Hairy style braids.

[hairyyahoo]

Yo to you all.

Following some interest in how i sculpted the braids on my space pup, and some rether persistant nagging on the part of erus, i've come up with this simple how-to guide.

First things first, you're gonna need something to work on. Some people prefer to do their sculpting on the model itself but i hate having to get my sculpting tool into the nooks and crannies so i do this off the model and then transfer it on when the detail is mostly done. For my work surface i just used a thick sandwich bag. spread some water over this to stop the green stuff sticking to it and you're ready to go...

well, almost. First you need to let your green stuff cure for about 20-30 minutes (not 20-30 seconds like i did). once you've left it long enough, roll out a sausage and trim it to length. like this.



Now add the thick strands of hair. To do this, make small impressions in the sausage from one side at a diagonal angle and just over half way accross width, moving down a few milimeters each time. Then do the same from the other side. three horizontal impressions at the bottom make the hairband, like this,



Now go back over these "sections" of hair gently making marks in the same direction as the original impressions.



Lastly, feather the top out so that it looks like hair by scoring virtically. do the same thing at the bottom but make sure that the tassle dosen't become too flat or it will look a bit limp.



Thats the bulk of it done. All you need to do now is transfer it onto the model and attach it. But sometimes the green stuff won't stick to a smoothe surface. To solve this, gently scratch the area that is to meet the green stuff with the point of your sculpting tool. This gives the green stuff something to grab onto other than your tool or fingers. Oh, and be sure to kep your tools and fingers wet during the whole process.



Last piece of advice, have a couple of test runs at a larger scale than what you're aiming for and use blu-tac instead of green stuff. yes.. you heard me...blu-tac. If you whack it in the freezer for half an hour it behaves similar to green stuff and costs a butt load less, and is re-usable.

Happy now?

[Ion Raptor]

Great tutorial, the other ones need moved over here now though.

[Stubber]

Great work hairy...
I'll have to try this myself (and if I get good at it I may even attempt a cornrow)

Now I just have to wait for my sculpting tool to arrive in the boat from china.

[Ides]

Sometimes I curse myself for using real knives for this sort of thing...

[Stubber]

Ah yes...he showed me the knife he uses for this type of thing...
It's this big F-off penknife, I'd liken it to a dangerous butterknife in sharpness and clumsey size.

A sculpting tool or two really is a must for this type of thing.

[r4wr89]

awesome tutorial...and good pictures too! i hate it when tutorials have crappy pictures XD

[DeAd_cOmMaNdO]

nice work, though whats this? no end-result pic? we must see a finished example atatched to a model!

[hairyyahoo]

has been remedied.

[DeAd_cOmMaNdO]

thanks for the blu-stuff... i mean blu-tac tip, ill try that one out.

[Colonel Marbi Chora]

Oooooh, I like this. I have no skills with greenstuff whatsoever, so hopefully this'll help me get started.