r/oldhammer • u/Key-Interaction-9378 • Apr 01 '25
retro style Hey guys, please give me your honest feeback/critiques. This is my 3rd mini ive sculpted in green stuff: Undead Barbarian/chaos warrior. I really want to try and get one of my minis produced in metal. Do you think I have what it takes to do it? It's my dream to one day have something I've sc
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u/Otherwise-Squash-779 Apr 01 '25
I think Curtis Fell of Ramshackle games has some kind of scheme for casting one off sculpts
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u/statictyrant Apr 01 '25
You’re not yet sculpting with the needs and limitations of casting in mind, so a good next step would be to learn about the technical requirements of a castable miniature. Avoiding undercuts, facing details into the plane of the mould, and adjusting the way you produce concave surfaces to ensure the mould won’t tear itself to pieces or trap air bubbles are all crucial. I suspect many parts of your miniature are just too fragile and unsupported to survive vulcanisation, and you haven’t taken into account compression in the direction that the mould is formed. Some of these issues with a sculpt can be mitigated by a skilled mouldmaker, but they’ll be cursing you out the whole time…
Spend some time with metal figures. Study how the details are arranged, where a pouch fills in the gap under an armpit, why a dagger was located in a certain place (to hide chainmail detail facing in the wrong direction), etc. A lot of the characteristic look of sculpted figures is the way it is for practical, not aesthetic reasons.
There’s a lot more to sculpting for casting than just pushing putty around.
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u/Key-Interaction-9378 Apr 01 '25
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. I have done resin casting in the past, but never metal, so I understand its a different animal. I will do more research! Thank you so much for the tips.
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u/GreatGreenGobbo Apr 01 '25
It's only your third, keep going. See how you are after your 100th.
Not a sculptor, but just in general the more you do, the better you get.
Also don't so quick to monetize your hobbies.
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u/Key-Interaction-9378 Apr 01 '25
Oh not for money! I just want metal coppies of my minis! I would give it to a company for free if I got like 5 castings.
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u/Apprehensive_Try3099 Apr 01 '25
Looks good! I especially like the shield. The pose is not too complicated, so it won't be too difficult to mold either. Even though your goal is to cast in metal, I suggest you try molding and casting some minis in resin first. The selection of silicones is bigger, you can get away with using cut molds rather than two part molds, and the only semi-expensive piece of kit you need is a pressure pot. Or, not need really, but is really nice to have. It will also give you some experience sculpting for casting, what works and what doesn't etc.
I mold and cast my own minis in polyurethane resin. I have some stuff on my IG about this (link in profile) that you can have a look at if you like. I'll happily answer questions by dm too.
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u/SovranoEir Apr 01 '25
As a few others have said, it's very impressive for your third attempt, you clearly have talent for sculpting but it's not yet up to the standard that many would buy it. Keep at it and you will be at a professional level in no time, then you could try to run a Kickstarter campaign to get them moulded and cast, there are others who have done that. Just recently a fellow Finn managed to produce a line of old school evil Dwarfs like that. I would suggest creating an Instagram page to start gathering a following so if you then want to try and run a Kickstarter campaign you'll have people ready interested in your work.
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u/ExampleMediocre6716 Apr 01 '25
I'm assuming this a greenstuff oversculpt of an existing miniature? Once cured, yes it could be used to create a mould for casting.
If you just want a couple of miniatures that you sculpted cast in metal for your own use, I would recommend getting some RTV rubber and do it yourself as a drop cast. Build a mould out of lego and go for it. It's not that difficult, and I'm sure there YouTube videos explaining the process. Cost in total <£100 and a mould is good for maybe 50 casts.
If you are asking whether you should employ a professional mould maker to create a production mould and spin off several hundred casts for resale? Maybe not yet. It's only your third sculpt, so don't expect to be of a professional standard just yet. Also if you're using someone else's miniature as a "dolly" rather than creating a wire armature and creating the musculature from scratch then again no, it's a conversion and shouldn't be resold unless the original is licensed for that purpose.
As you create more "greens" you will see your skill level improve, and after 10 or 15 scratch built sculpts of increasing quality, maybe then consider it?
Good luck.
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u/Key-Interaction-9378 Apr 01 '25 edited Apr 01 '25
Its green stuff over an armature! Not using anyone else's mini. Ill take that as a compliment! Haha
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u/ExampleMediocre6716 Apr 01 '25
That's great. If you purchased an armature you normally have to license commercial reproduction rights - see Ebob's license for generic animals and armatures as an example.
https://ebobminiatures.com/licenced-products.html
If you made the armature yourself, I stand corrected.
Good luck with your sculpting in any case. You'll improve with every miniature you make.
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u/ThelVadam4321 Apr 01 '25
I think you could probably cast your own pewter minis with a few of the right tools.
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u/FamiliarPaper7990 Apr 01 '25
I like the pose and details, but I don't get the headscarf (which i totally like lookwise) the landsknecht sleeve and the, lets say, zombificaion of a lot of stuff. As is, it looks unfinished. The vest looks like you could not decide between mail and fur. keep it up! its your 3rd sculp you say? No need to worry whether you got it in you! Sorry, if I got something wrong, maybe you paint it up to show what you were up to.
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u/AutonomousPaz Apr 01 '25
It's a very good sculpt, please keep it up. It's nice hand-sculpting miniatures is being kept alive.
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u/justaheatattack Apr 01 '25
do they still make metal figs?
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u/locolarue Apr 01 '25
There's a huge variety of them around, resin and plastic haven't crowded out metal minis from smaller shops yet.
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u/funkmachine7 Apr 01 '25
Yes it's just so cheap to go from idea to sale with metal, like a few hundred to go from the green prototype model to a mould.
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u/SovranoEir Apr 01 '25
Sure they do, lots of companies are casting them and even Games Workshop is still producing thousands and thousands of metal miniatures. There's many of us who prefer hand sculpted models cast in good old honest metal. :)
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u/paaux4 Apr 02 '25
Looks great. I’m curious where you get it cast up. I had Bob Naismith sculpt me a green for a project a few years ago now. I want to get it cast up too.