Righty, part 2.
So, what's a glyph plate? Well, it's the orkish written word, with overtones of graffiti. It's a pictographic language, and while there are some grammatical and phonetic bits to it, most glyphs refer to straightforward concepts like "bike" or "tough" or "git". In a modelling context, these are used instead of transfers or unit markings, and are fun little greeblies that you can add to a build. There are several reasons why I chose these as sculpting practice. First off, these are usually simple designs on a flat surface, something that simplifies their creation and subsequent recasting. We're talking basic shapes, with the acceptance of a certain crudeness, and as its on a flat plate, I'd only really need a one-part mould. Pictured (badly) here are my initial attempts.
Now, as was pointed out to me after the fact, (Hi EarthmanBrick,) green stuff isn't ideal for doing the hard lines of a glyph plate. This is certainly true, the prototypes looked a little bit soft, although I found the process to relatively quick, and a useful learning experience. I also discovered new and interesting ways to fuck up the recasting process as I was rushing. Once I'd corrected this, I decided to pick out the ones I liked best, recycled some others, and took another swing at it.
The second batch used slightly larger backing plates, but less putty. I flattened it out more, smoothed it more, and applied a craft knife for hard lines. This worked better than some of my initial attempts, although I will admit to getting some of them right the first time. By this point I'd also successfully retrieved some milliput copies, producing some usable pieces, but I found myself thinking that I'd got a little ahead of myself. Between the detail being lost and the time investment, it was becoming apparent that producing copies wasn't efficient. So, I decided to put the blue stuff aside for now, and maybe come back when mould making was more justified.
Overall? Useful practice.
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