Scratch Builds: Modifying and Building Heads with Wikkid: Sculpting Heads From Putty

Discussion in 'Tutorials and How Tos' started by Wikkid, May 20, 2013.

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  1. Wikkid

    Wikkid Completely retired customizer

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    Sculpting Heads From Putty:

    It's always good to grab some reference art if you're duplicating an actual character:

    [​IMG]


    Even better, grab a couple and decide which will be cannon for your custom. Here, the cartoon model is primarily used:

    [​IMG]


    Cutting out the basic shape on a piece of styrene is our starting point. You'll also notice the Volkswagen's trunk lid present, as it'll form the back of the head:

    [​IMG]


    Drop a gob of putty on that:

    [​IMG]


    Carve that same basic shape out again as outlined by your initial piece:

    [​IMG]


    Flatten the front:

    [​IMG]


    Crave out all the cheeks and other features. It's helpful to keep drawing the face back onto the project for reference:

    [​IMG]


    All the corners are in place. You'll need to draw out the eyes and be sure to line the corners up with the angles in the cheek structures:

    [​IMG]


    Using a razor knife, you can now cut all the edges and make a slice halfway through the internal part of the face to pop the eyes out. Be sure to do this within two hours of applying putty as it gets harder to carve over time eventually becoming impossible:

    [​IMG]


    Setting up the length of the nose, you'll also notice this is a thick rod that will need to be narrowed:

    [​IMG]


    Here it is cut and installed:

    [​IMG]


    Draw out the mouth. It's not often you'll see a smile, but it's pretty obvious this is a Bumblebee head, so it fits. Etch the mouth in with a scribe:

    [​IMG]


    We now shoot it with primer to look for imperfections and get an overall sense of the finished face:

    [​IMG]



    Sculpted putty helmet:

    Mask off the face and apply your first coat of filler:

    [​IMG]


    Carve and sand it to a desired style. This will need to be done in layers, so do not try to do it all at once:

    [​IMG]


    Apply another layer. He almost looks edible at this point, but you must resist:

    [​IMG]


    Carved . . . . :

    [​IMG]


    . . . .and sanded:

    [​IMG]




    Adding Features:

    Now we need to add the famous horns Bumblebee is known for. You can scratchbuild them if you’re a glutton for punishment, or just use something readily available that aren't much good for anything else, like Unicron horns:

    [​IMG]


    The head is notched out so that the horns appear to be more naturally set into the head:

    [​IMG]


    Now, let’s move onto the crest, which is fairly simple and only consists of two parts:

    [​IMG]


    Install and fill any opening cracks. Carve, sand, etc.:

    [​IMG]


    Here it is in Prime:

    [​IMG]


    The back side:

    [​IMG]
     

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