London Ambulance Column – Part 4

Well – its done!

Got to add a couple of buttons, fill a few undercuts, then the final clean up for mould making and casting. But as far as the sculpting goes I’m going to stop here before I over-work it.

The figure is now in primer, I like to do this to show up any flaws prior to casting, it also allows me to cut fine details into the primer filler. The other useful thing that you can achieve priming the figure figure before casting is the ability to dot in small holes and bad lines (look at the hat to see where I have dotted in a blemish and a nick in the brim). I have done this simply by directly dabbing in a tiny amount of primer with a brush, then allowing it to dry before sanding it with very fine wet and dry paper.

So here she is…

…remember she’s only 120mm in real life (this image is a lot bigger!).

The whole sculpt has now taken over three months! Not something to brag about, but there’s been a few upheavals in the Odell household in that time and a full time job to juggle it around.

This sculpt has been a huge re-learning curve for me (its only the third thing that I have completed in over twenty years) I’ve had to dig deep to find the old skills I once had, then chuck them all out as flat figures are a totally different ball game that comes with a different skill set! I’m getting there, but with this sculpt I have gained a lot of respect for those that have mastered this art (its not easy, that’s for sure!!).

I will be taking a cast off this, it will not be put out commercially, but I will be sending some castings out to friends in the flat figure community that have helped and encouraged me on my way. I would love to have that feed back from people who have studied this art form far longer that I have been apart of it, essential I feel before I put any of my work out to the buying public.

Not chosen the next subject yet (got so many in the project files), will concentrate on finding my feet with the casting process and I really want to pick up the brushes once again to paint a casting of this figure.

Many thanks for following this sculpt, its not the end of this figure, just the end of the first phase…

-Rich