Diplodocus: playing with textures

[Seijun]

Here is the armature for a 1:40 dippy I am playing around with. My only concern is the angle of his neck. Is it too high? I wanted to give the impression that the he was striding forward and raising his head high to bellow, scaring off a predator or rival, but obviously I don't want him to be doing anything impossible.



For comparison, a GSP dippy in a neutral pose (middle one):
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U83fxvSfneU/TguMzR0SUFI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/A1RyhQS76cQ/s1600/Jurassic+sauropod+skeletals+I.jpg

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think your good.  The neck had some mobility and this doesn't look impossible to me at all.

Maybe I'll attempt a  Diplo one day myself..a juvenile one. lol

[Seijun]

I am almost done with the epoxy core.



Over this, I will be sculpting muscles and skin using a soft polymer clay.

[Himmapaan]

Squee, I'm so excited!  It looks beautiful already! And I think the neck looks absolutely fine!

Is it too premature to ask you to consider casting copies? 

[Seijun]

It is too premature I'm afraid I have a habit of never actually finishing anything (I have more fun starting projects than finishing them) although this one feels much more promising than usual.

[Roktman]

Very nice start. Would like to see this one finished!   

[Seijun]

Here is the core, finished:

[Lady medusa]

Im loving it! What kind of epoxy do u use? Im still learning what products can be used for sculpting. Since with air dry clay you cant use an armature and i would really like to use them! Are you planning to bake this since you are going to use polymer clay?

[Meso-Cenozoic]

This is looking great, Seijun! I'm with Niroot. If ever you decide to cast copies, you can count me in too! (Dippy's my favorite sauropod. )

You say he/she is 1/40 scale. About how long will it end up being do you think?

[Seijun]

He is roughly 26 inches long.

The epoxy I am using is called Aves Apoxie Sculpt.

I have started the clay-up, using a mixture that is 2 parts Super Sculpey and 1 part Kato Polyclay.

[DeadToothCrackKnuckle]

That's great! Can't wait to see the finished product!

[0onarcissisto0]

This is looking great so far!!!

[ingenia]

Very nice work so far! This looks really good!Do you work with gloves when you are using epoxy?

[Seijun]

Yes, I wear latex gloves when mixing the epoxy. When first mixed it gets very sticky, so gloves keep my hands clean. About 15 minutes after mixing, I usually take the gloves off. By then a lot of the stickiness has gone away, and I find it impossible to smooth and refine small details when I am wearing gloves.

[Horridus]

This is looking awesome.

My only concern is the angle of his neck. Is it too high?

Nope! 'Tis lovely. Can't wait to see it finished!

[ZoPteryx]

Wow!  Great work Seijun!  It's already looking amazing! 

[Seijun]

Photobucket isnt working tonight.

Anyway, here I have just started adding some wrinkles and muscle definition. Do you guys mind if I continue posting pictures every few days even though the changes may not be very major?

I am debating whether to try doing scales and making him look more realistic (could fail miserably), or if I should go with a stylized and very "sculpted" texture, like what he has now.

[attachment msg=11958][/attachment]

[Himmapaan]

I like this 'sculpted texture'.  You might perhaps add a few larger scutes and such (if you wanted to), but I think most of the scales would be too minuscule to be seen at this scale.

[postsaurischian]

   Great googly moogly!
The Diplo is going to be beautiful!!

                                                                                                               I want it when it's finished .

[0onarcissisto0]

Beautiful!!! Please do keep posting pictures. This thing is gonna be awesome