tyrannosaurus rex sculpture WIP ( make that acrocanthosaurus)

[spinosaurus1]

i have an announcement. i am now starting my first true sculpture. now from what i recall, it has been nearly 5 years ever since i ever touched clay. and even then i never was particularly good at it. after looking at inspiring figures and photos as well as a couple of sculpting tutorials, i decided to get back into the ring and try to master this art medium that i always wanted to master.
the clay i'm using is original sculpey clay bought in a quantity of about 1.7 kgs. i'm planning on doing a figure around 15 inches in total body length so i could have plenty of room to work with.


after extensive contemplating on what particular theropod it would be, i decided it to be tyrannosaurus rex because tyrannosaurus is a badass
photos of my progress would come soon and i look forward to seeing comments of guidance. any explanatory suggestion would be highly appreciated.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Congrats on your new endeavor! Bring on the pics!

[Kayakasaurus]

Can't wait to see it! We love pics! even armature pics. And blurry pics... And dark lighting pics... Even blurry dark lit amateur armature pics. Seriously though that's exciting 

[Arul]

Good luck for the work 

[spinosaurus1]

i apologize for the abysmal quality.( dang camera phone) but heres the start of the sculpture. i started of the drawings based on the proportions of sue. i mapped out everything i felt needed to be defined in the armature. once done that, i went in and used masking tape, hanger wire( had no other wire to use ), and aluminum foil to build up the armature.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

It looks like it will be good. Nice to see a closed mouth, too.

[Dinomike]

Looking good! Also - a very nice drawing there!

[spinosaurus1]

i now started bulking it up.the use if aluminum foil and masking tape was used to add the girth. i think i'm about ready to start adding clay.

[Redonix76]

It's coming along!!!! Looking forward to seeing more updates!!

[spinosaurus1]

the beginning of the head sculpt.

[Tyto_Theropod]

You're doing great so far, it looks like it's coming along nicely! I can't wait to see what the finished work will look like

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Nice progress pics!

[spinosaurus1]

man, i always new this, but being that i'm actually touching and observing it's proportion( which i'm quite sure is close to the proportions seen in scott hartmans skeletal design) t. rex is built like a tank.


and heres the big, meaty head.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Its looking good so far. I just realized you were using it, and I am sorry to tell you so late, but the original, white, sculpey is not my clay of choice. It is very soft compared to Super Sculpey, particularly when the sculpture has to be textured. It doesn't hold detail as well as Super Sculpey or Super Sculpey firm. I am not saying you have to do anything about it- I made some okay pieces with original sculpey in the past, however if in your next sculpture you use Super sculpey it will be better to work with, I guarantee. That being said, you are doing a very good job, especially considering how hard I had found original sculpey to use.

[spinosaurus1]

well, thats what you get when you chose quantity over quality . i have actually experienced these as i just started texturing the body. although, it's grand to know that it's due to the clay quality and not mostly due to my clumsy handling

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I also used original sculpey before for the same reason. As far as I have looked there are no big packs of super sculpey.

[Kayakasaurus]

I tried sculpey III and I didn't like it either. If I ever use sculpey again I'm going to look for a firmer one. Anyways... Your T Rex looks great!! It's just like your drawings but in 3D!!

[spinosaurus1]

more progress. i actually can't get over how thick this creature was. i always knew it was extremely robust theropod. but actually looking at a physical model, it gets the point across extremely well. one could only imagine what a therizinosaur of similar size would of been like



for the scales, i was actually kind of stuck on how to make them. originally, i made a stamp by pressing some clay to one of my godzilla figures then baking it. but that did not produce the result i was looking for. eventually, i had an idea. i took a mechanical pencil i didn't use anymore and cut the tip off. then i used a pair if scissors to wide and trim the overall circumference. by stamping the pencil tip into the clay, it created the effect i was wanting. unfortunatly, it  can get clogged as it occationally pulls off peices of clay as i stamp it. but hey, this is the first of many.

[Patrx]

Great solution to your scale conundrum, they look nice!

[spinosaurus1]

yes, some unfortunate news. the tyrannosaurus project has been cancelled. certain little siblings couldn't keep their hands off it 

i decided to give up on it. their were many things that i found fallacious with it, and certain things i should of done where absent and resulted in progress that imo, where less then desirable. that being said, instead of letting this thread die, i decided to start on another sculpture. this time, i look forward to completing this into the end. this time, i decided to do acrocanthosaurus because it is also a badass unlike the tyrannosaurus which was in whatever scale, i made sure that this acrocanthosaurus is in 1: 35 scale. it's over 13 inches in length and would stand over 4 inches at the hips.

i decided to get some practice on texturing as well i took a random piece of clay and started texturing it the different scale size and shapes i thought i can incorporate to my acro figure.. i'm still working with sculpey clay because super sculpey is a bit too pricey at this moment, plus the fact that i have PLENTY of sculpty clay left from the box. while super sculpey beats it in quality, original sculpey sure as heck beat it in product quantity by a landslide.




the black smuge marks was due to the fact that an pen exploded ink on my fingers. the clay picked up the excess ink that wasn't completely washed off.