Sketchbot Prototype Sculpt - Phase 4

So, I'm upstate and have lugged all the materials with me to create the mold and pull some positives. The only problem is, I underestimated how much OOMOO 25 was needed for the mold! I ended up using two kits just for one side of the mold. I'll now have to wait until getting back to the city on Monday and visiting The Compleat Sculptor for more Smooth-On materials to finish the mold.

It's clear that I'll have to further machine the first resin pull, as the Sculpey is just too fragile at this point to continue working on, especially drilling holes for inserting ball-bearings as rivets. Additionally, I filled in the right hand so as to avoid a concave surface in the mold (I didn't want to undertake too complex of a mold my first time out). This will allow me to drill out a more accurate surface for holding the accessories.

As usual, more pictures up here on Flickr.

Sketchbot Prototype Sculpt, Phase 3

Alright, finally getting to the sanding and smoothing stages. I've been doing quite a bit of tiny corrections, then re-baking, sanding, and repeat. There's still that minor crack in the bent arm that just wont take the filler - grrr. During the last bake I decided to do a Photoshop colour mock-up to visualize the final paint. I'm going to try and finish the detail work tonight so I can make a mold tomorrow. Then I'll pull a few resin positives over the holiday weekend. A few more pics up on Flickr.

Sketchbot Prototype Sculpt, Phase One

I finally had time on Friday to begin a sculpt of the Sketchbot prototype. In addition to creating a 3d model in the computer, I believe it's equally - if not more - important to execute a traditional sculpt that will allow me to better visualize the forms and volumes, and get a feel for how the object will hold up in real life. Having not actually sculpted since taking a figure sculpting class back in college, I decided to just dive in.



I printed out a size template and used the old cardboard reference trick. I had a pretty good idea how to lay out the underlying armature, however, I think I underestimated the amount of aluminum foil I should have used below the clay layer. I did wrap the thicker wire of the arms and legs with thinner gauged wire so that the Sculpey would have a surface to stick to. (not shown here, once I was rolling I ended up doing less documenting and more sculpting!)




I used an entire(!) box of Super Sculpey just to flesh out the form and ended up baking it longer than instructed because the thickness of the clay was greater than 1/2" at some points. (Next time, I may consider using Styrofoam or balsa wood shaped closer to the actual shape.) The sculpt looked fairly burnt in areas and is rock hard. I hope I'll be able to adequately carve and sandpaper this down a bit. I also need to further explore the "Firm" variant of Super Sculpey that air dries and would most likely have been a better base layer to use. In any case, this first attempt was beneficial in helping me figure out different ways of translating the 2d concept into a 3d form. Stay tuned for more updates!