Materials: metal wire, kitchen/silver foil, plasticine, acrylic paint, paintbrush, and some tools to make patterns (I used kitchen wooden skewers and chop sticks).
As part of a project during my first year of university, we were tasked with learning to make 3D models. I enjoyed the process and I also found it really helpful in developing the design of the characters. Fast forward a couple of years, I also came back to making models for my final year project, so here’s how I make them:
1) In order to get the right dimensions, textures and expressions, you need some photo/drawing references to go from, so the model is as accurate as I want it to be.
2) To start off, the model needs a spine, a backbone to hold it together, which is where the metal wire comes in (this is called the metal armature). I start by creating a loop for the head, then twist the wire to get a spine and any arms and legs – it can look really inaccurate and messy at this point, but it doesn’t matter, because I’m going to be covering it up anyway.
3) Plasticine is heavy when you have a lot of it, so to make the model lighter, I next add scrunched up pieces silver foil to make the main body of my model.
4) After, I add a thin first layer of plasticine to cover up the wire and foil. I’m not worried about the colours at this point, as a thin layer helps to make it easier for the next layers of plasticine to stick to the model.
5) Now I start adding more plasticine to really shape the model into the character I want to make it to be. I usually start with the head of the model and work my way down into the body. I don’t really need any fancy tools to do this – I used wooden chopsticks and kitchen skewers to make the texture. I also focus on creating the main colour I want the model to be.
6) Since plasticine is very malleable, I don’t want the model to be accidently squashed, so this is why I decided to paint over the models with acrylic. This enables the plasticine to harden a bit, and I can also add more specific colour to the model. In the first model I made, I also created a dress out of fabric, which was fun to do.
That’s all the basic steps I use to create my 3D models – the best part is definitely experimenting with all the colours and textures of the models. Here are more photo close ups of my models:
