Converted Troll (WIP)

Master Wang · Post by **Master Wang** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 3:33 pm

You may be able to guess that I'm pretty new to using green stuff! This guy's going to be part of my converted orc team (briefly mentioned in an earlier thread on GS). I gave him a shoulder pad(with spike!), arm guard, elbow guard (with spike!), and a number pad thing on his back. He's one of the wfb river trolls with a weapon snip and I thought he needed to look more like a Blood Bowl player.

The dents etc on the pads are intentional - the shoulder pad looking like a pillow less so, but in my head when it's painted it looks okay.

Let me know what you think!

Front:

Back:

Podfrey · Post by **Podfrey** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:05 pm

Not bad (from what I can see from the photos - they're not the most detailed

) The trick I've found with green stuff (or, even better, Impact's grey stuff) is to keep both it and your sculpting tools wet whilst you work. Water dries out too quickly so I use another water based liquid (saliva). Also I find that it's very easy to over-estimate the amount needed, leading to "pillow case" syndrome as you put it.

But in the end the only way to improve is just get on with it, so keep up the good work!

grampyseer · Post by **grampyseer** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:29 am

Looks good.

As for the pillow case thing, just score it properly and paint it like a pillow

traveller · Post by **traveller** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:01 am

About the pillow... for the next one it would nice to try a pillow fixed with ropes on the shoulder. So the ropes will make dents into the pillow... i hope, you understand what i mean.

Maybe you can add some "buttons" for a real bed pillow on one side before painting it. It quite easy to cut small disks from a 0,5 mm platic rod. I did this for my Orc team too.

Takes a while to get used working with greenstuff.

Traveller

Master Wang · Post by **Master Wang** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:29 pm

It wasn't really supposed to be a pillow, I just made it a little thick and that's how it turned out

I've only started using green stuff very recently so am sticking to relatively simple things. I think I just used a bit too much for that pad, but it'll be fine when painted.

Traveller, I do get what you mean about the rope biting the pillow. If I ever get to the point where I think I can sculpt such I thing, I'll bear it in mind. btw, your team rock!

Cheers for the comments and advice so far guys. Will up date with more pics (probably on a separate thread) when the team is painted, but it won't be for a while as I don't get enough time to paint at the moment.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:17 pm

One of the basic rules for Green stuff: use less.

in the beginning you will always use more than you need. So you need to use half of what you think you need and you are probably still using too much

jammydodger · Post by **jammydodger** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:08 am

in one way i agree with grendel - use less green stuff.
on the otherhand use more green stuff! just on lots of different models. its kind of stupid i know, but doing more modelling really does make you getter better faster.
secondly thin layers allow for a lot of detail - you don't need to mass the stuff to get fine detail, in fact that will obscure the detail.
thirdly layers can be both good and bad - if you are only doing little things, like a logo on a shoulderpad then by all means make the shoulder pad of greenstuff, let it dry, then make the logo on top. but don't make half a shirt in one sitting then the other half later - it'll look bulky and won't match up properly.
green stuff has a tendency to dry differently to look different dry than wet, it develops odd bumps and inconsistancies (at least mine does, if you know how to stop this i'd love to know). don't worry about this, as you can either sand it away, or just paint it - extremely fine 'detail' tends to disappear under a layer of undercoat.
if you would like any more help, i'm willing to help with my relatively small experience.
jammer / cws

Lahatiel · Post by **Lahatiel** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:28 am

clockwork steve wrote: green stuff has a tendency to dry differently to look different dry than wet, it develops odd bumps and inconsistancies (at least mine does, if you know how to stop this i'd love to know).

Those were all definitely good tips, but regarding the quoted portion specifically: 1) how old is your green stuff, and 2) is it the strip kind?

On the first point: Professional sculptors I've talked to and/or read posts from on various boards all agree that, over time (usually talking about 1-2 years), green stuff loses its "freshness," so to speak. Complicating matters is that you rarely know how it's already been sitting around in a store before you get. They all recommend storing it at least in the fridge, if not the freezer, to make it last longer. This means you have to that it a bit before using, but you can cut a little chunk of each color and let it sit an hour or so (from the fridge) or overnight (freezer) and be good to go. Or if you not able to schedule your work time to thaw it in advance, just keep a little bit out and store the rest; when you've used that bit, just get a little bit more out to leave out then, and so on. Andy from Heresy actually makes it a selling point that all the green stuff he sells is stored in a freezer until it's shipped to his customers, to ensure maximum freshness.

2) If using the strip-style putty the two colors will begin to react where they meet in the middle of the strip -- this will definitely add bumps and inconsistencies if left in the mix! Anyone using a green stuff strip should cut the middle piece out, a millimeter or two on each side of the color divide, and dump that bit before mixing. This is why Kneadtite started packaging green stuff in tubes as well as strips, and why ProCreate comes with the two different portions wrapped separately within its packaging.

I now follow the method suggested to me by Matt Gubser of Prophet Miniatures -- who's sculpted for Reaper, Magnificent Egos, Excelsior and others -- after I got to take a sculpting class with him a couple years back: I got some of the smallest-size plastic food storage containers, something like: http://rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/produc ... Prod280014 -- conveniently sold in two-packs!

-- and have all my blue in one and yellow in the other, stored in the back corner of the fridge. When I need some, I just scoop out a little of each color, usually the night before. Since I've started doing this, I've felt like I've had much better results.

One last general point: everyone's already said to mix less than you think you'll need, and that's very true. You'll always overestimate at the start. But keeps the amounts small, build your pieces and small layers, and if you find yourself with extra mixed greenstuff because you mixed too much, there will always be little things you can do with it in order to avoid wasting it, without putting too much on your main model if you want to avoid the pillowcase effect: roll it up into little balls that can later be used as the basic shape for little things like footballs, skulls, etc.; make some spikes to go on future pads and conversions; make bricks and such that can be used for future scenery; etc. There are other things that can be done with it as well, but those basic, generic ideas should be a start.

jammydodger · Post by **jammydodger** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:44 am

thanks for those lahatiel. i've heard some of those comments before - and i'm tempted to start implementing them. at the moment i haven't cut out the middle strip of blue / yellow stuff - i'm using it for insignificant modeling jobs (stuff that you can't see / details on buildings, etc.) rather than models, so i hope that should be ok. i'm also keeping my gs in the fridge, although i can move it to the freezer. the thaw time might be slightly problematic, but since i try and get some modelling done everyday that probably won't be that hard either. i'll keep trying and so far it seems to work - i've posted some of my work under the this section (the boners w.i.p.) which i should update now that i've had them painted, so maybe you can have a look and make some comments.
sorry for derailing the thread a bit master wang, but hopefully lahatiel's comments will come in handy for both of us.
jammer / cws

Master Wang · Post by **Master Wang** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:32 pm

No worries about the slight derailment, it's all interesting and useful stuff.

So far I haven't had any of the problems with the GS that you've mentioned, but will look to store it away and cut ou the middle from now on as I think I've pretty much done all the sculpting I want to do for this team: the troll, a couple of balls in throwers' hands, and the handle for the chainsaw (definitely the worst bit, not even a sculpt really - if it looks bad when painted up I may re-do it). Will try and do some more GS things in the future as I'd like to get better with it. It's been fun and not as difficult as I expected.