Archer: Sculpting part 1

After I'd decided on the archer's pose, the next step would be to actually sculpt the unlucky fella. I found some 1,1 mm wire perfect for the task. I wrappe two small pieces of wire around each other. That was it. I had my skeleton.

When working with minatures don't get wire which is too thick. I acidentally mistook the wire I'm using on my current project for 1,1 mm wire. It's not far off though, perhaps less than 1,5 mm thick, but it really makes a huge difference when working in these scales ( aprox. 5 cm tall minatures )

If I could skip making a skeleton for a minature I'd do it in a heartbeat, as a badly posed/planned skeleton really limits your freedom to get the minature to look just like you want it to. This is true no matter what scale you are working in.

First off I sculpted the stomach, chest and legs. Then both upper arms. At this point I cut away the wire for the arms, as I didn't need the strenght. I removed the wire at the elbow in the arm which clutches the helmet. The wire in the free swinging arm I removed at the wrist.

Once I'd sculpted all that, I started working on the clothes and details of the minature. The head and bow I'd sculpt seperately and then attach them later. I did the head this way just to try out the method. I sculpted it onto a toothpick and then remove it once it had cured. I can recommend the method if the head'll be inaccessible to sculpt because of the rest of the minature, but if have the choice of sculpting the head directly onto the minature or not, I'll always opt for sculpting it on directly.

I got big hands and a toothpick can be a bit fiddly as a handle, when concentrating on something more important than a firm grip.
 

Once I had attached the head and made a neck, I sculpted the rest of the right arm to the head. that way I could make certain that everything was placed correctly and had the appropriate lenght before adding any details.

Photos by Greta Clemente