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Post by kaytermarram on Mar 16, 2015 15:39:35 GMT -5
It is time to talk a bit about the tools one might need for sculpting purposes. I really can show and talk about mine, so if you have any add ons or ideas, what could be helpfull, be in and talk about!
I use some homemade stuff resp. stuff you can find lying around in your home and some sculplting tools, but not the most expensive stuff you can buy in hobby shops! Ask your dentist for "used" tools he would through away. They are medically cleaned and there is no danger to get infected or something like that. I have gotten mine for nothing and they are in service for years now. The tools are stainless steel and won´t get any harm. I have two different ends with different forms (pics later) for any possible task.
The fun part is to check out what you can use for what actions. In my case this is mostly the question of how to get interesting structures and skin effects for my creepy stuff. You can work with everything that might have a cool surface and can be pressed in soft sculpey. I have a collection of interesting stones which can replicate warty skin, I use rolled up aluminium foil which can break up surfaces with its rough sides, I have needles of every diameter and thickness for doing folds into skin or clothing, toothpicks (you can harden the wood tip with superglue!), I use some bark from trees for pressing in details and so on. Everything that might be usefull. You can also combine different tools for superdetail the superdetailed surface (but be aware of the "overdo syndrome"!).
I will add some pics of this stuff for clearify it a bit more!
Frank
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BJ
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Jul 24, 2014 12:31:35 GMT -5
Jul 24, 2014 12:31:35 GMT -5
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Post by BJ on Mar 16, 2015 18:11:27 GMT -5
When I lived in Phoenix the best place to find the Dental tools was the flea Market. I use to get them 10 for a $1 but that was 20+ years ago but I still have them as they will last for ever. So if you're in the bigger Cities you might want to give that a try and/or go walk around Harbor Freight or some junk stores, You will always be amazed at what you will find that can be re-purposed for our craft.
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Post by TRM on Mar 16, 2015 18:23:10 GMT -5
Good subject Frank! I will dig up some shots of what I have here (not that I am the master sculptor or anything...LOL) There is always something useful around the house to recycle to use on the bench as well I'm sure! Like Billie Jean just said, there is usually someone at one of the shows selling used dental tools for cheap. I know my dentist is willing to part with his old tools for nothing as he has them going in the trash anyway. The will sterilize them first too!!
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Post by kaytermarram on Mar 17, 2015 4:28:29 GMT -5
Billejean, what a cool idea! I have never thought of looking there and will definitly do when next attending a flew market. You never know what you can find! Todd, I will post this evening. I guess, there are tons of differnt shapes on those tools and one might never know what´s usable, so COLLECT THEM ALL (harhar!)
Frank
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Post by kaytermarram on Mar 17, 2015 11:23:14 GMT -5
The doctor is in! Here is the stuff I use for sculpting mostly. Do not forget cleaning them when finished or the shape is lost after af few sessions! It was fun for me to test them all out on a little bit mixed up sculpey to see what can be done with them. Do not forget to moist them in between, it is much easier to work with moisted tools and it prevent them from being sticky. You can after sculpting smooth out the surface with a brush damped with very little water. Mineral spirit might work, too, but be carfull, it melts the surface way quick! You can sculpt with the brush, too, but it took time but is very effective. Frank
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John Everett
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Jan 17, 2012 0:53:48 GMT -5
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Post by John Everett on Mar 17, 2015 13:52:58 GMT -5
I use color shapers almost exclusively and only use metal tools when I need a hard edge or fine line. Also visible in this picture is a notebook in which I keep real-size diagrams in my chosen scale. This helps to keep figures properly proportioned.
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Post by kaytermarram on Mar 17, 2015 16:53:30 GMT -5
John, those colour shapers must be real good stuff! Haven´t used them till now but they are on my wishlist at the top! I think, smoothing out surfaces and defining folds and shapes are much more easily done with this things. And for the diagrams showing real sizes and scales might come in very usefull for me when I do more free hand humans!
Frank
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Post by deafpanzer on Mar 17, 2015 19:12:25 GMT -5
My dentist likes me a lot that she gives me her old tools every time I ask her. No kidding! Don't be afraid to ask your dentist if they have old tools that are about to be recycled or trashed. My dentist has a drawer filled with broken or dull but they worked just fine for me! Will post pic of tools she gave me... some are still so sharp!
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Post by tigrazor on Mar 20, 2015 16:44:30 GMT -5
What do I use to create shapes? A Scalpel. A Toothpick (very often) Plastic profiles (newbie! pretty helpful too) My grey mass between my ears. Some say you are supposed to and my doctor said there is something. Literature/Google. References, eh?! A cup of coffee (must have!) and most important: my fingers! and thats it. @andy: Copy that. When my dentist living downstairs in my former home moved, I helped her a bit and she "revenged" with a small plastic bag full of dentists tools. Worth 300 € and something, she said. Never used them until now, maybe Ill give it a try. But as long as I have other possibilities I dont feel the need to "rape" those expensive things.
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Scott Fraser
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Jan 8, 2015 8:40:14 GMT -5
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Post by Scott Fraser on Mar 20, 2015 23:36:18 GMT -5
Tools, eh? No much out of the ordinary. All the things that have been already mentioned. Sanding blocks -- wet/dry sandpaper strips wrapped around balsa or hardwood: various shapes, sizes and grades. Sanding sticks. Dividers, protractor, draughtsman's pencil. Digital caliper, micrometer. Metal ruler. Soldering flux (paste) and solid-core solder. A "third hand" with clips and magnifier to hold everything still: Krazy glue. Bondo. Works better than hobby putties. Can also be thinned out with xylene on a piece of glass. Goop --- bits of sprue dissolved in a jar of xylene. Different jars have different consistencies. Xylene! Sometimes sold as xylol, it was the carrier in the original Floquil Model Railroad Colors, where it was called Dio-Sol and sold for $10 an ounce. Xylene is $10 a gallon. It will glue styrene, but it is slower and weaker than more aggressive solvents. It is also less toxic than MEK or acetone, etc. It is still stinky and should be used common sense. Xylene can be used to thin enamels, such as Scalemates, Floquil, ModelMaster, Testors and Humbrol. None of these brands show any sign of curdling, even after ten or more years in the bottle. I have tins of Humbrol that are still viable after twenty years. It is perfect for cleaning paintbrushes and airbrushes, but proper ventilation is required when spraying it!! It is still a toxic aromatic hydrocarbon. Bicycle bearings (1/8 and 3/16" = 3mm and 5mm). Put two of them in every new bottle of paint you open. They will rattle around when you shake it and pulverize any lumps of pigment in the jar. Stretched sprue. How many know that when you stretch sprue, it keeps its shape? It can be carved into a quarter-round and half-round profile and then stretched to produce very thin strands that work well as welds on 1/35 scale tanks. Larger strips of styrene can be pulled to create very thin strips of different widths. Ballpoint pen tubes. These can be pulled (carefully) like sprues to produce very thin tubes for 1/72 scale MG barrels, for example. They are somewhat flexible, too. Wire, both insulated and bare in a variety of sizes. Add brass rod in there, too. Chalk pencils. Found in art supply stores, these are the same material as chalk pastels, but squeezed into a wooden pencil. They can be sharpened to a very fine point and used to draw colour demarcations in fancy camouflage. They come off without a trace with the special sticky gum eraser meant for them. Chalk pastels come in hundreds of colours and can be ground down on a sheet of sandpaper to create a very fine powder. They are much cheaper than the proprietary brands of "pigments" sold to hobbyists. Same thing, basically. Part of modelling is to repurpose materials from other areas. Cyanoacrylate came from medicine. RTV rubber and polyurethane resin came from the electronics industry. Photochemical milling (to give photoetching is proper name) is still how circuit boards are made. Another part of modelling is not paying too much for "Squander Shop Decal Activating Solution". Regards Scott Fraser
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Post by kaytermarram on Mar 21, 2015 8:12:09 GMT -5
Lucas, if you find the time, please make some pics of your dental tools. I would like to know what shape they are (am always on the lookout for new stuff, and it is always interesting to produce ideas what can be done with things I never have seen till now, hehe!)
Scott, I use solder (or lead)-wire, too, for superdetail not only machinery but for Alienheads and biomechanic designs. BUT have never soldered. MAYBE an how to to this could be a good idea and a guy who do it would be a cool teacher!
Frank
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Scott Fraser
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Member since: January 2015
Posts: 70
Jan 8, 2015 8:40:14 GMT -5
Jan 8, 2015 8:40:14 GMT -5
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Post by Scott Fraser on Mar 21, 2015 9:43:25 GMT -5
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Post by kaytermarram on Mar 21, 2015 12:14:24 GMT -5
Very interesting, a good read. And for a non-solderer like me, absolute understandable. Great! Thanks a lot, Scott!
Frank
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