Hi, I’m Paul, and welcome to this week’s edition of Sculpting, Painting and Gaming, where we care about your hobbying health.
If you’re a fan of Footsore Miniatures, then you’ll be familiar with the work of Stavros Zouliatis. Whether you collect, paint or play with Footsore’s miniatures, you’ll probably own either some or all of his superb Samurai and his remarkable King Rædwald of East Anglia. And with our forthcoming Gangs of Rome gang boxes featuring even more of Stavros’ superb sculpts, you’ve even more of this rising star’s miniature goodness to look forward to.
With this in mind, I’m thrilled to present the following article from Stavros, in which he reveals his tricks and tips on sculpting. Better yet, you can read it safe in the knowledge that we at War banner have even more of Stavros’ miniatures in the pipeline, and believe me…
…You ain’t seen nothing yet.
When I sculpted Footsore Miniature’s King Rædwald of East Anglia (otherwise known as the Sutton Hoo man), I used the same process I use when sculpting all my miniatures. In this article I shall take you through the process which I used to sculpt King Rædwald, and I hope it gives you some insight into how I sculpt.
First I make an armature at 28mm using wire, then I cover that armature with Green Stuff and add the first layers of clay to create rough shapes and to give the miniature the beginning of its form. I use polymer clay and BeeSPutty as they give me the ability to create highly detailed figures in 28mm.
I then begin to add bulk and weight, giving the miniature its first forms and shapes. This process further defines the character of the miniature by giving it a physical character and presence.
Next I add an increased level of detail. This is not a high, nor final, level of definition, but it is enough to further clarify the shape and features of the miniature.
And now I begin work on the areas of high detail areas such as his armour, helmet and shield etc.
Sometimes I use plastics for weapons, scabbards, shields etc , but this time! I used polymer clay to build them from scratch. It’s not easy, but the clay gives me the ability to create perfect, highly detailed shields.
By this stage the sculpt is ready for the last few bits of definition, cleaning and to placed in a puddle base. But before I do that I do my final checks to ensure the sculpt is suitable for molding and casting. This is the difficult part as a failure to spot any issues with the sculpt cause issues in molding.
And here is the final sculpt, mounted on a puddle base (complete with Footsore Miniatures’ logo!)
So that is how I sculpt. I hope this article has been insightful for you, and that it inspires you to have a go at sculpting yourself! It’s really not as hard as you might think; all you need is practise, hard work … and the right materials!
Stavros’ King Rædwald of East Anglia miniature is available now from Footsore Miniatures. Just one of Footsore’s extensive range of historical miniatures, King Rædwald is typical of the quality and attention to details our sculptors lavish on each and every one of our models.
From the Armies of the Caliphates to Vikings, Feudal Japanese to Normans, Early WWI British and more, we at Footsore Miniatures bring you the very best in historical wargaming.
See our webstore for our complete range, special offers and deals.
Hailing form Greece, Stavros is a workaholic who is passionate about both life and sculpting. He brings that positivity and love for life to every sculpt.
You can see more of his amazing work on his Facebook page.
We’re currently open to submissions, so if you have an article about sculpting, painting or gaming, then please do send it our way. From historical to sci-fi, battle reports to painting tips, modelling to terrain and all points in between, we’d love to hear from you. See our submissions guidelines for more details.
Thanks for this article, this is very interesting to see the different steps of a sculpture, especially this one (intantly bought when avaliable on the Footsore website).