1/6 Spacebase 2000 Inspired Sci Fi Astronaut Sculpt

[Hunter Rose]

Okay so this is a project I've had in mind for quite some time, basically when I was very young me and my brother had the Spacebase 2000 book, which is a collection of stories but the only reason we used to look through it because it had some really fabulous art in it of all kinds of spaceships.
 
I think flicking through the pages of that book is what first inspired my interest in all things sci fi, and one particular image always stood out as my favourite, and after doing some internet searches a while back the image popped up in the results and I just thought "that would make a great model" and then I started to think about sculpting one.
 
So fast forward to now and thats what I'm going to have a go at, I'm not intending to copy it 100% (thus the "inspired") but I want to recreate it as best I can, although I want to change the helmet design so you can see the full face. Below is the image, after doing a bit of research managed to find out it was by an artist called Peter Elson.
 



 
My idea for it is to have the same mid air pose, but one of the arms will be grabbing the foot, which will allow me to support it.  Its a pretty ambitious project for me, but thats one of the reasons I'm pretty excited about it, I always like to push myself into trying new techniques and things that scare me a little! And I haven't done that in my last few projects.
 
I have done a bit of figure sculpting before, but nothing crazy, just a couple of space guys in a ma.k diorama I did last year - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234979624-120-mak-fireball-split-suit-space-diorama/
 
So I started by making my armature, first thing I did was print out a picture of a skeleton that I sized at 30cm to get it at the 1/6 scale.  And then cut a long piece of wire so I could get it done in one continuous piece so I dont have to muck about with joints in the wire.







 
I went a bit short on the arms, this is because I'll sculpt up to the wrists and then make separate hand armatures later, and lots of extra off both feet for now to give me plenty of freedom later when I'm locking down the pose.
 
Next up I've got to get some supplies to build my armature stand, then I can get the pose locked down and bend it into shape, then it will be a matter of blocking out the limbs and core with some foil.
 
Thanks for looking, more soon :)

[Hunter Rose]

Okay so i got my armature stand knocked together. Cut down a bit of scrap wood i found at work for the base



And bought some threaded rod and nuts, and after drilling a hole got the upright rod attached.



Need to have the rod that goes into the armature attached to the upright, looked at some other online people have made with metal brackets and modifications, but i figured the easiest thing was to just have a bit of wood with 2 offset holes perpendicular to each other.



Trimmed the but of rod down and bolted it on to see how it looks





And thats my cheap and easy armature stand done, I always enjoy making use of scrap materials!



Now i have to bend my armature into its pose get in place ready for blocking, so that's up next

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

[Hunter Rose]

Just a couple of pics to show a little progress, ive wrapped thin gauge armature wire around it for added strength.



And I've started blocking it out with foil, wrapping it as tightly as i can so its not soft which can cause cracking later.



Not going to bulk him out much more than this, just a bit more round his middle and a ball for his head.
Basically the purpose of this is to keep the amount of clay you need to a minimum, which obviously saves clay but more importantly ensures an even bake by avoided thick layers of sculpey.

Next I'll finish off the blocking then attach it to the armature support after I've bent it into its pose.

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

[Hunter Rose]

Quick update! Got the armature finished, finished blocking it out and wrapped a bit more wire tightly around the abdomen for added strength and to keep the foil in place.

Then i bolted him on to the stand and bent him into his pose, and im really happy with it.







So I can start adding clay, im going to start with the head and torso, so next up will be the head.

Thanks for looking, more soon :)

[Hunter Rose]

Started laying down my super sculpey firm



i think i want a more stylised (but not cartooney) look to the guys face rather than realistic.



New tools arrived, used one of the loop tools to gouge out the eye cavities.





And used various tools and my fingers to smooth out the face try to keep it even, while building up the brow and structure of the face.







Very happy at this stage but looks a little cone head so carved a chunk out the top with a scalpel and smoothed it over.



This was about an hours work, doesn't really show in the photos! Still working it and refining it, I'll build the top of the forehead out next and start to sort out the mouth.

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

Okay so I've got the head to a basic shape I'm satisfied with now, the ball stylus tools I purchased are worth their weight in gold as they have allowed me to blend and detail so much easier.
 
He's got a slight gorilla forehead going on at the minute, so I built that up with some clay and blended it in
 

 

 

 
And the cranium is more narrow and still slightly pointy looking so I gave him some ear muffs and smushed (?)  them in
 

 

 

 
I'm over the moon with how its looking now, this is my first go at a head sculpt so its all a learning process and I'm having tons of fun with this project. Now my basic structure is sorted today I'm going to start adding details, going to add the nostrils and build up the cheeks a bit and work on the mouth.
 
Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

Worked on the nose and mouth, for the nose i just added clay to the nostrils and to the front and blended it round with the ball stylus



















The mouth was made by blending in a couple of sausages of polymer clay. I still need to build up the edges of the cheeks a little so i can do the indents at the edge of the mouth and nose.

Apologies too for the lack of that many steps in my photos, when im concentrating its hard to remember to stop and take a pic, maybe I'll post a video at some point.

So next up its cheeks and roughing out the eyes.

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

Just a quickie to show a little more work on the mouth.



Think i need to widen the mouth slightly and have the creases come past and around the corners of the mouth, it continues!

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

Did some more work on this today, wanted to work on the shape of the lips a little more, and define the philtrum a little better.






Also want to build up the nasolabial sulcus more and the area around it, while also refining the shape. Just added some sausages of clay and use my ball stylus tools to blend it in.





Also need to sort out the chin a bit, as its a bit weak and not very defined, so i stuck a ball on the chin and blended it.
Shaved some clay off from under the jaw too to make the chin area more definitive.











Im really happy with his profile now, only things i want to sort out tomorrow are to even out the symmetry of the lower jaw, and build up the cheek area behind the nasolabial sulcus.

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

Done more work on the cheeks and around the mouth, it was looking a bit weird and i couldn't put my finger on why; then after checking reference pictures of faces i realised the mouth was too small so I've widened it and am much happier with it now.

I worked on the left side first and in pic 4 i took a front shot to compare the fleshed out version with how it was

















Still need to work on matching the shape of the right side to the left, and once that's done I'll bite the bullet and start the eyes (which i so haven't been putting off!!)

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

Okay so did a bit more today, had to lower the mouth a bit, didn't think it looked quite right but wasn't as much of a butcher job as i thought.

I beefed up the chin, nudged the mouth up slightly and smoothed the nasolabial sulcus, which i think look much better now. And i also roughed out the eyeballs.











Need to neaten up the left eye a bit and then I'll add the upper and lower lids to both and start to work on his scowl.
Feeling pretty pumped today, feels like his face is really starting to come together.

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

Okay, well in case you hadn't realised (although im sure it was fairly obvious) I've just copy and pasted my work so far from another forum, forgot to share on here like I usually do    But your now up to date with progress.

Only thing I've done now is to work on the scowl making th brow more angry, I did make a start on the eyes but couldn't get them looking right so I'll just check some reference material and give it another crack today



Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

Okay so I think one thing that hasn't helped the eye progress is i think my sockets are too big so I've beefed up the cheek structure below it.













Next I'll have another crack at the upper and lower lids.

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hemish]

Can you please not be so dam talented???

[Hunter Rose]

Thank you for the compliment Hemish! (Errr I'll try??  ) You do such a great job of painting busts why not give sculpting a go? Seriously just get a block of clay and screw around with it, think you'll be surprised at what you can achieve with patience a little practice.

Well more eye work was done today, it still needs tidying up a little, but considering this was the bit i had the most trepidations about im pretty pleased.











As you can see in the ladt two pics I've  also bent rhe head more forward to correct his line of sight more to where hes shooting.

Next up its ears time.

Thanks for looking, more soon

[JAWS]

Quite interesting and very cool to see the progress along the way.

[Hemish]

Its funny you mentioned that cause I actually bought some clay a little while ago :)

[Hunter Rose]

Quite interesting and very cool to see the progress along the way.

Cheers Jeff 

Its funny you mentioned that cause I actually bought some clay a little while ago :)

Fantastic! Well crack on then mate, I look forward to seeing your version of David 

Will do more on this and post an update tomorrow

[Hunter Rose]

Had a chance to grab my sculpt tools today and this is what I've done!

I started by neatening up the eyes and working the surrounding face atructure a little.





Then i had a crack at an ear! And it was much less frustrating than the eyes (surprisingly)
Started with an oval wedge, positioned it so it was tilted back slightly on the jaw line, with top level with brow and bottom just shy of nose level.
Then smoothed it in and using some refernce photo calved out the detail with my ball styles tools.











So so happy with todays session, i love the last photo, he actually is starting to look human now!! Will neaten it up and copy it on the other side, which will be fun!

Thanks for looking, more soon

[Hunter Rose]

More ear work, carved out the ear more and worked the shape a bit more uising a reference photo.



Shaped out the other ear roughly but when positioned i discovered the jaw line on that side fell way short of the other side so i built it but with more clay before repositioning.











Tomorrow I'll work on getting it looking like the other.

Thanks for looking, more soon