[razorwyre1]

just wondering... i know that action figures are sometimes sculpted at 2:1 scale, then reduced during the mold-making process to their production size. does polar lights do that on their figure kits (or any of their kits for that matter)?

thanks in advance for the info

 

[Rattrap]

Most of the Polar Kits are sculpted at a scale of about 1.5:1. I'm not PL staff, but I once asked Dave the same question.

 

[Steve CultTVman Iverson]

I've seen a couple of the prototypes in person and they are really cool. They are 1.5 scale

Steve

 

[razorwyre1]

thanks for the info. so a 1:8 kit would be sculpted at 1:6....
(im sculpting a 1:8 gk right now and was wishing... thats what brought it to mind in the first place)

 

[dreamer]

(im sculpting a 1:8 gk right now and was wishing...

Wishing you could do it bigger and then shrink it? Same problem I'm having trying to teach myself how to sculpt. I've got two particular characters (won't say who) I want do next year, been talking about them for years now and had a number of false starts. Exact likenesses for the faces are essential...I've been trying to do these sculpts in 1/6th, and have decided that this early in learning I should try 1/4th instead. Takes more material, but it's gotta be easier!

That's how Tom "bwain" Parker and his sculptors do it with the stuff he sells, sculpt it bigger to be as accurate aand smooth as possible, then shrink it. If I knew casting I could do that too, but I don't know the process and have never gotten into casting.

 

[razorwyre1]

i know a lot about molding and casting, but havent run into an accurate way to do shrink things yet. I'd really like to get in touch with Mr. Parker about this....

 

[dreamer]

I haven't been in touch with him for awhile, but he pretty much is the company "Cult of Personality productions", specializing in replacement parts and accessories. If the address on Buc's site is current, you can reach him at [email protected] . Otherwise, maybe someone at the Clubhouse has his current address, or watch for him to have something new in Cult's shop or Amazing Figure Modeler.

It's not a direct size-to-specific-size process, though. It's shrinking it by a matter of degrees with each casting...if I recall correctly. Be ready for alot of waiting.

He was once working on an Adam West head, and sent me a proof much larger than the finished product would be. Although the thing was to my eyes a dead-on likeness for Adam West, he still wasn't satisfied with it!

 

[Steve CultTVman Iverson]

I haven't been able to get a hold of Bwain since January! He fell off the face of the earth, though he mad a reported appearence at Chiller in April.

Steve

 

[Just Plain Al]

He has resurfaced at the Clubhouse, I purchased a couple of kits from him 2 weeks ago.

 

[beck]

ahhh , that's good to hear . i was beginnin' to get worried about him .
has he got any cool new stuff ?
hb

 

[razorwyre1]

hmmmmm well most resins shrink a tiny bit when cast, but soething like 1 or 2% max.... stepping down in that manner would really be more trouble than its worth. latex shrinks at about 7% and ive seen that used to step down scuptures, and alginate shrinks about 30% as it dries but it also distorts in unpredictable ways. oh well the search goes on, meanwhile i stick by my "if i can see it that small i can sculpt it that small" motto

 

[A Taylor]

He casts dental alginate in silicon molds to get a smaller copy. The alginate shrinks uniformly when it is fully dry. He usually has to do this several times to get things the right size.
AT

 

[Pygar]

I *think* that Bwain once told me he gets an evener shrinkage by soaking it in denatured alcohol so the water is replaced. Or some such. Maybe I read it somewhere.

 

[razorwyre1]

yeah ive tried the alginate thing. shrink? yes uniform? depends on the overall shape of the part in question, ive gotten a lot of warpage when trying it on certain parts. on the sculpt i just completed, trying the alginate trick would have been disasterous, and far more work than sculpting it at production scale.

i remember talking a fairly renouned sculptor at chiller who transfers his sculpts to jewlers wax for final finishing before he goes to the silicone molds, and we mentioned the shrinkage and inherant distortion in that process as well.