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Post by wardster on Apr 9, 2019 16:26:28 GMT -5
I should have probably showed this picture, some time ago ... it's what I use, which is DAP brand "Presto Patch" (which I'm generically calling "Plaster" here) and Hoffman brand Vermiculite -- which are both found at my local "Do-It Center," aka, a hardware store. It may be hard to read the fine print, but it's a four pound (weight) box and an 8 dry quart bag, respectively. I just mix it at a 50/50 ratio by volume, for most uses (including what's been shown here); but you can of course alter that ratio, to suit your own tastes.
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Post by sharp on Apr 9, 2019 21:42:17 GMT -5
Some interesting stuff going on here. I'll be watching this.
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Post by wardster on Apr 12, 2019 20:44:33 GMT -5
A bit more work-in-progress to show (but not oodles) ... And last but by no means least, here's what caused an unexpected change in direction for this figure (which was gonna be far less disgusting) at about the time when I decided to "take my time, and really enjoy working on this," versus trying to rush it, too much, for this first contest's deadline ... That's an old comic book cover for "Ralph Snart Adventures" -- specifically, volume 3, number 16. Stuff I really enjoyed, back in the late 1980s and early 90s, when I was collecting bunches of RSA. Not a very kid-friendly comic book series, by any means (lots of alcohol use, etc.) but a comic I loved quite a bit.
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Post by wardster on Apr 12, 2019 21:23:50 GMT -5
Explanation time: the gray coloring on the work-in-progress eyes is just the natural color of Magic Sculpt. I first poured some Wood Hardener into a throw-away plastic container of some kind, and then dropped the short dowel sections in there. Hoping to "seal them" as it were: close off most of the wood's pores or whatever, so that any future steps didn't get all weird, later on, from possible "wood movement". (And I did that also because I'm a hopeless nerd. What can I say.) Later on I'll put more Magic Sculpt over what's seen, to make a more round "eyeball" end to them; with what's shown now being sort of the "eye's stalk".
As for the head's sculpting work-in-progress: the gray color both is and isn't primer. It's a brush-on product by DecoArt, called "MagiKote". It's made to seal some products (like styrofoam) but clearly, I can't help myself, in seeing what else materials might work on -- and it works fine as an acrylic primer, of a sort, on the "plaster and vermiculite" I'm using (mis-using?) to do most of the sculpting on this head.
Normally, MagiKote is white in color, but I added some random-brand "Mars Black" tube acrylic into the container, and stirred, to make the whole 16 ounce container be more of a light or neutral gray. The container has sat for the past few years, with no weird effects from the addition of the acrylic paint.
I hand-brushed a few layers of that on, partly to cover up all the "guide coats" I had experimented with, previously -- by which I mean, painting various parts of that head, using kid's watercolors. I had put some watercolors on, wherever it seemed right to be there; then, sanded and shaped various areas: thus acting much like a car's "guide coat" acts, while a person is doing sanding and doing auto body work, etc. -- but to actually see what I had, surface-wise, I went with a few coats of MagiKote (it's really thin stuff, and it dries to the touch, really fast, so that only took minutes) to identify any surface flaws, and so forth. I haven't yet fixed those flaws; just ID'd them. But it's useful stuff, and good to have around as a tool (or material).
I almost forgot to include one important step I did: before I did anything else to that head, between the last pics and now, I got a cheap brush and I used Wood Hardener on just carefully selected areas: roughly a quarter inch (six millimeters?) or so, around that jagged, "broken" edge of the top of his head. Being able to selectively harden certain areas, while leaving the rest of a shape alone, and unmodified, sort of counter-acts some of the natural weaknesses of any plaster-like product.
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