Sculpting progress

I have been working these past couple of weeks on my robot character sculpt, when I haven't been able to work on the other project of my final major, the mobile phone. I am quite pleased with the progress I'm making on it, and I believe after a few alterations I will have the character ready for moulding. I like the chavant clay that I'm working in however I am finiding it a little bit difficult to create a smooth finish with it. It could be debated whether I should have used a hard based material such as sculpy or milliput which I could then sand down to a smooth finish, however as I'm casting it in resin I should be able to do this anyway later on if I'm not completely happy with the finish.

Metal Powder Samples

As I am in the process of sculpting the robot this week I have been experimenting with metal powders in resin to create different effects that I could use when casting him. As the picture of him shows the robot is quite rusty but in places looks quite metallic. The metal powders I have been using are iron and aluminium. The aluminium powder polishes up to a better shine than the iron, which remains quite dull. However aluminium doesn't rust. I am happy with the results I am getting from combining the aluminium and iron powders. I can create an effect that gives me the shine and rust that I need. I have also tried painting the rust effect by hand, but don't think this is as effective.

Creating rust: Leave the sample in a solution of bleach, water and salt for over 24hrs and longer depending on how set in you want the rust to be.

Laser cutting

For the wheels and the legs of the robot I have used the laser cutter to create the componants in acrylic. I will then use them as a base on which to sculpt more detail with the chavant clay.