Putty and Sculpting Materials Epoxy putty is a two-part substance that hardens by chemical reaction once the two parts are combined. Commonly, miniature gaming figures are sculpted from a plumbing putty that will withstand the heat and pressure required for the mold making process. This putty comes in a blue part and yellow part that combine to a bright green color. Original sculptures, regardless of the color of the putty used to create them, are still commonly referred to in the industry as "greens". What kept me from sculpting miniatures for many years was the inability to control the material of the actual "green stuff". I had compared it to sculpting with bubblegum. When I first tried my hand at it in the mid 90s there was no internet resource or community accessible for an isolated noob. After jumping back into the hobby again in late 2005, I discovered there was a wealth of info online and promptly completed my first few sculpts. I still didn't like green stuff very much because it was so different from the plastilene and polymer clays I was already familiar with. So, taking lots of tips from pros and others in the hobby I began to experiment with different putty mixing trying to get a better workability to what I was used to. The most frequently asked question I get is about the difference between green stuff and brown stuff. I have summarized it to this: Green Stuff is a two part epoxy putty that has an elastic property making it suitable for organic sculpting. It stays quite flexible after curing. This also makes carving, drilling, sanding or scraping impossible. Brown Stuff is an epoxy putty the has a more traditional clay-like feel to it making it suitable for non-organic sculpting, like weapons and armor. This makes it very suitable for carving, drilling, sanding or scraping. This also makes it brittle and very susceptible to breaking. So, I mixed the two putties to get the best properties of both and greatly reduced the frustration of their downsides. Then, in July '06 Pro-Create was marketed and I found a superior all-in-one putty that works for everything. Depending on the mix of white to black the cure and hardness will be affected. I personally perfer mixing it at a 2:1 ratio. By adding twice as much of the white part, the putty sets up firm and is more managable. Plus, it can be carved, drilled, sanded or scraped with good results. I use Pro-Create almost exclusively for all of my sculpting now. ProCreate putty is available through these fine online suppliers: Kraftmark - manufacturer's site Heresy Miniatures Impact! Miniatures Jeff Valent Studios Lance & Laser Masquerade Miniatures Musketeer Miniatures In all respects ProCreate works and behaves pretty much like the green/brown putties but there are a couple of things to watch for. When mixing it, there is a noticeable residue left on your fingers. This will create a "slip" if water is used as a lubricant during mixing. Be sure to wash your hands after your sculpting sessions. I cannot stress how unsanitary it is to lick your tools, that is defintely NOT recommended when working with this putty. Also, it seems to be very gooey when fresh from the package. I store my putty in little plastic jars and dig out a certain amount to work with. If this sits exposed for a couple of days, the hardener will firm up a little and make the putty more workable (unless you like it gooey). TOOLS Here is how I have now pared down my essential tool collection. The tools I use the most are the absolutely necessary Spoon Shaped Putty Knife, the #64NW Double Ended Dental Pick which is similar to the Wax #5 tool, a flat chisel and a round tapered color shaper, and a disposable #11 scalpel, which has been dulled a bit with sandpaper or a file. Other useful items are a container for water. I use a spent plastic blister from Reaper figures with a bit of foam in it to make a sponge. This is handy to keep your tools wet without saturating them. I stick some blobs of putty onto a plastic divider from those Plano plastic case inserts. This make it easier to cut off bits of putty to mix without having to dig it out of the packages each time. You can also use a plastic swatch cut from a clean milk jug instead of the dividers. I cover this with a bit of plastic wrap when not being used to keep it free of particles. A quick rip peels the plastic right off. I also have a little spritz bottle of rubbing alcohol handy to keep my tools clean. Uncured putty cleans right up with a bit of rubbing alcohol.Vaseline petroleum jelly is very handy for lubricating tools and various smoothing techniques. If you experience trouble getting fresh putty to stick on areas that are cured after using Vaseline to smooth them, clean the area with a bit of rubbing alcohol first before applying the frsh putty. Alcohol can also clean metal to remove the talc powder that is used in molds and the putty will stick better. THE PROCESS Although in these examples I am using Pro-Create putty, it was a process I developed using regular green and brown stuff. So it is suitable for those putties as well. Normally I will wet my cutting tool and slice off a chunk of the white part. Then I clean the blade so as not to contaminate the black part, wet the tool again and then cut a chunk of that half the size of the first. Cutting the putty this way allows me to get an exact amount to mix and produces less waste. I knead the two parts folding them over and over until the color is uniform. I tend to over-mix my putty a bit after the color is smooth. This firms it up a little and assures both parts are blended. Swatches of plastic are very handy for creating all manner of items. Here I use the divider from a Plano plastic case insert again. I find these little dividers very durable and will not curl up under the heat of a putty oven like milk carton plastic tends to do. Once the putty has cured, I use my cutting tool to carefully pry the part, in this case a pile of stones, off the plastic divider. This technique is very useful for creating swords, shields, guns, bases and other objects. Two-sided items like guns can be made easily by sculpting one side first and then after completing all the detals and curing, the item is popped off and the opposite side is detailed. Plastic wrap is also very useful! It is extremely handy in smoothing large areas, especially with a bit of Vaseline applied. Once the area has cured, the Vaseline can be cleaned off with a little alcohol and fresh putty applied for the next stage. The best trick I learned from a class with Werner was belts and straps. A blob of putty can be stuck to plastic wrap and then cut to shape. By popping the shape off of the plastic wrap with the side of your scalpel, it can be applied to the sculpture and then smoothed into place. The best plastic to use for this technique is heavy freezer storage bags cut into 2" squares. For sword blades, putty is smoothed over another plastic swatch. Here I use a bit of milk-carton plastic to flatten the lump and make it even across the surface. If I wanted wire in the blade for support I would wrap the putty around that and then stick it to the plastic. Wetting my cutting tool, I trim a rough shape into the fresh putty in the shape of a sword blade. I make this slightly larger than the finished blade to give me a little room to work on it after it has cured. Once it is shaped and allowed to cure, it can be easily removed and filed or sanded to shape. Additional details like the hilt, pommel and decorations can then be added in following stages. This rabmbling collection of tips hopefully has encourged you to give sculpting a go. It wasn't intended to give any instruction in actual sculpting, that is a whole 'nother topic! But, this should give you a good starting point to using and handling sculpting putty. If you are already doing figure conversions, you are half way there to making full figures. Give it a shot! ---Patrick

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