How should stern sculptures be made ?

I believe on Model Ship World there are some tutorials on carving. One thing someone taught me a long time was draw the carvings a few times till they look good. He told me- if you can draw, you can carve it. It seemed to help me a lot.

  Ron W.

Some parts must indeed be carved or modeled, but the flatter work, such as the plant vine kind of thing can sometimes be done with a fine paintbrush and thicker paint. 

As someone said above, practice is a big thing.  Start practicing carving, maybe on bigger stock, before attempting sculpturing for a small scale model.  Some folks start with carving a larger scale figure head or two, or three....  Once you get experience with some larger projects, start with smaller things.  In very small scale, even the carvings with more relief can be done with fine paintbrush.  Multiple coats can build up relief.

If you do woodcarving, do not use balsa.  While it is soft, the grain is large and inhomogenous.  Basswood is the ideal carving wood.

One thing for building up stern areas- I sometimes do them over a sheet of transparent celluloid or other clear plastic, full width of stern.  That ties everything together and also provides the glazing.

Thanks guys ! Appreciate all the help received.

Happy modeling  Crackers     

Seriously...no.

It's hard to imagine transferring carvings from one base to another.

Some of the other modeling sites suggest what I do.

Either get glitter glue from the craft store, or buy a little bottle of micro beads and mix it with Elmers (PVA).

Tease the detail on the transom with a toothpick.

Well, Doh!, practice first. But you'll get acceptable results.

Crackers ;

 The Baron pretty well summed it up . I have made made molds of Sculpey for resin -shallow molds and regular molding medium for larger stuff . I also have made molds with other stuff and pushed and kneaded the Sculpey into .This works well and it's paintable and sandable afterwards .

    I have cast many an eagle wing sets for many projects that needed wings - ad infinitum .  T.B.

You could certainly sculpt them yourself, and if you start, practice and keep at it, you may find that you can get pretty good at it.

You mentioned baking modeling clay.  If you want to bake the piece, ie, use heat to cure it, may I suggest that you try Sculpey?  It's a sculpting medium that is intended to be baked to cure it.  A lot of folks use it.

You could also try 2-part epoxy putties made for sculpting, such as Aves A&B, or Miliput.  They come as a putty and a catalyst.  You mix equal parts till blended, which takes a couple minutes of kneading with your fingers, and then sculpt your piece.  They will cure with time, to a rock-hard finish.

I have all three of those products, and use them, depending on my mood, and the subject.  For example, if I'm working on a figure and I want to sculpt some additional detail, I won't use Sculpey, since it has to be baked.

There are other products, too, available depending on where you're located.  Green Stuff is another putty, and there are some available in Germany, but their brand names escape me.

It is a good idea to wear rubber gloves, though, with any of these putties.  Some folks do show an allergic reaction to them, over time.

Hope that helps, best regards,

Brad

3D printer?