Delinda OC Sculpture WIP

See 2/28/2011 update text below...


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Sculpting Tutorial/WIP: Delinda -- COMPLETED!
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This sculpture is being made for `hellobaby, the Grand-Prize Winner of my Sculpt for Me, Arty! Contest.

Reference Picture: `hellobaby's original character, Delinda.

Scale: 1/7.
Height: 10-7/8" (27.5cm).
Sculpting Media: Aves Apoxie Sculpt (dark gray color), Magic Sculpt (light gray color).
Armature: Aluminum foil, as needed.
Number of Parts: 20.

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2/28/2011 Update, Sculpting Complete
[59] - The sculpting part of the project is now complete. The next step is to do fine-level sanding and patching imperfections (should take only a few more days).
[60] - As you see, the parts breakdown of the Delinda sculpture consists of 20 parts. I will provide a step-by-step assembly instruction later.

I will upload a deviation of the completed sculpture this week (after sanding), and then, it will be ready to ship to the Contest Winner! Yay!!

To those who have been following this contest project: my apologies for having dragging on this project for so long, and thank you so much for your support.

9/24/10 Update, Hair, Hands, Katana
[51-53] - Hair was done basically by layering strand-by-strand, then flattened. The hair is not done yet. It's a bit too puffy and details still need to be grooved in.
[54] - The rough form of R sleeve.
[55] - The shoes needed to be sanded down to be narrower. As shown, the right side has been sanded, and it is narrower than the left side.
[56] - Rough form of katana was made, as well as the next level of finger shapes.
[57] - As you may notice, the hair flow and the flow of coat tail fabric are in opposite directions... I will need to figure out making them more consistent...
[58] - This is the last update before I present the sculpture when completed. Then I will come back and post any residual detailing in this WIP.

9/17/10 Update, Facial
[39] - After forming rough shape of the head, I compared it to the reference and added some putty to cheeks.
[40] - Added putty to chin.
[41] - Looking from a different angle, saw that the left cheek (viewer's right) is lower than the right...
[42] - after making L-R cheeks to look even, added slightly more putty to round of the face contour.
[43] - Started rough-out the eyes and upper lip.
[44] - This was the end of 1st attempt at shaping the face - I didn't like it...
[45] - After sanding and shaving, I thought the facial features start to look better, but...
[46] - When I checked the profile (side view), and compared it to another `hellobaby's drawing, I realized that: 1. the nose ridge was severely undersized, 2. the nose was too harsh, and 3. the eye corner was all off...
[47] - After raising the nose ridge, I added small putty to round up the cheeks.
[48] - Added putty to the bottom of eye areas, and thinned down the nose to make it look more dainty.
[49] - At the same time as doing the facial, I used left-over putty to make one of her bracelets.
[50] - The interim look of Delinda's face - still needs refinement but hopefully it starts to look like the reference. What do you think - what needs to be revised regarding the face?
Also shown is start of detailing on her left hand (pinky was detailed).


8/31/10 Update, Shoes + Left Sleeve
[29] - After re-surfacing top of shoes, I added blob to the sole.
[30] - The putty blob was finger-smoothed with water, then leveled and edged with a flat tool tip.
[31] - Excess putty was cut away to reduce thickness in the arch area.
[32] - Rough form of heels was added.
[33] - The rough form of shoes are shown. Still need surface trimming and smoothing, before adding on laces.
[34] - To properly create the creases in the sleeves, I had to work in layers. The first layer was around the elbow area, where I layered-on putty, then finger-smoothed with water.
[35] - Then I used a tapered scoop tool tip to groove in small creases.
[36] - After 1~2 hrs, the first layer became hard enough to layer on the cuff.
[37] - The lace that goes through the cuff needed sharp steps, which I made by using the tool tip shown to groove in while the putty was still soft.
[38] - Position check on the sleeves - more detailing to come.

8/1/10 Update, 'Baby Steps'...
[27] - In the original artwork, Delinda's shoes are not shown, so `hellobaby provided the shoes design in early April. Since then, I was sidetracked and for about 3 months, didn't do sculpting at all... so ashamed...
[28] - But we get back in the game with 'baby steps,' right? So here's my tiny update on Delinda's socks (before layering-on her shoes), to show that I will complete this contest prize despite delays...

3/31/10 Update, Rough Form Arms, Leg Bands, Wings
[18-19] - In the ref pic, her right arm is bent back, holding the sheath of sword. Here I wrapped putty over aluminum core to create rough form of the arms, with keying holes set in place. The yellow tape is Tamiya masking tape, for holding the left arm in place while putty hardened.
[20-21] - The leg bands were relative simple. With the knees being previously undersized, I over-laid putty, smoothed it, and wait till it semi-cured. Then grooved-in the fabric creases.
[22-23] - Once the arms were set, I rough-formed the forearm and hands. The pair of white tubing held in the hands was plastic coffee stir sticks taped together. You can see in [23], that from a certain angle, her right arm is not visible from the front, like the ref drawing.
[24-25] - The bat-like wings were created in two steps. First I flattened the putty to the rough shape of the wing and then grooved-in the webs between the ribs. Second, after the front side is set, I turned it over and did the same on the back side. The pins were embedded while the putty hardened.
[26] - This picture shows the WIP sculpture as of 3/31/10. The head/hair blobs were made and pinned in place so I could see how the wings fit with the rest of the figure. Also started the first section of her ponytail hair bundle.

3/26/10 Update, Pose + Initial Assembly
[10] - Start rough-form of legs, with pins embedded.
[11-12] - The right side of shorts was added to, to complete the rough form of the shorts. Legs were used as sculpting support during work.
[13-14] - Top of shorts was sealed off and extended, then form-fitted into the inner coat.
[15-16] - Layered-on putty on upper legs to achieve final shape. The excess shown in [15] was trimmed away.
[17] - The pose was solidified in place when the shorts (with legs assembled) were form-fitted under the inner and outer coat. I decided to open up her stance so that her feet are wider apart than the reference stance, to exaggerate the implied motion that she was shifting her weight to her right leg while rotating her torso to her right.

3/23/10 Update, Rough-form Outer Coat
[05] - The outer coat has fairly intricate shape, especially given the pleats. So I had to estimate its flattened shape by using a foil to mimic the fabric pleats, then flatten out the foil, then cut a putty sheet to shape.
[06] - The putty sheet was folded over a torso core.
[07] - As the putty was curing, I flared out the coat edges and tails.
[08] - Excess putty was cut away, showing the rough form of the outer coat.
[09] - Basic shape of the outer coat was further defined with more putty work. Also started working on her shorts.

3/17/10 Update, Project Start, Inner Coat
[Pic 00] - The reference picture was printed on paper to approximately 1/7-scale. I don't really measure but instead eye-ball almost all dimensions/proportions from the printed reference sheet...
Well, I thought a lot about where to start, but ended up choosing poorly anyway... I should have started with the outer coat, because that is what will be seen, then fit the inner coat inside. But that was not how I started, so I ended up having to do a bit of re-work...
[01] - To make thin structures, I usually roll the putty flat and to the approximate size.
[02] - The flat sheet of putty is then over-laid on top of the shape that resembles the final shape.
[03] - 1st attempt is shown in upper right, the top opening did not work out (too big - will make her waist look too thick)... So in the 2nd attempt, I rolled another sheet, more in a fan shape, then cut it to size, and fold as before.
[04] - The 2nd piece (on left) doesn't look as good as 1st, but its shapes/size are actually more suitable.

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