Miniature Cat and Mouse Sculptures

Here are some awesome miniatures fantasy sculptures created by Matt DeGelleke. He is not a professional sculptor yet but he is interested in making sculptures to sell. He definitely has the talent and skill for it. These pictures are a fine example of what you can do if you set your mind to making miniatures. Here he outlines for us a great process of how to make complex and beautiful miniatures. If you want to sculpt your own you should read his notes carefully. Below I have posted some pictures of his work and some of what he says about how he makes these miniatures. If you are interested in his work you can contact me and I will put you in contact with him.

What Matt Has to say about his sculpting of miniatures:

I have been an artist in more forms that I can think of for a very long time, including pyrography, woodburning, glass engraving, some carving, and I had a lot of fun making the mouse. He took roughly 5 hours.  I made a 1.2 inch high version of the mouse, and wish I'd been able to solder the wireframe first instead of securing it with sculpey (Super Sculpey).  The small mouse isn't very strong and broke off a foot. as you stated, sculpey isn't strong enough to make molds, and I'll have to get ahold of the epoxy clay to make a new one.

The larger mouse was done simply by following the steps on yours and a few other sites.  I made the wireframe and firmed some of the parts using sculpey to hold the frame in one place.  Then I fleshed out the skeleton with the sculpey to give the rest of the clay something to stick to and overlayed the primary muscle shapes which I then smoothed together to simulate skin over the muscles.

I outlined the locations for clothing using a knife, and gave it form using thin rolled clay smoothing it in at the thickness I wanted it to be, defining cloth folds.   Separately I made the shield and attached it.  I then baked the clay, as it wasn't strong enough to add weight to yet. When it cooled, I drilled a hole in the hand and pierced it with a rod of metal into which I made the pin/sword in his hand.  When it was baked again, I used a dremel  work to define some details, such as the toes and the fur, and sanded it to give him a desired look.   The sculpey is tough when attached to a wire frame.  I put the mouse up on a high shelf to keep my cats away from him, but the cat got up there anyway and knocked it on to the floor.  He was cracked in several places, but I was able to reshape new clay into the broken areas, blend it and rebake it. Much to my shock, it worked!  I'm sure he's not as strong as he was when I made him, but at least he can stand on his own again.  He's away behind glass now so no more cats can get at him.

  The mouse was fun, as I was trying to make something unusual, but I enjoy exotics as much as the next guy. and dragons are everywhere. 

Looking for a clay so you can sculpt your own miniatures? Check these out:

ProCreate

Miniature Accessories: ProCreate (Professional Sculptors Putty) This is an outstanding 2 part epoxy that is perfect for exceptionally fine detail of small miniatures. If you are making minis in the 25mm range this is the product for you. Has about a 2 hour working time before auto hardening. This workable time can be adjusted a bit. It has good consistency and doesn't stick to your tools much. This is my favorite. I have an extensive tutorial where I use this putty. If you want to learn more about this putty I have a page with tips, hints, pictures and more

Super Sculpey (This is what Matt used to make his sculptures)

Super Sculpey FIRM Gray- One Pound - Inexpensive and easy to work with. You can get a lot of practice with this and make some nice miniatures. But it isn't fine enough for real small minis in the 25-28 mm range. And to cure this you bake it in an oven. Nice product. A pound goes a long way. Stays soft forever so need to worry about shelf life. I have more information about this product including tips, hints, pros and cons here. About Super Sculpey Firm

Games Workshop Green Stuff

Games Workshop Green Stuff Modelling Putty This is an effective two part epoxy that you mix together and then sculpt. It doesn't have to be baked, it will harden over a period of time. It is about the same as ProCreate but in my opinion in not quite as good. It tends to be a bit stickier and not quite as good to work with. But this is a great way to inexpensively get started making your own miniatures for dioramas or wargaming. Comes in a 20 gram package.

FOUNDRY MINIATURES PAINTING AND MODELING GUIDE

This is a fully comprehensive guide to painting and constructing miniature models. This book should help to get you started if you're coming to painting with no experience, and encourage you to try out a few new or different methods if you have painted before. Each technique is described in detail along with pictures to illustrate every step as clearly as possible. There's also a vast array of 'beauty shots' to inspire you to pick up those paint brushes!

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Table of Contents for this tutorial

1. Miniature Home
2. Miniature Painting intro & overview
3. Painting Miniatures Tutorial start
4. The Paints
5. Preparing the Miniature for painting
6. Priming the Miniature
7. What to paint first
8. More Painting and the details
9. Close-up of the completed Warhorse
10. Adding texture to the base for realism
11. Tips and hints for painting miniatures
12. Diorama and Miniature supply Store
13. New Painting Miniature Tutorial: A Spartan Warrior
14. VIDEO TUTORIAL: How to paint miniatures
15. Miniature Paints and kits at Amazon
16. Ral Partha Miniatures
17. Links and info about manufacturers of miniatures
18. Understanding Miniature Scale
19. How to Make Foam Terrain for wargaming or dioramas

Sculpting Fantasy Miniatures

NEW: How to sculpt fantasy miniatures

1. Part 1 - intro
2. Part 2 - Drawings
3. Part 3 - Making Wire Armatures
4. Part 4 - Your first miniature 6"
5. Part 5 - Make a 3" miniature
6. Part 6 - the musculature of the 3" miniature Viking Warrior
7. Part 7 - Our first Armor - we sculpt the viking helmet
8. Part 8 - Sculpting leather and chainmail
9. Part 9: Adding Belt, bracers and boots
10. Part 10:Painting the miniature
11. Part 11: 25mm Female Warrior
12. Part 12 : The basic shape of the mini
13. Part 13: Completing the body
14. Part 14: Adding the swords and doing detail
15. Part 15: Painting and finishing the miniature
16. Sculpting Fantasy Miniatures Video Tutorials
17. Sculpting miniatures store- all the supplies you need.
18. Sculpting tips

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THe Fantasy Guide
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