I'm sort of interested in getting into trying to sculpt ponies

[ManaMinori 4,145]

I really like ponies and already have a pretty decent collection of official merch, I think. But my main problem is that there isn't enough (decent) merch of some of my favorite characters (Dj Pon-3, Sunset Shimmer, Derpy, along with Gen 1 and Gen 3 characters) and I've seen some jaw-dropping figures of ponies made by many of the fans, over the years, and I'd like to try to do the same. So......what should I know before going in and investing my time with trying to sculpt my own ponies? How expensive is it compared to buying official licensed merch? What materials would I need? What are the steps involved? Which pony is best for a newbie to start with?

[Jeric 46,855]

First, I'm still getting used to seeing you with an avatar.

 

OK. Cost issue first. It is actually more expensive to sculpt your own figures than buy mass produced versions.

 

Do you have any experience with any sculpting medium? If not I would suggest starting with Super Sculpy FIRM to hone and practice crafting a figure.

 

You can move to advances mediums and methods (making molds, proper firing, etc)

 

I'll shoot some more resources your way this weekend. It is a great hobby no doubt.

[ManaMinori 4,145]

First, I'm still getting used to seeing you with an avatar.

 

OK. Cost issue first. It is actually more expensive to sculpt your own figures than buy mass produced versions.

 

Do you have any experience with any sculpting medium? If not I would suggest starting with Super Sculpy FIRM to hone and practice crafting a figure.

 

You can move to advances mediums and methods (making molds, proper firing, etc)

 

I'll shoot some more resources your way this weekend. It is a great hobby no doubt.

yeahhhhh...that came about as a mistake, actually. I didn't think my IntenseDebate or gravatar account or whatever on EQD was linked to the one I had here. Confusing mess, but whatever.

Ok, that's a little worrying, since I'm not the least bit experienced in sculpting and I don't want to waste my money messing up or unsatisfied with how it turns out, once I start.

is Super Sculpy found at any art/ craft supply store? (like Michaels, in the U.S.?)

[Intenzifier 1,103]

I actually just started sculpting myself about 2 weeks ago and as Jeric said it is more costly then buying merch as well as time consuming (so much sanding) materials cost me between $100-200. The good things with Super Sculpy or Fimo is you can keep working with it you can usually just knead and blend it back and start over, and even when its baked you can still shape it a bit by sanding it and even if you sand it too much you can rough up the area a bit and add more clay then bake it so its forgiving to a point.

 

I'm really having a fun time sculpting and have some really cool ideas I'd like to try in the future once I'm a little more comfortable in my abilities. I think Michaels does sell sculpting clay at least on their website they do. I do suggest reading up on some tutorials to know what your getting what into, what materials you might need and to also learn a few tips and tricks, I spent the better part of a week doing that while waiting for supplies to get here.

 

I'm working on two right now Twilight my first sculpture and DustyKatt's OC (from SBMF) they are about 75% done I can't wait to finish it them up and start painting. 

[ManaMinori 4,145]

I actually just started sculpting myself about 2 weeks ago and as Jeric said it is more costly then buying merch as well as time consuming (so much sanding) materials cost me between $100-200. The good things with Super Sculpy or Fimo is you can keep working with it you can usually just knead and blend it back and start over, and even when its baked you can still shape it a bit by sanding it and even if you sand it too much you can rough up the area a bit and add more clay then bake it so its forgiving to a point.

 

I'm really having a fun time sculpting and have some really cool ideas I'd like to try in the future once I'm a little more comfortable in my abilities. I think Michaels does sell sculpting clay at least on their website they do. I do suggest reading up on some tutorials to know what your getting what into, what materials you might need and to also learn a few tips and tricks, I spent the better part of a week doing that while waiting for supplies to get here.

 

I'm working on two right now Twilight my first sculpture and DustyKatt's OC (from SBMF) they are about 75% done I can't wait to finish it them up and start painting. 

I was able to find the Super Sculpey in my locak arts and crafts store, but I didn't know which one to get. There's so many! I wouldn't even know which one to get. I'm going to assume I'd need paintbrushes, paints, and I guess an exacto knife, but I don't know what else, or even what kinds of paints and types of brushes to get.

would trying to make plushies with all the pattern- making and junk be relatively cheaper? (not that I even know how to do THAT)

[ManaMinori 4,145]

You should definitley keep looking into sculpting.

I want to- especially since sculpted ponies would certainly take up less space of what limited shelfing I have left (and they aren't as much dust magnets as plushies are) but I suspect there's a lot of tools I'd need to get, and I don't even know the specifics of everything I should get, and the expenses of it also have me hesitant- being something around $200, I believe someone said, and I don't really have a workspace.....(how big would I even need a sculpting workspace to be?)

[Intenzifier 1,103]

I want to- especially since sculpted ponies would certainly take up less space of what limited shelfing I have left (and they aren't as much dust magnets as plushies are) but I suspect there's a lot of tools I'd need to get, and I don't even know the specifics of everything I should get, and the expenses of it also have me hesitant- being something around $200, I believe someone said, and I don't really have a workspace.....(how big would I even need a sculpting workspace to be?)

I too was a little overwhelmed getting into sculpting a lot of things to buy but I wouldn't mind helping you through the process, the basics you will need is a set of tools I bought mine off amazon for like 20$ nothing fancy just for the tight spots and shaping you will need tools. Next clay a couple different brands you can choose from as mention above Super Sculpy and Fimo, I use Fimo soft right now its easier to work with than Fimo professional it blends good using your fingers and still solid enough to add details. I haven't worked with Super Sculpy yet but I do have some on hand and will give it a try sometime. 

 

Sanding paper of various grits 100-320 for sanding out any rough edges after baking any minor impressions or rough areas can show up after painting. Depending on the size of the sculpture you may want to look into making an armature which is a skeleton for your sculpture for A.) to reduce weight and thickness of a sculpture and  B.) to give support. An armature consists of pieces of wire tied together with a thinner wire ( I use 16 gauge plastic coated wire clay sticks better to plastic than metal and for the thinner wire I use 22 or 24 gague wire) I can go in depth on that if you choose to go that route 

 

An xacto knife is a plus taking of small pieces of clay I don't use it too much but it can help.

 

Those mention above will help you get started sculpting other items like paints can come later, keep in mind sculpting isn't a few days or one week process at least for me it isn't the two sculptures I'm working on has so far taken me 2 weeks so far given I only have a 4 or so hours a day to work on them due to work.

 

Here is a pic of my work station I found I didn't need much space.

 

 

I'm still new at this myself and learning new things all the time but I find it a rewarding experience and had some really neat plans for future projects in my head.

 

Lastly if you do pursue sculpting I can link you a couple tutorials I used to help me through my first sculpture they provided me some insight on how things should look and learned a few tips and tricks along the way. I also encourage you to do some research there are some tutorials on DeviantArt that can prepare you for when you get your supplies.

 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

[ManaMinori 4,145]

I too was a little overwhelmed getting into sculpting a lot of things to buy but I wouldn't mind helping you through the process, the basics you will need is a set of tools I bought mine off amazon for like 20$ nothing fancy just for the tight spots and shaping you will need tools. Next clay a couple different brands you can choose from as mention above Super Sculpy and Fimo, I use Fimo soft right now its easier to work with than Fimo professional it blends good using your fingers and still solid enough to add details. I haven't worked with Super Sculpy yet but I do have some on hand and will give it a try sometime. 

 

Sanding paper of various grits 100-320 for sanding out any rough edges after baking any minor impressions or rough areas can show up after painting. Depending on the size of the sculpture you may want to look into making an armature which is a skeleton for your sculpture for A.) to reduce weight and thickness of a sculpture and  B.) to give support. An armature consists of pieces of wire tied together with a thinner wire ( I use 16 gauge plastic coated wire clay sticks better to plastic than metal and for the thinner wire I use 22 or 24 gague wire) I can go in depth on that if you choose to go that route 

 

An xacto knife is a plus taking of small pieces of clay I don't use it too much but it can help.

 

Those mention above will help you get started sculpting other items like paints can come later, keep in mind sculpting isn't a few days or one week process at least for me it isn't the two sculptures I'm working on has so far taken me 2 weeks so far given I only have a 4 or so hours a day to work on them due to work.

 

Here is a pic of my work station I found I didn't need much space.

 

 

I'm still new at this myself and learning new things all the time but I find it a rewarding experience and had some really neat plans for future projects in my head.

 

Lastly if you do pursue sculpting I can link you a couple tutorials I used to help me through my first sculpture they provided me some insight on how things should look and learned a few tips and tricks along the way. I also encourage you to do some research there are some tutorials on DeviantArt that can prepare you for when you get your supplies.

 

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

thanks for taking time out to explain, one newbie to a newer newbie. XD (yeah, tutorials would be excellent. thank you. I've been trying to find YT tutorials, but no luck so far, one ones that go into enough detail)

Tools? I don't buy things online, but I can look for them in my local craft store. Does the color of the sculpting clay matter, any, if I'm eventually going to be painting over it, once it's done? (like, if it needs to be baked or anything, is that a factor?) I don't recall seeing Fimo brand, but I'll look again.

 

I think an armature might be best. I want to make relatively small figures (like around the size of official Hasbro Brushables, or Funko Vinyls, but it'd seem like I'd be wasting clay going in without a wire base to build off of, and save space, right? (though I do have some concerns about whether the armature might be at risk collapsing from the weight of the clay) 16 gauge plastic coated wire for the thick, and 24 gauge for the thin? (yes, please do go into depth. I could use all the help I can get XD )

 

I'll ask about paints and stuff, hopefully once I successfully get everything I need and get near the end of the sculpting process. What's the best tool for drawing features onto the clay? Any specific type of pencil or anything? Toothpicks for shaping out details (like if I were working on a pegasus, what would I be using to make each feather in the wing, or the lines in the mouth, nostrils, hair, ect.)

[Intenzifier 1,103]

Haha your right about that I kinda know what I am doing and learning on the fly but no problem you are welcome these two tutorials helped me get started each has two different styles of armatures 

 

http://frozenpyro71.deviantart.com/art/Tutorial-series-part-1-Armature-378439314

 

http://blackout-comix.deviantart.com/art/Celestia-WIP-How-To-Tutorial-Part-1-330281408

 

Each has multiple parts so look in the description for the links.

 

For tools I have a 14 piece set but only find myself using 1-3 of the tools the pic I'm posting is of my set and the pic of the single tool is my blending and shaping tool its the one I use the most, its got a fine point on the end and a cone shaped body good for rolling back and forth shaping or blending the clay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two sculptures I am making are 4.5 inches tall and 5.5 inches tall both have an armature, I was able to buy both my plastic coated 16 gauge wire and thinner 22-24 gauge wire and a local hardware store so that was a plus.

 

 

 

 

How I shape the armature is as describe in one the tutorials is printing off a pic of the pony (the size I want the sculpture to be for example if I want it to be 5 inches the pic I print off will be 5 inches) then using 3 different pieces of wire one for the body/head/tail and the other two for the back and front legs get a rough shape then wire it together with the thinner wire. 

This tutorial really explains it better than I can it also has pictures to show the process http://frozenpyro71.deviantart.com/art/Tutorial-series-part-1-Armature-378439314 

 

I wouldn't think the color of the clay would matter I use beige or flesh color just because that is what the tutorials I was using used. if you are going to paint it as you will be putting on a couple coats of white for primer before adding color. For shaping a toothpick can be used I use my blending tool as mentioned above for that something with a fine point should work, don't be worried about not getting the look right the first time I know I didn't its just something that takes time. Now I have yet to do something like wings but if I were to do it for folded wings I would make and shape out separate and put on after I got the body shaped and completed for making the fine lines I would get the overall shape of the wing done and bake it once cooled I would pencil on the lines (nothing specific) then carve it out with a xacto knife. You can add a bit of clay in the lines afterwards and run a toothpick or needle through them to smooth it out a bit then bake and sand it smooth.  

 

For open wings I'm not too sure in one of the tutorials they show you how to make Celestia's wings so I'm sure it would be something similar to that. 

 

For the mane and tail I also add them on after I do the body for the tail I got a rough shape made from the clay then baked it as I found it was hard to work with without a stable and solid base the clay kept moving on me and going to places where I didn't want it to go. I'm just starting the mane on both my sculptures and I'm doing the same with twilight's mane getting a good base to work from then adding to it after I bake it. For the mouth and facial features I shaped that all out when I was making the head I wanted to get it perfect or near perfect before I baked it because I felt it was going to be harder to shape it out with more clay and sanding if I just baked a rough shape.

 

Now you can go without an armature while I haven't done this a way to do it would be using tinfoil to reduce weight and be the skeleton then piecing it together. I'm not sure if you piece it together after baking or before that would be something I would need to look up.

[ManaMinori 4,145]

snip

This is all extremely helpful info. Thanks a bunch.

That first tutorial seems the most helpful, so far. Originally, I didn't think I would've needed a base of some sort, if the end result wouldn't be a figure that would be standing on it, for support (like a reared pose), but now I see how much sense it makes to have one for the wire support, before the sculpting process, from the get-go.

A 14 piece set sounds like you'd certainly be better equipped for anything. I don't know the names of any of the “detailing” tools I'd have to be working with (outside of Xacto knifes), so would I have to just go looking for these types of sets, where they have everything in them that I might need for the detailing, or buy each tool piece by piece, and have better insurance that there's no tool that I'm missing, if it's not in a pre-packaged set (if there are ones)? There's so many tools, it would seem a little intimidating knowing which to use for which task and part of the sculpt. I'll try to look up more tutorials that show the tools being used in each step. (hopefully there are more than I'm thinking there are)

 

It's pretty early in the morning for me, right now, and I'm not a morning person. (doesn't help that I stayed up half the night trying to prepare some sketches for the future ponies I wanna do) If I missed anything, and I'm sure I did, I'll give your post another look and hit you up with more replies if there's something more I have questions on.

Edited April 27, 2015 by Nightmare Muffin

[ManaMinori 4,145]

If anyone else could offer their advice....maybe a checklist for all the names of the tools I'd be needing, or something, that'd be great. Really.