FTW Ron makes Green Stuff Look Too Easy

The title says it all. Growing up I became a huge fan of Super Sculpey. It is most likely the number one reason I enjoy the hobby so much. As a kid I made miniatures for all my friends when we played DnD, in addition to Star Wars ships, Arwing fighters and my favorite Battle Tech Mechs. I made so much stuff with it I could fill a ledger.

Most people know who FTW Ron is. The Raven Guard models he has been converting have been amazing to say the least, and since he's kind enough to post how he works some of his magic I finally decided to try.
I saved this image a while back because I was planning on using some Ultramarine Tyrannic War Veterans as sternguard vets in my Raven Guard successor chapter.

(Thanks Ron for the things you do for the community! I know you've helped me a lot through your posts!)

The models have had the Ultramarine Iconography shaved off for months and since they are the last infantry squad I'll be painting for the army I decided that now was better than never. As soon as I began I remembered how much I loathe working with green stuff. Besides gap filling and the odd roll or disc of it in small places I have avoided it in my modeling for the past three years. I just can't stand the consistency of it after being spoiled by Sculpey since 6th or 7th grade.

But regardless of my preconceptions I went ahead, and after making a few practice pieces I turned out these.

Not the greatest icons in the world but they will get the job done. I think my tools are too big for the small details I'm wanting to achieve. I have a sculpting set I picked up from Michael s or AC Moore but there's nothing super small in it like I would need for 40k scale. I mostly just used the razor blade on my hobby knife for these. I really would like to get better with green stuff and take a crack at making a mini for my new RP group. I also heard KY is a really good lube to use on your tools while working with green stuff so maybe I'll give that a try next time.

7 comments:

  1. Hmmmm, I need to sculpt this symbols, so my Raven Guard guys don´t go to war with a black shoulderpad...

    The thing is that when I (try to sculpt something, the green stuff (or miliput or whatever I use) gets stuck with the tools, with my hands, with the blades I use to cut it... and I lost my hope of sculpt something... interesting.

    Any tip?

    And... Any tip for sculpting as a whole?



    Nice work, by the way :D

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  2. Very nice. For what most of us are trying to do with our models, that kind of detail is perfect.
    By the time you paint it up, you'll never know it was added on afterwards.

    As for getting tiny details, I use my X-Acto blade for most (99 precent) of my sculpting. Keeping the blade wet is an ABSOLUTE since the instant the GS sticks to the blade, you will pull it out of shape and ruin what you're trying to sculpt at such a small scale.

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  3. They look great! Look forward to seeing them painted up.

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  4. They look just fine to me.

    Keep in mind that Ron's had a bit more practice at it. You'll catch him in no time!

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  5. Thanks for the vote of confidence. Hopefully I'll get the time to work at it and show some improvement soon!
    @ Grajo If you go back on my blog a few posts I have links to decal tutorials and links to raven guard decals. I know decals aren't as cool as raised icons but they turned out to be really easy and painting around the edges really helps them to blend in with the model.

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  6. Looking great! I'm sure you'll see results as you continue to sculpt. Its just like painting, you improve your skill and methods as you put time into it.

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  7. Warhammer39999 is right, it's just practice.
    Once you learn to look at an icon and break it down into simple shapes so you can "rebuild" it, you'll be set.

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