Topic: Mr. Black's customs: K2SO repaint for charity

[Tamer]

Wow, your armor sculpting is just superb Remco. Off to share.

[Bronxstalker]

Love the sculpt work.  I need to brush up my sculpt skills, because hot dang, that is awesome.

[DarthSinister]

I love it! I use FixIt and have trouble manipulating it so it's not my go to sculpting material, looks like you got it down-pat! I wish I could get the symmetry you've got going on there, that's hard to do.

I missed that Quin-lon. What are you using to keep the FixIt from sticking to the figure? I've done removable armor but never used the FixIt for that reason.   

[Mr. Black]

Wow, your armor sculpting is just superb Remco. Off to share.

Thanks Shawn. I've become quite familiar with sculpting armour and I'm glad it shows.

Love the sculpt work.  I need to brush up my sculpt skills, because hot dang, that is awesome.

Thanks, Bronxstalker. It's all about practice and patience and willing to completely scratch your work and start over again  

I love it! I use FixIt and have trouble manipulating it so it's not my go to sculpting material, looks like you got it down-pat! I wish I could get the symmetry you've got going on there, that's hard to do.

I missed that Quin-lon. What are you using to keep the FixIt from sticking to the figure? I've done removable armor but never used the FixIt for that reason.   

Thanks man. When I first started sculpting I was impatient. I would mix way too much compound, slap it on and start adding details. And I just kept wondering why it wouldn't hold its shape. Frustrated I lit the Sithfire beacon and he showed me the way of the Four-Hour-Curing-Stage Now, that's not a rule set in stone, because I find working in a three hour stage more comfortable. The trick is to wait 20-30 minutes after mixing, then apply it on your custom and roughly shape it the way you want it. Let it settle for another 30-45 minutes. Then fine tune the general shape of the area and work on some rough details. Another 30-45 minutes later, apply the final details. The next day you can sand it, if needed.

As for removable armour, that's another trick I learned from Dayton. Here's how I applied his teachings: after the first hour after mixing, I flatten the mixed batch of sculpting compound. Again, let it rest for quite some time, till its still pliable, yet hardly sticky. Then cut out the desired shape and apply it gently on your custom, carefully adjusting the shape to form itself around the area. If you need to add recessed details (such as the lines you can see on Ven Zallow's armour), do so. Let it fully cure and sand it down the next day untill you feel it has the thickness you want. After that, you can add details, such as raised areas (like Ven's belt buckle).

However, sometimes I also use cling wrap/plastic wrap on the area I want to sculpt on. With this I can work a little faster, since I don't have to wait for the stickyness to almost complete wear off.

[Bronxstalker]

Thanks, I'll try following some of those timing restrictions.

My problem is always trying to rush the timing, and I tend to start using the apoxie maybe only 15 minutes of cure time. 

[ActionFigEmpire]

Wow! Great sculpting work! I am truly impressed! Can't wait to see more

[Mr. Black]

Thanks guys!

Right now I'm super stoked. As you know, I'm currently working on Ven Zallow v4. Well, I've been asked to make another one. Number 5. And another one. Number 6. Plus a few other commissions, so I'm fully booked till early 2015 

[smeagol92055]

So I've been using Sculpy as my primary sculpting material. You're using Fixit? How long does that take to cure?
I wonder if I could bake sculpy onto my figure parts without melting them.

[Bronxstalker]

So I've been using Sculpy as my primary sculpting material. You're using Fixit? How long does that take to cure?
I wonder if I could bake sculpy onto my figure parts without melting them.

I personally use Apoxie Sculpt, although I wish I had bought fix-it as I heard it's better...I just didn't know at the time, and thought apoxie sculpt and fix it were the same.
As for sculpy, that's I first used when I got into customizing.  In my experience, depending on the figure, you could bake the sculpy on without melting the figure, but that was on Marvel Legend figures, softer plastic like on star wars figures might melt.  Also, I found that after baking, the figures were never the same, loose, wouldn't stand straight, etc.  Also, you'd ideally want to sculpt little by little, which means you'd be baking several times.  On top of all that, I find that sculpty once baked, looks like clay on the figure, which is exactly what it is, a type of clay.  With the Aves product, you can build on your figure little by little, and the end result is a strong rock hard piece, that if smoothed properly, is so smooth, you could confuse it for plastic.
I find the total cure time to be sometime after 5 hours or so, but even before then, it's pretty hard and tough to work with.
Within the first 2 hours is when you want to really get in details...at least that's my experience, although honestly, I've never timed it, so I could be off.

[Mr. Black]

I've never used sculpey. I got into sculpting when Sithfire, Ruprecht and others were switching to using Fixit Sculpt. By the way, I don't think many people here have heard of Ruprecht, but he's the guy who made these:


Ordo6 by CreeBoPeep, on Flickr


Shadow ARC4 by CreeBoPeep, on Flickr


But yeah, the curing time is 4-5 hours and the second and third hour are best for working the Fixit patch you've mixed. It depends on room temperature as well. In my experience I need to work quite a bit faster when it's really hot in the summer. Much less so in the winter.

[smeagol92055]

Thanks for the great response, Bronxstalker!

[Mr. Black]

Took some quick shots of how I modified my 6 inch Clone Trooper, so that he can actually look up a bit and really bend his arm quite a bit further.

[Tamer]

Remco, thank you so much for showing us how to do this. That is awesome! Off to share.

[Mr. Black]

Glad to be of service, Tamer. The shoulder pads are next. These really get in the way of properly lifting the arms. I'm not sure whether to sand off some underneath the upper body armour's straps, or sand down the shoulder pads instead.

[CloneSniper78]

Wow! I wasn't planning on getting the clone but now I want him and I have all kinds of customizing ideas flowing in my head. Thanks for sharing this, think I might cut out all the extra material in the helmet.