12
votes
Advice wanted: Getting into making miniatures
Does anyone have any experience making miniatures? I'm looking to get started and there just seems to be an absolute overload of options for sculpting material: Sculpey, Milliput, Green Stuff, Scultamold... The list seemingly goes on and on. I've seen some great videos by Miscast or Bill Making Stuff, but they can be a little all over the place.
Does anyone have any suggestions or point to any video/written tutorials on getting started?
Thanks!
Milliput and Green Stuff are pretty dang expensive considering how little you get per package, and they're mostly used for making modifications to preexisting models (like 40k minifigs) due to their quick curing times... so I definitely wouldn't recommend making models from scratch with them!
I recently starting tinkering with modelmaking myself though, and IMO polymer clays (like Sculpey or Cosclay) are the best to start with. However, the biggest problem with Sculpey, in particular, is that if you don't get a reasonably fresh batch you need to kneed it for ages to get it pliable enough to use. And that's pretty much impossible to do by hand, unless you enjoy the feeling of hand cramps (which I found out were a thing the hard way). ;) So when I got an old batch last time I ordered some, I ended up chopping it up into tiny peices, stuffing it into a freezer bag with some clay softener, and then using a large/heavy rolling pin to kneed it, which worked alright... but was still a lot of work. Eventually I want to get an oldschool, hand-crank, pasta roller/machine for doing it though, which is what I've seen other people recommend.
As for tutorials, I haven't really followed any myself, so can't point you to any... but North of the Border's videos are always pretty straightforward and easy to follow as if they were tutorials, since he shows his entire process, step by step. And he also includes all the materials and equipment used in his video descriptions, which is super helpful too.
p.s. Be sure to check out the other channels in ?tag=modelmaking and ?tag=clay since there are a bunch of good ones in there. And /r/polymerclay is also worth visiting as well.
Awesome! Thanks for all the info! I ended up following most of your advice, particularly since I assume I'm going to be making bad models for a while, so cost effective bad miniatures sounds better than expensive ones. Also North of the Boarder's stuff is awesome! His adventure time duo was unbelievable. Really stoked to get experimenting!
I went to Michael's yesterday and picked up some sculpey, armature wire, and a few sculpting tools. I've made my little bulked out bases using the wire and tinfoil, and now we are to the sculpey. I ended up buying a larger package (I kind of went in with a Costco mentality and decided if the small block was 3 dollars, I might as well spring for 20x the amount for 12 dollars) and am now concerned about keeping it fresh. Any advice for staving off dry out once I open the package?
Any interest in sharing some of your builds? The last hurdle I'm going to need to address is the painting. I used to paint models and 40k when I was younger (like 7-10), but it's been a long time and I assume any skills I did have are gone. Have you tried your hand at painting your models? Any tips?
Thanks again for sharing all the tips and links! Really excited to dive in and start making!!!
NP, glad I could be of help. :)
Sculpey actually has a page with storage instructions:
https://www.sculpey.com/blogs/blog/how-to-store-polymer-clay-in-your-craft-room
Basically just keep in a cool, dry, dark place in the original plastic, plastic deli wrap (whatever that is, I've never used it), or in ziplocks. I've only ever bought smaller amounts at a time, since I haven't really dived into the hobby fully yet, so haven't had to worry about storage too much. Any excess that I've already opened I've just kept in the ziplocks I kneeded it in, in a box with all my sculpting tools, which I keep in a drawer under my computer desk.
Nothing really worth sharing yet, TBH. All the stuff I've made has just been what I made with my 10yo nephew. So far we've only made a bunch of Pokemon-like creatures that he drew in his art book, and a few other characters he created as well. I bought all the modelmaking stuff right before we decided to move, so I haven't actually had much time to play around with it on my own yet. :(
Yeah, my nephew and I painted a bunch of the ones we made together after they were baked, using cheap acrylic kid's paint and brushes I already had handy for doing other craft projects with him. They turned out alright, but for making something display worthy for an adult I would definitely recommend buying better paint and brushes... which I will eventually too. The limited palette of kid's craft paint worked fine for the Pokemon creatures and the weird little characters my nephew designed, but probably wouldn't work so well outside that. :P
A bit late, but something to keep in mind is that Michael's always has coupons and sales (usually for single items, occasionally for the whole purchase). So if you have your eye on something more pricey, it might be worth it to keep an eye on their deals and time the purchase.
I'm only familiar with assembling minis from sprues. My advice is to only work with plastic glue in a well ventilated area with an open window because even the nontoxic stuff isn't great for your cancer risk!
I also advise eventually buying high-quality versions of any tools you end up using frequently. I was really blown away by the difference between cheap and pricey nippers and files.