Hugs the Teddy (Scratch built WIP)

[nerdelemental]

Those of you fortunate enough to have gotten your hands on a Nightmare version of Teddy know that there's a ton of luvin in the box. Two heads and multiple extra parts and whatnot. I have more than my share of teddies already, but I hated to let one head go to waste, especially when it's so full of character.

As a hobbyist, I've done a bit of dabbling in just about every aspect of miniature gaming. Naturally, greenstuff/putty repair has been a part of it, but recently I've had the bug to try something a bit bigger in scale. When I resculpted the arms of my Hooded Rider so that his sword was off to the side in a bit more dynamic "slashing" pose, I figured I could move on to something bigger and it was during the painting of the Nightmare Ted that I remembered his extra noggin'.

Thus, the impetus of Hugs the Bear.

Disclaimer: I never thought I'd do a WIP of anything. Certainly not of sculpting. I don't know diddly about it other than the internet research I've done on the topic and the brief experimenting I've done on various projects. I'm just a hobbyist. But, I'm having enough fun that I thought I'd share the trials and tribulations of the work and even get some help from you all regarding different pose and final shape ideas.

Here's where I am after ~3 evenings:

Here's how I got there:

I started with a copper armature. The wire's from a stripped bit of electrical cable, 14 gauge. It's literally just a stick figure to rough out his shape. Pics make it difficult to see, but he's leaning forward a bit and his arms are more or less extending in front of him. I want him to look like he's a toddler wanting to be picked up for a hug.

After the wire form, I used some Fimo/Super Sculpy (I have both, cannot remember exactly which I used: both are the higher end modeling clay) to bulk up the core body. You can see that I used light tan underneath the white putty. The epoxy putty I'm using is the highest end Milliput. It's the white super-fine stuff. In the past I've used Greenstuff and Brownstuff and Procreate and they're each good and behave differently. I'm enjoying the fine Milliput most. I like how it behaves with water, doesn't really stick much (which is a detriment when you're putting it onto something but good when you're sculpting), and the working time is ironically longer than Greenstuff, but fully cures faster than Greenstuff. Like, you've got two hours to move it around and then two hours after that it's as hard as a rock.

The second and third night I did the fur sculpting. It's tricky. There's clearly some sculpting concepts I'm working out. For example, I began by 'cutting' the putty into fur shape, but it failed. That method tends to drag the putty and tear it rather than look like recesses next to fur clumps. The method I'm going with is more of a 'press' tech with my sculpting tool (like a big needle). You press it and the raised part is the fur. This looks like the core method of the original Teddy. The Nightmare Teddy is sculpted with a method that currently eludes my nooby-ness. It's like real fur. Stupid professionals.

Here's one with his pro-sculpted head:

And from the back:

That diaper he looks to be wearing is me bulking out his bottom a bit more. I want Hugs to look super chunky and fluffy. Like his creator. Also, you can see some thin brass wire. That's where a seam has busted and the wire is the thread. The sculpted blob is the stuffing coming out. I thought about doing more broken seams, but I'm learning that less is actually the more part of the equation, although I'm still tempted to put a sewn patch on him somewhere. Might detract from what's already going on. Could use your thoughts on it!

Here's some size comparrison shots. The Nightmare Ted is NOT completed. Don't judge me!

And Hide-n-Seek Teddy. Can you spot him?

Next up: I plan to complete the fur all around. Once that's done, I'll bulk up his outstretched paws and sculpt some wicked claws. Bigger than original Teddy, but more thin and dagger-like than Nightmare's. His reaching pose is what he's all about so I'll have to get his arms/claws just right.

Finally, my decisions:

~Do I claw his feet, too? Both the official pieces have clawed feet but I'm tempted to leave mine as they are.

~Name ribbon thingy? I briefly planned to have a big circle on his belly similar to the original Teddy's heart and I could put "Hugs" on it. What are thoughts about a round medal on a ribbon? Or just let his pose speak for him?

~If not that, what about a ribbon bow tie like the Nightmare version? If not either around his neck, should it be left as it is or is there a different idea to add interest?

Edited October 26, 2011 by nerdelemental

[edonil]

I say put a ribbon around his neck like a bowtie. Beyond that, I'm very impressed, excellent work.

[WookieeGunner]

Looks great. Since you are going for a "friendlier" Teddy, how about sewn paw patches. Something like this: http://www.ec21.com/offer_detail/Sell_Bear_paw_gloves_stuffed--10370170.html but with chunky stitching like this: http://cupcakecutie1.blogspot.com/2011/02/babushka-softie-doll-tutorial.html

Also, you could do a Heart Tag ala Beanie Babies.

[Mergoth]

First off judging from your other models I can see in the background, "noobish" is not the word I'd use!

So far it looks grand, though the nappy - sorry, daiper, could do with some bulking. Oversized safety pins come to mind. I reckon if you finish that off that'd be his feature, like original Teddie's belly, or nightmare Teddie's bow.

If you don't want to give him claws, it could be cool to make ragged holes where they've retracted, or have them just peeping out beneath the surface of his skin. Claws on his hands would make the pose more expressive as well.

[nerdelemental]

going for a "friendlier" Teddy, how about sewn paw patches.

Also, you could do a Heart Tag ala Beanie Babies.

Yes and Yes! The Heart Tag might be perfect. Will have to ponder. Don't want it to be the full scale, though, or it'll overweight it visually. Need some thinking time on it, but I like it.

First off judging from your other models I can see in the background, "noobish" is not the word I'd use!

So far it looks grand, though the nappy - sorry, daiper, could do with some bulking. Oversized safety pins come to mind. I reckon if you finish that off that'd be his feature, like original Teddie's belly, or nightmare Teddie's bow.

If you don't want to give him claws, it could be cool to make ragged holes where they've retracted, or have them just peeping out beneath the surface of his skin. Claws on his hands would make the pose more expressive as well.

He'll certainly have wicked long claws on his hand. And that's not a real diaper. It's just the bulking out of his tush. He'll have fur over it. I just called it a diaper because it's white putty and looks like a diaper to me.

Thanks for positives so far! It's fun.

[Mergoth]

And that's not a real diaper. It's just the bulking out of his tush. He'll have fur over it. I just called it a diaper because it's white putty and looks like a diaper to me.

Then I vote to give him one. I think that'd be super creepy.

On a side note now I think I know what I'll be doing with my spare NE Teddy head. I was going to try graft it onto a Bloodthirster, but this has kinda inspired me.

Edited October 26, 2011 by Mergoth

[G&TBoy]

Very nice.

[Memento Mori]

I like your thinking! When I finally have some space on my painting table I'll probally also be using the extra stuff from the nightmare teddy box, cheers for the inspiration and looks good.

Edited October 26, 2011 by Memento Mori
iSpelling

[ModollerMorgan]

I think you're on the right track, making models is hard but yours is coming out nicely.

[DireTrollJake]

Ok, now let's see you run Dreamer and 3 Teddys at the Nov 5th event. $5 says you won't and win it

[Stern]

very nice... I quite fancy having a go making my own now

[Omenbringer]

This is a great Teddy, inspires me to do something similar with mine.

Wait a minute what am I saying! I shouldn't be encouraging this, aren't you supposed to be writing fluff for the next book or something?

[nerdelemental]

This is a great Teddy, inspires me to do something similar with mine.

Wait a minute what am I saying! I shouldn't be encouraging this, aren't you supposed to be writing fluff for the next book or something?

Pshuh. That stuff writes itself!

Here's some updated images from another 1.5 hours of poking at some epoxy putty. Unfortunately, the most work was done to his tush (where's CommanderY to make a reference about me and tushes?) and the backside shot didn't turn out.

Enough for you to see some progress, though. I'm afraid that his right leg is a bit thicker than his left. Not sure it's either enough to worry about or even relevant. As he's a very soft teddy with loose fabric (I'm trying for the illusion of it anyway with various lumpy rolls around his bod) maybe it'll convey appropriately anyway. I'll be moving ahead and when he's nearly done I'll ask for criticism on the two legs and decide if I want to shave one down.

Here's one of backside progress, but the edge of his bum sort of blurs with the image of his right leg making it look like his tush goes all the way to the ground.

[easternheretic]

Wow, nice looking teddy! The seam you've sculpted at the sides of the arms look particularly nice.

Wished I had thought of this before I painted up my NE Teddy. I had the model cradle the 2nd head in its arms instead of the kid,

I planning to sculpt some PJ on the spare kid and use him as a "flying" dreamer way into the future.

Cheers!

[Rorik36]

Looking great. What a perfect idea for the extra head.

[nerdelemental]

Finished (mostly) the fur. Onto the claws and other visual items of interest.

I built the claws huge. Crazy huge. Not to put them on Hugs that big, but because I thought it'd be easy to shave them down to the appropriate size as I went. So, these are the biggest version but once I dry fit them, as seen here, I kinda like the look.

Is it just too over the top or can it work?

In sculpting them, I decided to depart from both studio pieces. The claws on Original Ted and Nightmare Ted are both very organic and round and cracked/creased like a living creature's claws. I decided I'd make mine more like razor blades, or Wolverine's claws. Still need some work, but I'm looking for the size and scope before I clean them up any more.

Also, I'm liking the idea of a name tag tied to him so I made a simple round one and it's currently sticky-tacked to his ear just to see if it looks right. If so, I'll tie it with more of that thin brass wire to look like thread.

Thoughts so far?

(edit: Argh! Photobucket's screwed up. These pics are all rotated there but are coming here knocked to the left. Stupid photobucket. I'll work on it!)

Edited October 28, 2011 by nerdelemental

[Lord Shaper]

I like them but they may be slightly too long for the figure.

You could always have them looking like the end of Fish Hooks as well for that sown together feel

[Mergoth]

Painting WIP?

[nerdelemental]

Coming soon.

Frankly, I hit a BIG snag on the sculpting. The F'ing BOW TIE is beyond me. I've done five of them. I'm on my last one now and plan to get some pics up and going of the current progress.

See, I'm hoping that when it's done there's little to point the finger at and say "Nice attempt for an amateur." I want it to stand up with the existing line enough that people don't even notice and might occasionally say "Where did you get that?" So, I could just scrap the bow altogether. He doesn't really need it. There's enough going on visually. However, part of the point was to improve my sculpting skills and challenge myself, so I'm fighting until I get it.

the problem? Several, and they're all learning curve issues. First, I tried to keep using the Milliput because I like it, but it's clearly not the right kind of putty to use. It gets too hard when it's dry and is actually not sticky enough to sculpt with on this small piece (the bow). You need to attach one small poxy roll to another at a small connection point and it just becomes work, work, work.

So I switched to Procreate with better results but built the bow on a wire armature and the scale just got out of whack too quickly. >

Now, I'm mixing the medium. Built a core bow shape with milliput and later today plan to do better sculpting with some procreate or greenstuff.

Also, I think this is an example of subtractive sculpting being better than additive. Build it up and then cut the shape down with Xacto and dremmel and files. We'lll see!

Thanks for your continued interest Mergoth. I sort of quit updating because I thought no one really cared much about it and got the general idea. I'll post a few more updates, though.

Edited November 5, 2011 by nerdelemental

[Mako]

Have you tried mixing the milliput with some green stuff? I found that to be fairly sticky and good for working little details in multiple stages.

I've somehow missed this so far, but it's looking good and I'm looking forward to seeing it finished!

[Mydnight]

I love how "Hugs" is coming out! The way the head looks compared to the rest makes him adorably horrifying! It's like some child ripped apart pieces of her dollies and stitched them all together to make one monstrosity, er, good one.

Towards the beginning you mentioned using a bow or medal and that got me thinking (and this may be a bit late), but what about a 1st Prize Blue Ribbon? He could be Hero Teddy!

As for the bow, I've recently had an experience where I tried to sculpt a couple of bows for a Strumpet's Necrotic Machine. I feel your pain on the scale size, but one thing I kept in mind (also to make it easier not to cry when trying to sculpt a smaller scale) is that sometimes a bigger, fluffier, over sized bow can actually work. It may be better on the Necrotic Machine than Teddy, but something to keep in mind.

My sculpting is proto-noob if you consider yourself a beginner. I'm getting better, but I have to sit down and do more. I've been using Grey Stuff only so far and need to branch out a bit.

I'm not a fan of the claws sticking out perpendicular to the pad of the paw. It looks awkward to me. It comes down to personal preference but if you have a way to curve them towards the paw I think that would add to things a bit. Perhaps the pictures don't show the claws that well, it's hard to tell.

[WookieeGunner]

Have you tried something like this?

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread743173/pg1

[Mergoth]

If you give up on the bow go for the diaper!

If I'm having trouble with sculpting, I've had luck with alternate materials, for instance using elastic bands stretched tight, tied and hardened with superglue to make straps and belts, or cloth (from an old pillow case) soaked in glue to make banners.

For a bow you could tie one with fabric and carefully harden it if you're coming up against a wall. A small ribbon dipped in varnish might have a smoother finish than my lazy glue technique, but certainly try different combinations to get the best one before sticking it to the model!

[nerdelemental]

Good advice. Makes me wonder how the pros do it. Like, if they're leaving the putty in lieu for other material more than I realize. Whatevs. I think I've got some that are going to work. Pics later.

[TheOneWhoFell]

Wow, Bowen! He's amazing!!!

I can't see photobucket pics at work, and have been looking for this thread so I could check them out, and finally found it. This teddy is amazing! The detailing you did is fantastic! Can't wait to see him painted up