Marie Tepe Sculpt Finished

Well – for all intents and purposes the Marie Tepe Sculpt is finished, there are a few niggling things to refine but they will not take long.

This sculpt (as with the London Ambulance Column figure) has taken a considerable amount of time to complete and as a result has really pushed my patience at times, making me contemplate if I really want to work on full figures at this scale any more? Got to face it – my eye sight isn’t what it used to be and perhaps it would less frustrating and more enjoyable to concentrate on sculpting larger portraiture/busts in the future (like the Amy Johnson bust). We’ll see…

The sculpt is around 130mm (5′) tall and at the highest point about 8.5mm thick, its not something I planned to be this thick, it simply emerged from the subject matter and sculpting process.

As ever this sculpt has been a learning process and the old techniques I have been using have contributed to the length of time the sculpt has taken (I find myself working and reworking certain areas over and over again that really should be done in one hit!). New polymer clay mixes and using epoxy putty (for facial features and fine detail) should reduce the time on the next sculpt and have already been trialled in readiness.

Next up is to get this moulded and a few castings taken from it, I will being making some available if anyone is interested but I wish to attempt painting this one (for the box art) before releasing them. I’ve not painted in over twenty years, so bear with me, it may be a while before these go on sale (and the result of the painting may not be world class!). I’ve got to paint this one – I’ve avoided knocking the rust off my painting skills for far too long (I’m way over due enjoying the end result!!).

Am I happy with the result of this sculpt? Yes and No – some things work, some things just about work and others I wish could have been done much better – but hey! – that’s all part of the leaning process that we all never get to the end of…

-Rich