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chemb0t — Delrin Bust - Front
Published: 2011-04-05 23:37:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 1365; Favourites: 18; Downloads: 0
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Description
Here's a recently completed bust sculpt that was done at a six week workshop in the studio. It was held by veteran(read: Jedi master) sculptor Richard Miller , who has been sculpting and prop making for over 25 years. If you enjoyed movies like Star wars, Flubber, Terminator 2 and Pirates of the Carribean, you probably have also enjoyed his work. =]His assignment for us at the workshop was to come up with a design on paper and produce a maquette out of it, during which time he would guide us individually on how to accomplish such a task. I initially had no idea what to sculpt, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use an old concept I had lying around and flesh it out further.
The character Delrin has been floating around in my head for quite a while. In fact I attempted to do a digital sculpt of him before but I just never got around to completing it. A real-life bust of the character would definitely help me conceptualize his look and personality so I decided to go with that, and I can say now that I'm very happy with the result.
As far as details go, the piece is roughly 8 inches high and was made with super sculpey, armature wire and various plastic parts for the underlying structure and finishing touches. The piece was baked on low heat for several intervals to avoid cracking, and was spray painted and embellished to look like bronze using enamel paint and a special wax metal filament called 'rub and buff' for embellishing. The sculpture really came to life once those finishing touches were added. =]
For more details, feel free to click through the WIPs and other angles. Enjoy!
Original concepts:
WIPs:
Finished Shots:
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Comments: 17
dang i can never get sculpey to let me do details like that, it always gets too soft and turns to mush
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Yeah it took some getting used to. I think the trick is to use clay tools more than your fingers, and work on the piece in passes, much like you would to prevent pencil or charcoal from smudging on paper.
Another cool trick I learned is to "half bake" parts of your piece. Stick it in an oven set to around 130-140 degrees and let it bake for a little while. It will get leather hard, which is good enough to not smudge, but still soft enough to carve and shape fine detail with. It worked really well when I wanted to texture the hair and add wrinkles. See if that works for you =]
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Yea i guess the stuff i make is so small it's hard to work it without my fingers all the time. I did by some sculpey firm too, but i will definitely try the half bake stuff, i didn't know if that would actually do anything hah.
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what clay did u use? Did u have to fire it? D: gosh u inspired me *looks at her half-done clay doll*
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I used super sculpey, which is a polymer clay that you harden in a normal oven. No water or high temperature kilns needed. A lot less messy too. You should definitely give it a try. It's a nice change of pace if you've been doing digital or 2d work for a while. =]
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ohhh i have those~ 
But i have been neglecting... argh. XD
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It's actually the normal pinkish color. The lighting might be deceiving. XD I also baked and painted it afterward to give it that bronze look.
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That is some incredible detail on the hair and face. Apart from the glasses curly mustache, it could be like a sculpt based on an actual person. On an unrelated note, if I hadn't read the description and seen the WIP's, I'd say it was made of polished wood. XD
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Thanks, Tata. =] The hair was definitely the most fun part of the sculpture. The glasses was also pretty fun to do too since I got to do some jewelery making techniques.
Ah and polished wood! That's a new one. XD
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Dang, you've have come a ludicrously long way buddy, from what I remember you doing a number of years ago.. You've out done yourself.
What would you say to young artist?
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Thanks bud =] Indeed there's quite a bit I picked up since that old sculpt. Having the right tools helped a lot in that respect I think. Before I was just using paper clips and strips of metal. XD
Hmm, as for advice to aspiring artists.. get your hands dirty, keep experimenting, and make sure you are enjoying the process. Sometimes it really just takes a decent amount of time playing around with the material, trying different things on it (in this case, using more than just your fingers to move the clay)and understanding how it behaves to make something great. A lot of happy accidents happen as a result. =]
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Thanks! I'm definitely happy with the end result. The final touches on the paint job really sold it for me. =]
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Well It appears you've outdone yourself once more Jason!
When the limits of Virtual 3D have been hit you move onto True 3D!
I must say though without the WIP's showing the process of crafting Delrin you could have fooled us all into saying you went to a metal crafting class and fashioned him out of raw aged bronze.
The Detail work on this sculpt is impeccable. I'm particularly fond on how the hair and mustache came out.
At the current rate of progress when is "TechnoGuild the Movie" due :3 ?
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Thanks man! If anything, I'd say this is kindof a rite of passage for the kind of work I may be doing for the studio in the future. Almost all of the stuff we do now is done straight on the computer so it is good to expose ourselves to traditional stuff like sculpture or figure drawing to get a better sense of how to craft believable work digitally.
Ah and yes, I suppose the realistic bronze look can be attributed to my instructor's extensive experience in sculpting and prop making for movies. =]
Hmm TG the movie.. Probably will have to wait a while for having it as a big budget flick, but I definitely see a couple of small scale (read: personally made) shorts in the not too distant future. XD
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Awesome! Any chance of some Sirrus? I haven't seen him lately, probably my most favorite of your characters :3
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