SCULPTURE - "Frog Rider" FINISHED

Behold...the fearless Samurai Beetle on his mighty Battle Frog!

Well, it's all painted up and finished now. This project definitely took me longer than I expected, due to the extra level of detail. Below are are few more more views. Enjoy!

SCULPTURE - "Frog Rider" pt.6

Here's the Samurai Beetle, as promised! (Editorial update 1/17/10: I originally picked this style of beetle, because I thought the horns would make a cool helmet. Did a web-search this morning, and found out that it is a "Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle"...perfect! That goes great with my "SamuRhino", too.)

Before I get into the sculpting process, let me first say a big THANKS to those of you who were praying for my wife, Cat, while we flew to Florida for her surgery. We literally just walked in the door from our return flight home. She had a rare, benign Parathyroid tumor removed. The procedure was very successful, and her life should improve greatly. It was a long week, and we're glad to be home! Well, partly...it was gorgeous in Tampa Bay, and we've still got gobs of snow here! (Of course I took my sketchbook along...but more on that in another post.)

Okay...let's start at the bottom...it's the beetle's behind! I made the lower segment first, then drilled out the underside out so I could add wire for the legs.

Next I made some little tiny feet. I baked them before making the rest of the legs, so I wouldn't mash them.

I super-glued the feet onto the leg wires. I tried to make the belly look like a woven armor pattern. Then I sculpted the legs with shin and thigh armor. Once I had that part figured out, I could make the saddle for the back of the frog.

The katana (sword) was created by hammering some heavy-gauge wire. Next I add a little detail for the hilt, then make the scabbard from a thicker piece of wire and some epoxy.

Below are a few details from the rest of the process. Upper left is the head...below that are the arms being sculpted. The middle image shows the upper torso with the helmet on. Next is the banner that will be attached to his back....made from toothpicks, wire and aluminum foil. I coated the banner with wood glue, when completed.

Here's the final beetle design! He's all ready to be painted.
Once you soak all this in, I'll post the images of this little guy riding his mighty Battle Frog!

SCULPTURE - "Frog Rider" pt.5

Last time I said I'd be showing the Samurai Beetle next...sorry. I had some unexpected modifications that I thought were worth noting...especially when one of them was a really STUPID mistake.
Here's the saddle for the Samurai Beetle. It has some odd little indentions, but that is from the legs of the Beetle being pressed into the sculpy. You won't see that part when the rider is sitting astride his mighty steed.

I never did like the way the gauntlets looked...too chunky. So I decided to get out the dremmel tool and grind it down to a simpler shape. (The epoxy is tough stuff.)

I also decided to remove the hip guards. They didn't seem too practical for a jumping frog...always would get in the way. So I ground off the right hip guard...no problem. Here's where things took an ugly turn. Instead of being patient, I decided to speed up the process, and used some wire cutters to try and snip off the left side. CRACK...busted both hips! So I had to cut away the sculpy, fill back in with epoxy, and rework both legs. Truth is, they'll be stronger than before, and you shouldn't notice, once it's painted.
Okay...next time, for sure, I'll show how I made the Samurai Beetle...really.

SCULPTURE - "Frog Rider" pt.4

I've now completed the armor for the Battle Frog. This stage has been a bit frustrating, due to limitations with the materials. Once I had coated the frog sculpt with glue, I couldn't use Sculpy and bake it any longer. I used Epoxy Plumbers Putty to add on the various elements of armor. Unfortunately, the time-window to mix the putty and then sculpt before it hardened was brief. It didn't allow me to refine some of the shapes as much as I would have liked. No excuses, but I would have changed a few things. There are epoxies out there with longer set-times, so I'll have to explore that on future projects.

I won't belabor the details of how I made each component of the armor. It's pretty straightforward. I make a section, then coat it with wood glue...sculpt more...coat it with glue.
It's a mixed bag of results when I use the glue. I do lose some detail in the sculpture, but the overall surface is more unified, and it softens the edges a bit. I can thin the glue with water, if I need to. A lot of the detail will be brought back when I paint everything.

Here's the full armor...forearm gauntlets, shoulder pads, chest plate, back blanket, cute little sumo-style briefs, hip guards, thigh and shin guards. I'll make a saddle later.
Next time, I start working on the rider...a "Samurai Beetle"!

SCULPTURE - "Frog Rider" pt.3

Today is the last of my two-week vacation, so these sculpt-in-process posts will start to slow down some. As I said last time, there were some structural issues that developed with the way I designed the leaping frog. While Sculpy is great for some things, it's not quite strong enough to handle the pressure that this pose put on the wire armature. So I started to find multiple cracks in the weight-bearing areas. It was necessary to cut away the original sculpt, add some new support wires, and re-sculpt the damaged parts.

Here are the finished repairs...additional grass blades, and some more water splashes on the front leg. I wish I could have kept the original minimalist approach, but that's the way it goes. What looks good in a sketch, may not work in the actual sculpting process.

There were still some hairline cracks all over the base...perhaps the sculpy was too thin in places. And there was a crack all around the ankle in the water-splash (left leg) that needed to be filled in. So I decided to use a thick coating of Elmer's Wood Glue over the whole base. I thinned down the glue to a watery consistancy for painting on the rest of the frog.

The next stages will be the addition of the frog's armor. Since I cannot bake the frog any more, I'll have to change up my techniques. I will add on bits that are sculpted with epoxy putty, or glue on sculpy parts baked separately.

Till next time...

SCULPTURE - "Frog Rider" pt.2

First off... "HAPPY 2010!" Hope you all have a great new year!!

Okay, back to the "Frog Rider" sculpt-in-process. Here's where things are at the moment...the basic frog body is now finished.

Here's how I started the head...a little foil, and some wooden beads for the eyes. I baked it in stages, so the detail wouldn't get mashed along the way. I apologize for the blurry images. My wife reminded me how to turn on the "macro" setting on the camera...but it was too late to retake these early steps.

Below shows the head sculpted onto the body. I added a bit more "flesh" to fill out the plump little frog belly.

Part of me hates to cover up this little guy with all the Samurai armor...but he's way too cute at this stage. Way.

I've now got some structural issues to resolve. I will be adding some more foliage to help support the weight of the hyper-extended pose...the sculpy is cracking under the stress. Next time, I'll show how I repair the damage, and add on the extra blades of grass.

SCULPTURE - "Frog Rider" pt.1

Time for a new sculpture project! In the past, I've waited until the piece was pretty much finished before starting to post. But now, I'm going to show this as a "work in progress". Not sure how long it will take, so keep checking in!

Below are the sketches that I started several months ago. I wanted to revisit the Samurai Warrior theme that I've done before (see my "SamuRhino" sculpt). I'm going to create a Beetle riding a Battle-Frog. Both will be decked out with full Samurai gear influenced by lots of photos of authentic costumes. (But it'll be my own design...I don't know what beetles and frogs really wore back then.)

Below is the wire armature (see top photo) covered with aluminum foil. I gave the basic structure a thin layer of Super Sculpy, and baked it. The tall wires were for blades of grass to be sculpted later. They are needed to help support the weight of the frog's extended pose. I did modify the grass somewhat, as you'll see later.

Here's the progression of the hands...thin wire is needed to support the fingers. Then I flesh out the arms. I didn't try to add too much detail at this stage, because I will be adding a lot of armor and stuff later on.

Here's where things are at the moment. I finished up the feet, the grass blades, and the base. I'm keeping the anatomy a bit on the "generic" side, since not much will be visible underneath all the armor. Obviously, the head is missing...I'll make that separately, since it's easier than working it while it's attached to the body. But that'll have to wait until next post...stay tuned!