I have one of my original dinosaur sculpture up for auction on eBay. It is similar to the film version stegosaurus in King Kong as it has pebbly skin and eight tail spikes. Proceeds from the final bid price will go to benefit the St.Baldricks Foundation for childhood cancer research.
Here is the link if you'd like to take a look :http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120897889574
Another method of creating realistic looking water effects is to use clear resin. I first used resin on a project in the early 1990's. That sculpture depicted two men hauling a net full of mackerel into their dory. Unbeknownst to them a Mako shark had been zeroing in on that school of mackerel and breached right next to their boat.
The creation of that sculpture was detailed in an article I wrote about sculpting and mold making titled Mako Antics for issue 32 of Breakthrough Magazine Spring 1993 . The resin I used for that project is Polytranspar Artificial water distributed by Wildlife Artist Supply Company.
Unfortunately I don't have digital pictures to share of Mako Antics but here is a photo of a recent sculpture I did where I used similar techniques to create the resin water.
If you are familiar with the film The Old Man And The Sea you may remember this scene where Santiago is bringing in his catch lashed to his skiff.
This piece required sculpting clay waves around the skiff and Marlin. Making a rubber mold of the water. And casting tinted resin in the mold to get my resin waves.
Another product I find useful for creating water effects is Envirotex. If you've ever been in a pub and seen a coin embedded on the table top under a clear coat of material likely it was EnviroTex!
I prefer using it over resin to create still water. It doesn't give off the awful fumes that resin does. Another advantage over resin is the surface dries completely tack free.
In this sculpture of a Gorgosaurus coming upon a dead dinosaur in a burned out section of the forest I used EnviroTex to make the water in the shallow creek.
In the close up photo you can see the stones and moss that line the creek bed. After gluing everything in place I drizzled a thin layer of EnviroTex over it. When it cured I poured subsequent layers till I achieved the depth I wanted.
If you've ever wanted to add water effects to your work using resin I'd encourage you to go for it. Just be sure to follow proper safety precautions in using it. And expect to go through some trial and error experimentation before using it on anything important!
One tip I would pass along is to keep a work journal and detail everything. And I mean everything! Right down to the temperature and humidity on the day you make your resin pours. You'd be surprised how it can effect how the resin behaves.
And I can't stress enough to test the compatibility of everything that is going to come in contact with the resin. It can be nasty stuff and attack certain materials
I'd also advise you to keep a dated record of the age of your resin. It definitely has a short shelf life. For that reason I always make a point of mixing up a small test batch before adding it to my project. Trust me you don't want the hassle of trying to remove uncured resin from your project!
The final painting on the sculpture was done by dry brushing to accent the plates and scale work.A dark wash was applied over the stegosaurus to tie the colors together and bring out the texture of the scales.
After spraying the stegosaurus with primer I brushed on a coat of liquid latex to mask off the tail spikes.Using an airbrush I misted a couple light coats of Polytranspar Light Bass Green over the entire sculpture.
He would advise me to any changes he would like made and I'd rework the sculpture. We went through three revisions of the brontosaur's look till we hit upon the one that pleased him.
At that point I stripped the polymer clay from the wooden skull and switched over to sculpting in Apoxie Sculpt clay. The final sculpture was built up in layers allowing each layer to cure before adding the next.
The final layer of Apoxie Sculpt was given a scaly texture. Here is the finished brontosaurus posed in front of the unpainted sailor and tree trunk.
Using balsa wood I carved a skull for the brontosaurus. Then it was on to drilling the locations on the jaws where the teeth would be.The teeth were sculpted of Super Sculpey clay over a stiff piece of wire.
When I had my teeth completed I baked them at 350 degrees to harden them.
The teeth were then taken outside and sprayed with white primer.
When I was finished sculpting the tree and sailor they were sprayed with grey auto primer. The tree was then base coated with light tan acrylic paint.
Next I dry brushed some brown over the whole tree trunk.
After dry brushing the trunk it was sprayed with Krylon clear matt and then given a wash of dark acrylic paint to hi lite the texture of the bark.
I hot glued Styrofoam to the dowel and used a rasp to begin to rough out the shape of the trunk.Next I coated the Styrofoam with mache and drilled holes in the wood block base to accept sections of wire coat hanger. The wire would be the foundation for the trunks roots.
After the mache had dried I began building up the tree trunk in Apoxie Sculpt clay.
I drilled a hole in the trunk where the unlucky sailor would be positioned and inserted a section of brass rod. The rod would serve as a post to secure the armature of the sailor figure.
After the first application of Apoxie Sculpt had cured I applied a top coat which I textured to look like bark. Then it was on to beginning the sculpting of the brontosaur's helpless victim.
Since the neck and jaw were going to be manipulated for stop motion animation I installed a stop nut in the side of the body. This would enable the Styracosaur to be tightened down onto the set and prevent unwanted jiggling during animation.
When I had finished the sculpting I gave the dinosaur several light coats of grey automobile primer. I then built up the sections of jaw and neck which would be animated with foam rubber.
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