet off the seagull who had bitten the fins off the fish, who was being chased by the dolphin who had been hit by the speedboat, that was helmed by the cast and crew of Miami Vice back in 1986.

True story.

[Nightwinger]

ROFLOL!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't you have to work on a 'animated' style version of some scuplt???

[Tommy Allison]

Why yes I do. That and to prepare for Zombie Holocaust. Why do you ask?