Tom's Boring Mordheim Forum
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.


Mordheim Discussion
 
HomeSearchLatest imagesRegisterBlogYou'll never paint aloneLog inGolden Tom 2014 Thread!

 

 Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners

Go down 
+4
Thanrak
Svenn
Chad
perfesser
8 posters
AuthorMessage
perfesser
Champion
Champion
perfesser


Posts : 59
Trading Reputation : 0
Join date : 2009-05-22

Personal Info
Primary Warband played: Reiklanders Reiklanders
Achievements earned: none

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeWed 17 Jun 2009 - 4:45

Further to this thread, I'd like to offer some brief tutorials on the basic uses Greenstuff. I'd like to show three simple techniques, the first of which is Fillin' Gaps (followed by Makin' Capes and Stylin' Hair).

Technique #1 - Fillin' Gaps

The one, and arguably only, Greenstuff technique you will ever need is for filling gaps. No matter what you do to avoid it, eventually you meet up with a metal model and invariably, that model will have gaps to fill once it's been pinned and assembled. Fortunately, this is just the problem that epoxy putties like Greenstuff are made for.

Tools used: Greenstuff, water, some sort of sculpting tool--fingers count as a tool here!--and a x-acto knife

As you can see from this poorly pinned Space Marine, I've created quite a gap between the shoulder and torso. Yes, the shoulder pad will hide it but sweeping old pizza crust under the couch will hide it too and you wouldn't do that now would you? (Don't answer that!).

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-1110

In this case, I haven't actually glued my pin in the arm yet. I paint arms off the body, so I'm going to fill the gap, let it dry, snap the arm off, paint, then glue the arm back on. Trust me, it makes sense Wink .

So I'm starting by cutting a little bit of Greenstuff off the strip, I use the overpriced stuff from GW--I'm lazy like that. Use 50-50ish blue and yellow and mix up in little ball.

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-1210

Kneed it until it's a consistant green and a little sticky or until your fingers hurt. If it looks like it's about the right amount you need, it's probably twice what you actually need.

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-1310

Jam that stuff on! Or, if your gap is between glued pieces, roll the green ball into a sausage and "cram that stuff in!". You can also "slam that stuff down!" or "bam that stuff up!". Just don't "stuff that ham two steps to the left!". You'll have to trust me on that too. Seriously. Just don't.

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-1410

Ooops! Way too much Greenstuff Shocked

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-1510

Pinch, pull or scrap away the extra stuff. Bonus points if you didn't start splashing around the water yet because the slight stickiness makes the Greenstuff easier to tear. There are no style points here--a little too much or not quite enough is just fine. And don't confuse bonus points with style points. Very different.

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-1610

Now that you have a suitable amount of 'stuffing, get everything wet. I start with my fingers--dip in water, smooth the joint a bit, get wet. Once I've smoothed out what my gorilla fingers can, I break out GW's sculpting tool. I get that bad boy wet and keep the smoothing going, pushing heavy areas into lighter areas trying to get it as even as I can.

Voila! Gap filled.

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-1710
Didn't see that little dimple until I uploaded the photo from my camera. Thankfully the shoulder pad will hide that! Cool

Minus the time spent setting up the photos, about 30 seconds from start to finish (take more time if you want to do a good job *wink*). So there you have it, the most basic and necessary Greenstuff technique.

Once you have this basic technique down, you can use it on a variety of textures--fur, scales, hair or whatever by just texturing instead of smoothing. Easy stuff.


.
Back to top Go down
Chad
Venerable Ancient
Venerable Ancient
Chad


Posts : 932
Trading Reputation : 0
Join date : 2008-11-07
Age : 31
Location : Poiares-Coimbra-Portugal/Exeter-Devon-England

Personal Info
Primary Warband played: Pirates (Unofficial) Pirates (Unofficial)
Achievements earned: none

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeWed 17 Jun 2009 - 10:43

Gonna shower us the other techniques, then? 'Cos I'm illisculpt (hmmm, I should stop making up words).
Thanks!
Back to top Go down
Svenn
Venerable Ancient
Venerable Ancient
Svenn


Posts : 927
Trading Reputation : 1
Join date : 2009-04-15
Age : 40
Location : Maryland

Personal Info
Primary Warband played: Possessed Possessed
Achievements earned: none

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeWed 17 Jun 2009 - 14:45

Thanks! Definitely do some more techniques. I'm about to try and piece together a few mutants/possessed from random parts and the only time I've ever worked with anything like green stuff was attaching a third arm to my other possessed. I'd love to see good ways to put together a full model that doesn't go together normally.
Back to top Go down
http://www.tabletopgeeks.com
Thanrak
Youngblood
Youngblood
Thanrak


Posts : 5
Trading Reputation : 0
Join date : 2009-06-13
Age : 40
Location : Summerdale, AL

Personal Info
Primary Warband played: Skaven Skaven
Achievements earned: none

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeWed 17 Jun 2009 - 15:23

Great tip, I just got my green stuff and I wasn't sure if I was using it the right way.
Back to top Go down
perfesser
Champion
Champion
perfesser


Posts : 59
Trading Reputation : 0
Join date : 2009-05-22

Personal Info
Primary Warband played: Reiklanders Reiklanders
Achievements earned: none

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeThu 18 Jun 2009 - 1:56

I just got my order in the mail today, so I'll be able to use Mordheim-y models in the next two parts Smile

If I get to a fourth part, I'll do some Chaos-y detailing for a Possessed warband--I was going to complete a Reiklander band first, but I do have a lot of ideas for making stylish Brethern and Mutants from the Militia sprues.

EDIT: Or I'll do a Brethern in this technique Wink

Technique #2 - Makin' Capes (and Robes)

Okay, Fillin' Gaps isn't very exciting. It's a basic skill you need for model assembly and is pretty easy to master, but it doesn't exactly qualify as converting. With Technique #2, Makin' Capes, I'm going to demonstrate a simple method for taking a model and making something completely different out of it.

Tools used: Greenstuff, water, peanut oil, sculpting tool and Town Cryer 6 for some inspiration

The Empire Militia set is a great set, but it lacks variation. The Mordheim Possessed set is a great set, but it lacks bowmen. So let's combine the two and make a Brethern bowman.

I'll start by selecting the torso, legs and head I like the least (because I will mostly be covering it up) and mock up a pose using blu-tack. Comparing it to my inspiration, it looks like we have a long way to go.
Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-2110 + Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Insp10= ???

I'll need to do a robe bottom to cover the legs, some oversleeves, a shoulder/cape thing and a hat. I need to make sure it'll work with the model parts that will still show, so I have to do a little thinking.

The torso is the "pirate jacket" which has a bit of shirt showing through. It has two layers, so my robe bottom should have two layers--the inner layer will only be in the front and I'll do that first then the outer layer and sleeves. Then a long cape in the back and shoulder covering over that and end with the mask and hat.

It is very important to plan the conversion out. If I did the cape first, I'd have to crack it off to do the robe bottom. Snapping off Greenstuff capes is fine and usually safe, but you have to let the GS fully harden and I don't want to wait once I start going.

Capes and robes both use the same basic technique: make a ball of Greenstuff, flatten it, let it set up a bit, cut it to dimension, slap it on and form creases.

I layout a peice of plastic sheet (the kind used for overhead projectors--ask your grandpa what those were) and spread a small puddle of oil. I then grab a suitable amount of Greenstuff, work it into a ball, flatten with my wet fingers and then roll it flat over the oil puddle.
Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-2210

I use my x-acto knife handle as a rolling pin and make it pretty thin (too thin actually). You can use any non-porous cylinder as a rolling pin, just grease it up and you're good to go.

After waiting about 5-10 minutes for the Greenstuff to firm up a little, I cut it to size. In this case, I leave the sides uncut as those ends will be covered over and the extra will help me mount the robe bit.
Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-2310

Using the point of my knife, I can now lift the Greenstuff off the plastic sheet. It's basically an al dente noodle in consistancy, it flops a bit, but doesn't stretch or deform unless I want it to. So I position it on the model and make folds and creases with my sculpting tool. I'm using a lot of water because it is still a little bit sticky.

I keep folding and creasing until I get something passable. I keep everything as wet as possible and try to make sure its all smooth.

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Gs-2410

Meh, not great but good enough--it'll mostly be hidden. If I hate it later, I'll just just redo it. Can't get enough Greenstuff practice.

...more to come...
Back to top Go down
Ragnar
Warrior
Warrior
Ragnar


Posts : 22
Trading Reputation : 0
Join date : 2009-06-13
Age : 48
Location : Thailand

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeSat 20 Jun 2009 - 10:55

Cool technique, btw how to you make the surface smooth??
Back to top Go down
Eliazar
Etheral
Etheral
Eliazar


Posts : 1987
Trading Reputation : 1
Join date : 2007-08-28
Age : 35
Location : Lund, Sweden

Personal Info
Primary Warband played: Pirates (Unofficial) Pirates (Unofficial)
Achievements earned: none

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeSat 20 Jun 2009 - 11:38

Ragnar wrote:
Cool technique, btw how to you make the surface smooth??

By using colour shapers!
Back to top Go down
Ragnar
Warrior
Warrior
Ragnar


Posts : 22
Trading Reputation : 0
Join date : 2009-06-13
Age : 48
Location : Thailand

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeSun 21 Jun 2009 - 2:50

Thanks Eliazar, let me see if i can find some in art shop.

Ps: how about Sculpting tools set?
Back to top Go down
Mr.chair
Warlord
Warlord
Mr.chair


Posts : 252
Trading Reputation : 0
Join date : 2009-06-22

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeThu 27 May 2010 - 19:08

Neat little trick I've found: If you pop your rolled out green stuff i n the freezer for 10 minutes you can pull it out and shape it on the model with your hands without leaving fingerprints.
Back to top Go down
vampirekhaine
Warlord
Warlord
vampirekhaine


Posts : 210
Trading Reputation : 0
Join date : 2010-02-21
Age : 40
Location : Dordt, NL

Personal Info
Primary Warband played: Undead Undead
Achievements earned: none

Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitimeThu 27 May 2010 - 19:37

Nice tip Mr. Chair. How did you figure that one out ? Do you always greenstuff with a freezer near? Razz

Ontopic:
Does anyone have a tip for me when it comes down to creating really small pieces of greenstuff? I am a true beginner in this department and had a lot of trouble modelling a thumb (as in finger) for my banshee. Either the tools are not small enough or the GS just sticks to everything, even the tools, and even after completely dipping it in water....
Back to top Go down
Sponsored content





Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Empty
PostSubject: Re: Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners   Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners Icon_minitime

Back to top Go down
 
Easy Techniques for Greenstuff Beginners
Back to top 
Page 1 of 1
 Similar topics
-
» GreenStuff Chainmail and Fur
» I do my greenstuff modeling with one of these
» How to make a pom-pom in greenstuff?
» Greenstuff Advice
» Eliazar goes greenstuff - a try on Orc Pirates

Permissions in this forum:You cannot reply to topics in this forum
Tom's Boring Mordheim Forum :: General Discussion :: Tutorials-
Jump to: