Beginning with green stuff

Hey so I've been in the hobby for 18 years or so but never have I used green stuff or pinned a model. I recently emptied a jar of dip and found this


So I picked up my new dremel for the first time and stuck on an arm


And then tried some green stuff work

I used water to keep it from my tools getting stuck to the green. Anyone who can give me some tips would be great.

Thanks

Looks like a pretty decent start! With a bit of paint, it will do just the job

The best tips I can give you are:

1) Let the greenstuff 'sit' for 5-10 minutes or so after mixing. This reduces the stickiness and makes it much easier to use (tip given to me by Bob Naismith!).
2) Work in layers, don't try to do everything in one sitting (e.g sculpt the sleeve, next session sculpt the cuff, next session add the buttons).
3) Buy some clay shapers. A sculpting tool is great for general work, but rubber-tipped clay shapers really help for blending and organic shapes.

Hope that helps!

I agree with the above tips. The only real way to get better is practice, Im afraid. THere are no short cuts! HOwever, do some looking as well as sculpting. Get some ideas for how to do what you want by looking at real life and other sculpts.

Lick your tools (not the scalpel blades!), saliva seems to work better than water for getting smooth surfaces, and you don't end up with the pool of fluid on the surface you can get if you dip your tool in a pot of water.

Also trim out the section where the yellow and blue join together. If you don"t then these can create little lumps in your greenstuff where some curing has happened.

All the above is good advice. Also remember this little tip. You can freeze mixed putty so if you too much make up you can freeze. (Or make dragon eggs to go with old citadel eggs and young dragons? Well it is Easter ).

Ahhh, eggs - never thought of that! I usually make sausages of various thicknesses that, once cured, I can make pipes and tubes from, or slice into little rivets and studs. Or I coil up some rope by twisting together leftover strings, squash flat and make flora and foliage... I think I regularly mix more than I need

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I'm not usually the type to leave his comfort zone but, I couldn't let this fig go to waste

It was tricky to get the pin into the skinny ankle here's the finished product

He's got a bit of a cankle problem but at least he was salvaged. This is one of my favourite figs ever and the best leader model for Skavenslaves
I've gotten a bit more comfy with green stuff so I started on this

The pinning definitely went better than the green stuffing. Any advice would help; trying to put wood grain into it. I tried to do some fine grip work above the hand but I think it's ruined now.

Have a go at adding some texture to the greenstuff to get rid of the finger prints, when its set. Sand paper is easy. Another good texture is to cut facets off with a knife. It gets rid of the finger prints and looks like the banner pole has been rough hewn with an axe. Easy to do and looks quite realistic.