Mage Assassin / Rogue Model

[pocko]

I've had a few attempts at sculpting figures with Super Sculpey, Milliput and Green Stuff, but now I've decided to give Sculpey Firm a go. Mainly out of curiosity, but I do occassionally find SS too soft for what I'd like to do with it.

Ive decided to go for an assassin type character. He's going to be a blend of WoW rogues and the Xeteskian Mage Assassins in James Barclay's Raven books.

Hopefully I'll be able to demonstrate on the model that they are spell, knife and poison users.

Here's some drawings I whipped up to get an idea of his look. I didn't want to plan too meticulously, as I wanted to sculpt in a more instinctive, natural way, rather than simply copying a 2d image into 3d.

Then there's some quick snaps of my armature, 2mm aluminium wire, wrapped with finer wire for grip :) He's about 6 inches tall.

Will update as I progress.

[Gemlock]

Concept looks cool. And armature in neat position cant wait to see finished pics. Try and make pictures a bit nicer looking if possible.

[maddmaestro]

oh the pains of having a bad camera...i know how it goes. cool concept, can't wait to see more.

[pocko]

my sculpey arrived today, so will have some progress shots later. (though my balls bearings haven't, so no eyes yet :( )

sorry about the quality of the photos, have a reasonable camera, its just i didnt notice how bad they were until i resized them. when i have detail worth decent shots, i'll spend a bit more time on them!

[maddmaestro]

looking forward to it pocko!!

[pocko]

Ok, as promised, here's some updates. I started blocking out the muscles in a basic way just to sketch out proportions etc. I've started refining some of these bits by smoothing them out and joining them up.

I've actually started adjusting some of the issues that are present in these pics, for example I've decided to tone down the pecs and slim the neck (The character is supposed to be agile and quick, rather than overly powerful). The basis of the head is wrong too, perhaps a bit big, but I think I'm gonna get the body down and baked before I embark on the head to stop bits im happy with getting smooshed!

[maddmaestro]

nice beginnings...wish that i'd taken your method of blocking in to start my own sculpt...hindsight and all that. looking good pocko!

[TeaMonster]

Hi Pocko, great stuff so far, I really got to try this muscle blocking method!
Look forward to seeing more!

[pocko]

Okidokes, here's a few pics of the main body properly blended. Didn't go for crazy detail on the legs as they are gonna be clothed and armoured. Hope you like :)

[maddmaestro]

looking smooth...keep it up!!

[pocko]

Here's a few more shots! Ears are hard :( There's one of the assassin's dagger. When it comes to "props" i tend to scratch build from junk, milliput and modelling supplies, rather than try to use sculpey.

His head really isn't that big, must be something to do with the camera. It is a touch too big perhaps, but it isnt as wide as his torso!

[maddmaestro]

head looks nice...seems a bit large for his body though. how did you do the dagger? weapons and crisp lines are a bit beyond me yet... good work pocko!


maddmaestro

[pocko]

yeah like i said, the photos do show up errors well, but i swear the head isnt that big in real life!

the dagger is something ive recently got the hang of, but its dead simple. i use milliput (epoxy putty) and flatten it between two sheets of acetate (any flat smooth surface would do), before putting the top piece of acetate on i push some wire into the putty and smooth it over, this should strengthen the blade. after a while (about an hour in the airing cupboard) the putty will be hard but not completely solid, at this point you can pull it away from the acetate. now you can use a scalpel to shape the blade.

once the putty has fully hardened, you can file and sandpaper it to get the sharp edges.

hope that was useful!

[maddmaestro]

very helpful thanks, have you ever used magic sculpt? i'm wondering if your technique would work with it... is milliput a two part epoxy? or does it cone ready to go? sorry for bombarding you with all the questions...thanks, pocko


maddmaestro

[madm4tt]

The head really looks big, what camera did you use?
Have you use a "macro" function?

Anyway nice start :-)

Bye

[pocko]

just a few more, was on a bit of a roll, only got the arms and hand and a few bits of armour to do in sculpey, then its scratch building cool details.

for the pics I'm using a mix of normal settings and macro. doesnt seem to make a difference either way. i think all the close ups exaggerate the size.

[maddmaestro]

pocko looks really good! though the head is definitely a bit big! it really shows even more now that you have added so many details...but aside from that the sculpt looks amazing. lovin' the details from the cobblestons to his costume, especially the metal buckle! keep it up dude...

Maddmaestro

[pocko]

well ive been working on the final armour plates, the hands, and have started on detailing weapons etc. he's carrying a dagger, a knife, and will have a blow pipe with darts, and poison vials. the dagger is a milliput blade with a wire wrapped handle.

i'm still finding hands a real challenge, but have already learnt more, and so theyll be better next time! the left one i wanted to be gloved (as his knife hand it would need extra grip), so i basically made it a tiny bit thicker, added some crinkles, an armour plate and a seam round the thumb. my first attempt at the right hand was truly dreadful, and i couldnt get it in the clawed "spellcasting" pose i wanted, so i got creative and decided he'd have some arcane anakin-esque prosthetic. this i made out of a milliput block, brass rod, plastic tubing and dowelling, with some teeny-tiny screws that i got from ripping apart an old camera. it was a bit of a cop-out but i think it works well enough!

i also gave him a bracer on his right wrist that is supposed to simulate dragon skin or something (although all the scored and textured armour will be leather).

i think hes about ready to start painting, as some details will be attached once he's painted. oh and he's going to have some kind of wooden lamp/candle post in the corner near his right hand (if it doesnt look right it wont be included!)

[maddmaestro]

looking really good pocko. the level of detail on this guy is superb! i really like the way this came together... any ideas for your next project?


Maddmaestro

[pocko]

Hey MaddMaestro, no firm ideas for my next sculpt, but I'm thinking some crazy steampunk victorian gentleman, or a character based on the images I did for my degree (middle-eastern fantasy type steampunk). A good chance to slap on loads of greebly details and weaponry. Either one will be a kind of demon hunter.

Ok here's the last batch of pics before I get painting. Added a blowpipe that is stored on his left leg arour, a poisons pouch on his waist, and a generator and mana lockpick (I dunno! Some kind of tool that unlocks magical doors?!)

Thought I'd add some detail round the back, as I reckon a model should be interesting all 360 degrees!

[maddmaestro]

just keeps getting better, can't wait to see whats next!

[pocko]

Hi everyone, I've been a bit ill so work has slowed down a bit. Hopefully going to get back into gear. I've started on the first pass of painting, getting the skin tone, face and hair right. They aren't totally there yet, but any tweaking will be done when the majority is painted. I was going for a pale skin, with dark hair. This would hopefully hint at the assassin's nocturnal lifestyle, with the colour of the hair adding contrast to further emphasise this.

I'm not sure whether to leave the eyes blank, I'm quite liking the effect, like he's casting a spell or something. I shall see how it looks finished I guess!

The right claw was fairly straightforward, just building up the layers to create the brass/copper effect. This used a basecoat of brown, with a gold/brown mix heavily drybrushed over it. This was then highlighted with progressive drybrushing up to silver.

Have made a start on the armour, but the highlights arent popping as much as I'd like. Obviously there isnt a whole lot you can do with black, but they were drybrushed with layers of grey and then blue ink was used to pull back the highlighting and add a blue hint to the armour. I will return to these!

All metal plates were black undercoated, then drybrushed with lightening layers of silver. I then added a bit of rust and weathering to the scratches on straight to the surface, with brown and orange paint stippled on.

I've been using Games Workshop's acrylics and inks, as I find them very good quality, with a balance of them not being TOO expensive!

[maddmaestro]

lookin really sharp...i would have liked to see some of the cybernetic do-dads that were on your drwing an the arm with the hand...just to show of the connection..i think it would make it pop more. but this guy is really nice, as i have already said several times. paints are looking good so far! keep at it my friend...sry to hear you were sick, hope all is well now!

Maddmaestro

[pocko]

Okidokes, here's probably the last lot of pics for this model. I think it's maybe missing something, might have a think about a lantern or something on the base.

Sorry, lots of images, just wanted to get every detail down!

I'm pleased with how this has turned out, the concept is strong and I think the model illustrates the points I wanted to show. I do, however, know I've got a long way to go before I reach the standard I want to. I think this piece has a lot of the same problems as my 2D work, I get bogged down with control and detail and tend to lose any movement or flow I would have in a looser style. On the other hand, it seems to reflect the style I have developed at uni in my 2D work.

I think for my next project I will do a demon or something very organic (no weapons or obvious clothes), just to see if I can keep some sense of life while working on speeding up my workflow. I think working in a looser, sketchier style might help.

I think also I am going to have to work on my painting technique, I've reached my current standard mainly painting small scale models, scratch built or warhammer figures. This is quite a stylised technique. While it works fairly well for 33mm models, I don't think it translates very well for much larger models.

But hey, it's all a learning process isn't it? :)

[drclare]

I think it turned out great! Realy great detail. I like the cuts on his head and shoulder, and his clothing and weapons are very well done. I love all of the little poison bottles and blow darts and such. All those little extras make the final piece feel very complete.

[maddmaestro]

well done my friend...i think this turned out excellent! can't wait to see whats next.

[Robert.B]

that head is pretty big and the paint jod is a little distracting.
Great job on your first sculpt though.

[pocko]

Thanks Robert.B, could you expand one what's distracting about it? The actual execution and finish, or the colour scheme?

[Robert.B]

Sure thing: Its mostly the the lettering combined with the patterns depicted. I understand that there might be some backstory which gives reson so why they are there but right now it looks like pin and ink applied to an already some what desaturated pallette. When combined it creates a kind of naive color depiction.Maybe if you introduced a third or second color to the skin it would help a little becasue right now we just have one skin tone with no variation.

[fuzziness]

just something to add.

i love this sculpt btw

an easy way to make that blood splatter look pretty cool is to dab a little brown ink on the red area. it gives it a small gloss and shimmer just like real blood heh

heres a quick example of a german soldier i painted with a wound and dripping blooood

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/ngindraux/IMG_0743.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i130/ngindraux/IMG_0747.jpg