SilentSurfer's Laboratory: Come up to the Lab & See What's on the Slab.

[SilentSurfer]

Just looked at the 2012 Sideshow Calendar (very beautifully done, BTW) and saw some of my work in there, and thought I'd post it.

First, Mr. March, Zartan

and Mr. May, Obi-Wan 1/2 scale Kenobi

It also had one of my behind the scene shots I took when I painted them.

Here's the actual pic and a couple more from the same set. I wish I had my new camera when I took these. These barely show how nice they looked in person.

And again, on display at SDCC 2011. Photogrpahed by RebelScum.com, I believe.

 

[twik25]

That is absolutely amazing.

 

[SilentSurfer]

Wish I had the 2011 calendar with Jason Voorhees in it. Missed out on that one.

 

[Restaurajones]

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT Lord of the Paint!!!

And again, on display at SDCC 2011. Photogrpahed by RebelScum.com, I believe.

 

[Morbach]

wow dude. Just wow. amazing.

 

[Cheungkinmen]

awesome! .

 

[CREG Customs]

You know - I always thought you did really solid paint apps... then you post your recent works. What on earth was SS thinking dropping you? Where they scared that the work was too good?

This stuff is amazing man. God's given you an awesome talent there bud.

 

[SilentSurfer]

Maybe they did.

and

He certainly has.

Granted, it takes a great sculpt like these to make my paint look any good.

 

[Damien]

if Silent painted lazy eyes they would have kept him

 

[mark7612]

Pretty much each different material is going to have its own smell. I've sculpted with various clays and waxes and they each smell different than the other. So far, I've never thought the smell of one was over barring or distracting.
You do not need to keep the wax at a bubbling state. I typically will cut off small pieces and heat them up with a small heat gun I bought at michaels to make it plyable if it is a hard grade wax. When I was sculpting the balrog from LOTR I put large blocks in the microwave for a few seconds to make them easy to put on the armature and rough out the body. You can get them in hard, medium or soft grades. Each offer advantages over the other.

I've only worked with SS but have been wondering about making the switch sometime. Does wax smell funny when you're working with it? I know it sounds like a silly question, but after hanging around someone waxing some furniture today I don't think I'd be able to take sitting trying to concentrate on a sculpt with a pot of the stuff bubbling away on my desk.

 

[mark7612]

From what little I know of using wax, I believe it's actually a solid block that you take tiny chunks of as you need it with a heated sculpting tool.

I could be way off though.

Yep, this is pretty accurate

 

[SilentSurfer]

Thanks for the info mark. Would you mind PMing me with some info on good starting material and tools for wax sculpting. I really want to try it. The only thing that sucks about being a good painter is that you can't just do it once and sell copies; you have to put the max effort into each piece every time. It would be nice to make something and just cast copies. But then again, I'd still probably have to paint up each one for the customers.

if Silent painted lazy eyes they would have kept him

 

[cokebabies]

I'm not adding anything new that hasn't been said already, but hot DAMN at that Walt - all the variations.

Definitely your best work yet.

 

[stshammgod]

if Silent painted lazy eyes they would have kept him

Funny,yet strangely, and sadly true.

I find that Nathan's work comes out best in the best of sculpts. Nathan plus Trevor equal jaw droppingly awesome. Mind you there are other awesome sculptors out there, but this pairing is just the best!

 

[TheProcrastinator]

Kenobi looks fantastic(as everything else in this thread). I was wondering about the "stippling" effect on the skin, that gives it this natural texture. Do You paint the dots by hand, or is it applied by an airbrush?

 

[Hosam-G]

A little poster fun for my Facebook albums

Nathan, you're a legend my friend!
I can't wait to get my Heisenberg

 

[SilentSurfer]

Kenobi looks fantastic(as everything else in this thread). I was wondering about the "stippling" effect on the skin, that gives it this natural texture. Do You paint the dots by hand, or is it applied by an airbrush?

That's one secret I wish to keep to myself.

 

[MarfMaster]

So what's up next Nathan, the Evil Supermen? Are you just doing repaints, or full on weathering etc? Excited to see those!

 

[SilentSurfer]

Turns out Superman isn't quite as high on my list as I thought, but I'll be doing full custom on those.

I have a few more heads to paint up first, including another batch of McBlurryface.

 

[xYx]

That paint job on Walt is simply to die for.