Large Scale Central

My new figures!

Modeling Figures
#1

Here are my first three attempts at making my own figures:

These will be passengers for my open-air excursion cars, which are not yet built. The two guys in the background are figures I bought from SLM, and painted myself. I’m not very happy with the paint job on these figures. On the lighter colors I had to put the paint on pretty thick, and some of the paints are too glossy. i was using some artist’s acrylics, some “Apple Barrel” craft acrylics, and “Patio Paint” exterior acrylics – basically whatever I had on hand. The Apple Barrel stuff is very flat, which I like, but I don’t know yet how well it holds up to UV exposure. I have some closeup shots of the individual figures here: http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR-Figures.html#grid And here’s a figure that I’m still working on:

No head or hands yet, but (hopefully!) when it’s done it will look like me.

#2

Nicely done Ray.

#3

Good job! Thy need some cameras hanging around their necks…:wink:

#4

they look great, Ray…

#5

Wow…looks like you’ve mastered another technique. Nice work.

#6

Really nice Ray. A Dullcote spray might help with the gloss.

#7

Great job Ray as always, are you going to tell us how you make them, or have you already, or is it a well guarded secret??? The Regalhttp://

(www.lscdata.com/users/blueregal/_forumfiles/miscellaneous0032.gif)

#8

Very nice work Ray but you better finish this guy soon before he get a very unfortunate nickname :lol: -

(http://www.raydunakin.com/IRRWebfiles/w7965_21.jpg)

-Brian

#9

I learned a LOT from reading the “figure classes” put together by Chris Walas over on MLS:

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/forumid/22/postid/7681/view/topic/Default.aspx

His style is a bit more caricature, but the techniques can be applied to any style. I’ve also picked up some tips from Richard K. on this forum, whose figures are very lifelike. That’s a look I’m still trying to achieve.

#10

Really nice Ray.
You are a man of many talents.
Ralph

#11

Today I decided that the torso of the headless figure was too long, so I cut it in half just above the shirt tails with a razor saw. Then I carefully sanded the two halves to remove about 1/16" of material and put him back together. Looks much better now. Still haven’t done the head/hands yet.

Brian, as for the “unfortunate nickname”, I’ve been called that a time or two myself so it wouldn’t be unprototypical. :smiley:

#12

After seeing how my first three figures turned out, I knew I needed to work on getting my faces more lifelike – especially since my next figure is supposed to look like a real person (me). I spent much of the day today trying to get the head of my “self-portrait” figure just right, and I believe I’ve made great progress. I sculpted the head without hair, then baked it.

This evening I added the beard, and instantly I knew I was on the right track. With the beard and a bald head, it looks exactly like my Dad! I think after I finish this figure I’ll try making a silicone mold and cast a duplicate, then turn it into a figure of my Dad.

One problem I ran into when first sculpting this head, was that the head was becoming too big, and the neck was too long. I had to carve off quite of bit of clay and reshape the head to get it right. After baking it, I had to cut the head off, shorten the neck, and reattach the head. In the future I think I’ll sculpt the heads separately from the bodies.

In addition to shortening the torso, I also carved some material off the forearms, which were looking too thick. Now it looks much more accurate – this figure is going to be a big improvement over my first three.

Working from photos helps a lot. The first figures were just out of my imagination. For this one, I used three different photos of myself. One had the basic pose that I wanted, another was more recent, and then I had a good head shot for detailing the face. Of course, since it’s my own face I’m pretty familiar with it already. :slight_smile:

Now, it remains to be seen whether I’ll still be happy with it after I paint it. My first figures looked better to me before they were painted.

#13

Finished the hair last night, added the hands this morning. It’s in the oven right now. This afternoon I’ll get a pic of the unpainted figure, then paint it and shoot some more pics.

#14

Ray,
I’d pee all over myself and cry tears of joy for a week if I had made those first three figures.
Ralph

#15

Ralph, you really need that warm feeling sometimes, don’t you? :slight_smile:

Ray, those figures are very nice!

#16
Ralph Berg said:
Ray, I'd pee all over myself and cry tears of joy for a week if I had made those first three figures. Ralph
Ralph,

I’m sure that they have medicines for that.

#17
Steve Featherkile said:
Ralph Berg said:
Ray, I'd pee all over myself and cry tears of joy for a week if I had made those first three figures. Ralph
Ralph,

I’m sure that they have medicines for that.


Lucky for me I’m not that talented :slight_smile:
Ray, on the other hand, does some nice work.
Ralph

#18

Heheh!

I’m just my own worst critic when it comes to anything artistic.

#19

Ray,
Very well done no matter what the attempt number is.

Later
Rick Marty

#20

I finished the model of myself last night. It turned out extremely well – not perfect but way better than my previous figures. I’ll post pics as soon as I get the film finished off and developed.