Sculpting an Ent WIP

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:11 pm

Hi guys, pics below show a project I'm working on at the moment. I'm using the spare head and arms you get with Games Workshops metal Ent boxset. The details were inspired by UKFreddyBears Birch Tree Giant and the Treebeard model.

Garden wire for the frame, milli-put for the initial shape and rough markings and finally green-stuff for the branches, bark and roots. The face will have a bit more details sculped into it as will the branches on the back of the model. Will probably add some more details to the milliput areas as I couldn't work it very well. Anyway, it's great fun, definitely give it a go and use up them spare pieces!

Chris · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:32 pm

they looks realy good! awsome job

Red Corsairs · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:41 pm

Looking great Jack. Looking forward to following you working on this. Are you going to bulk up the arms?

theavenger001 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:32 pm

Looking good so far, I just recently finished sculpting an ent. It was really fun. I hope your enjoying yourself.

Chris · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:54 pm

i want to see more, I am interested in your project, i also want 1 ent or 2 :-D

keep us updated!

Dead Marsh Spectre · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2011 10:00 pm

Your ents look great and your sculpt is excellent tho the last picture is really scaring me - I just want to reach out and stop treebeard falling off the desk!!!

GothmogtheWerewolf · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:53 pm

Very nice work, can't wait to see it painted

BilboOfTheWhiteTower · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:54 pm

Really nice job so far, cannot wait to see him finished and painted!

Elros of Numenor · **Posted:** Thu Nov 10, 2011 4:51 am

NIce one! I'm planning to start a similar project, only from scratch so this is really encouraging! Cheers

Ukfreddybear · **Posted:** Thu Nov 10, 2011 12:25 pm

Looking good so far.

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:46 am

Thanks everyone!

It's nice to see so much encouragement. I know the old metal set is quite controversial and isn't quite what most envisaged from the books etc. But these made it much easier for a first-timer. I think I will have a go at sculpting an entire Ent from scratch next time, in another pose. I've also got a plan to sculpt my own Huorns although these are just ideas atm. I think Mithril produced a Huorn model, however I am looking action poses in scale with the LOTR GW miniatures.

Hopefully this will be fully sculpted by tomorrow, good to hear others are taking up the green...stuff

Red Corsairs wrote:

Looking great Jack. Looking forward to following you working on this. Are you going to bulk up the arms?

I actually like the details in the arms but agree they are small by comparison. I have since added bark around the should area and upper arms. There is still a lot of bare metal showing though, I always thought the legs should be the thickest limbs, the arms to me resemble branches.

ps. no models were harmed in the production process (Treebeard is safe)

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:21 pm

An update!

Sculpting is complete! I've learnt a number of things along the way.

Most importantly, don't rely on milliput for details. It may have just been the way I was handling it but I struggled at every stage, the mixing was considerably less satisfying than when i was mixing the Greenstuff. It tends to stick to fingers as well although water did help. Perhaps I struggled most of all because i was using a hand file rather than a proper tool

Anyway it was great fun and hasn't put me off sculpting which was the main goal lol

Pictures below

Sorry for the excessive number of images, I won't post as many once its painted. I'm interested to hear what you think about the details as I plan on making a few more but from scratch this time! Any suggestions for poses or tree types, would quite like to sculpt an Ent from TTT but I'm not sure if the site which had all the 'still shots' still exists :roll:

This would be so that I could practice sculpting a copy rather than just making it up as I go along

Ooh wouldn't mind sculpting a few Huorns too! Mithril produced some a few decades ago but I'd like to keep them 'treeish' ie no claws, teeth etc. Would appreciate your thoughts or how you interpret them to look based on their descriptions in the books. I think Tolkien wrote they moved like a black shadow/ghost across the land (while the Rohirrim were sleeping). Thanks for reading

Dead Marsh Spectre · **Posted:** Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:33 pm

Your Ent looks great!!!! The details are perfect. Milliput is strange stuff to work with I agree, Incredibly sticky and very over responsive to water even with a sculpting tool. Green stuff is much more workable. As for Ent inspiration for future projects just Google images Ents and theres plenty of inspiration there. Look forward to more :yay:

Ukfreddybear · **Posted:** Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:58 pm

lorderkenbrand wrote:

An update!

Sculpting is complete! I've learnt a number of things along the way.
I'm interested to hear what you think about the details as I plan on making a few more but from scratch this time! Any suggestions for poses or tree types, would quite like to sculpt an Ent from TTT but I'm not sure if the site which had all the 'still shots' still exists :roll:

This would be so that I could practice sculpting a copy rather than just making it up as I go along

Very nice. Milliput is near impossible to sculpt with in my opinion, but if you mix it with Greenstuff it becomes lovely. Only suggestion I can make is work on your areas where the putty meets the original model. A spoon tool is ideal for this. You can really thin it out by pressing firmly. The fact you've done that with a file is quite impressive.

I have plenty of Ent screenshots, plus concept art etc from the movies if you get stuck. PM me your email address and I can send them to you.

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Tue Nov 15, 2011 1:26 pm

Thanks guys! :-D

Ukfreddybear - Thankyou for proving me with feedback, I took a lot of inspiration from your Birch Tree Giant and the posts you've made on the Palantir and here, they helped me tremendously

I had no idea you could mix greenstuff with milliput, simple ideas are always the best! I will certainly try that on the next one. I've ordered 36" of green stuff off ebay, so fingers crossed it's not some cheap imitation of GWs Greenstuff and also a set of 6 sculpting tools, double-ended! That would be excellent if you could Dave, pm sent

Was trawling through google images (thanks to DMS) and came across this site, has 95 different images of ents, most from the films.
http://ents.one-ring.info/ents/0ohc8isa

theavenger001 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:06 pm

This guy looks very nice. I like the additions of the fungi you put on that one leg, though I agree with Freddy, the blending (especially on that one seeing it up close) could be a bit better. Great job overall though, and I hope to see him painted up soon, they don't take too terribly long to paint up and (I at least) found it lots of fun to paint. :yay:

Red Corsairs · **Posted:** Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:17 pm

Unfortunately I cannot give you feedback anywhere near as helpful as Dave as I am useless with putty, but what I can say is... it looks great. Nice work with this Jack, I like the pose and the extra details you've added.

Ukfreddybear · **Posted:** Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:06 am

lorderkenbrand wrote:

I had no idea you could mix greenstuff with milliput, simple ideas are always the best! I will certainly try that on the next one. I've ordered 36" of green stuff off ebay, so fingers crossed it's not some cheap imitation of GWs Greenstuff and also a set of 6 sculpting tools, double-ended! That would be excellent if you could Dave, pm sent

Was trawling through google images (thanks to DMS) and came across this site, has 95 different images of ents, most from the films.
http://ents.one-ring.info/ents/0ohc8isa

Nice reference that. Some of the pics I sent are also featured there. The 36 inch ribbon is exactly the same as what GW sell. They simply cut it into smaller sections, repackage then charge you the earth for it.
Mix the Greenstuff seperately first, then the Milliput, then mix both putties together. You will see your work improve with the addition of the sculpting tools. Your next investment should be some small silicone clay shapers. A cone and a chisel edged one will be all you need.

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:27 pm

One step at a time Dave lol, I'm trying to ween myself off using the trusty hand file

Okay so I've taken all my ents out of storage in order to paint them up and add details etc. Never got round to finishing them first time but on a bit of a roll at the moment so fingers crossed the weather keeps up it's bad habits!

I've created the shape for the next ent, thanks again for sending all those images across Dave

The first Ent sculpt has seen some paint, specifically a variety of browns and greys followed by a dark brown 'wash' wish completely drowned out most of the colour! Will have to highlight at some point.

Also in a previous thread I promised I would upload some images of my Black Numenoreans, inspired by conversions someone else had done. They are Dark Elf Corsairs from the Warhammer range, fantastic sculpts with lots of accessories which could be used to convert orcs, corsairs into reavers, easterlings and all-sorts! The shields are just Dark Elf shields - i've cast a few extra as they are pretty expensive! I'll be using two GW Black Numenoreans as the generic captains.

Also work on my Winter Painting Challenge entry, a dragon from a Magazine issue, with a few changes. Namely 'faceguard style ear flaps' for the cold winds, longer horns, a central horn feature above the nostrils and a pointy chin (don't ask me why lol)... Also dragon scale armour above the limbs (keeps them protected from the cold perhaps?). It's going to be a pain recreating a second 'ear' like the one i've fluked first time around, fingers crossed... Finally filled the wing details in but I may give it a second coat. It will be a pale dragon, I'm just not set on a colour yet, light grey maybe? perhaps a grey blue? Let me know what you think thanks

Chris · **Posted:** Fri Dec 09, 2011 4:21 pm

Fantastic dragon lorderkenbrand ! Cant wait to see it painted

Sculpting an Ent WIP

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