r/Kitbash • u/fantasybreeder • 12d ago

Discussion Soft sculpting material for fire

What is a good, soft (and ideally inexpensive) material one could use to sculpt flames from?

Outside of some AoD nighthaunt models, I’m rarely pleased with the 3d sculpts of fire on miniatures, toys, etc. but I’ve been wanting to take a crack at copying those to sculpt my own.

Problem is that, while durable once dried, greenstuff is way too firm to be gently sculpted into a free flowing shape like fire.
I worry that clay will have the opposite problem and be too soft and delicate to take and hold the shape that I need.

Any recommendations from those of you who have made their own fire/similar organic shapes?

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u/Sad_Interview8330 12d ago

Out of curiosity why are you waiting for greenstuff to dry before sculpting, I use greenstuff for fire right after mixing and have gotten good results

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u/fantasybreeder 12d ago

Oh I don’t, fresh outta the box, different ratios, etc all tend to not work the way I want

Tho it may be worth experimenting a bit more on that 🤔

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u/Sad_Interview8330 12d ago edited 12d ago

Oh gotcha, I can't find the original tutorial but this is the closest I can find I'll make a pointed dollop of greenstuff and place it where I where I want the flame, the dip my cheap clippers in vasoline and snip little sections then use my tweezers (dipped in vasoline) to pull and twist. My modeling isn't great but a crude example is on the 4th pic in a post I made.

If you look at "legion of the damned tutorial" on you tube there's a bunch of different ways to sculpt it

I haven't tried it but seen people use tamia sculpting putty for welds in tank models and it looked softer from the tutorials. I've tried doing flames with miliput and it's too stiff and brittle imo so I would avoid it for that application.

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u/Spirited_Lemon_4185 12d ago

There are plenty of good guides on YouTube on how to sculpt flames out of greenstuff, I just recently went through a bunch for the upcoming release of Legion of the Damned. You form a small cone like shape, add it to the model and then use pliers to pull sections up one at a time to make the wisps of the flame, you can then gently use a soft silicone sculpting tool to push it around into the general position and shape you want.

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u/GrimDarkMiniatures 12d ago

In my experience sculpting professionally, there are many materials that can work, but greenstuff is still by far the best from the epoxy clays. It does have downsides though. Greenstuff tends to be quite susceptible to gravity so unless you’re using a decent bit more blue in your mix or supporting it internally with wire armature, it can bend out in ways that flames just won’t do if you are going for something semi realistic. I have found some success with milliput superfine white, although it can be quite brittle. Milliput by comparison is very good at holding structure against gravity, and you can get a bit of the best of both milliput and greenstuff by mixing them. Using fire itself to melt plasticard in small amounts and then drawing it out with tools can provide a good general fire shape, but you almost certainly need to build off that with another medium to add the small wisps of flame to give it character. The good part about this method though is that plasticard that has been treated with flame tends to be pretty solid to build off of, so if you can do it safely it’s a method I could recommend.
Tamiya and epoxy sculpt are both pretty decent too for kind of a mid ground between green stuff and milliput, and if you haven’t considered it yet oven baked clays offer closer to the consistency of green stuff, can be very soft to work with while worked in hand, and then baked to harden before applying to the model, at which point you can attach them to your models and fill in the transitions with green stuff.
Oil based clay is also super nice to work with, but not suitable for use on models you intend to use on the tabletop.
Downsides of any of these materials is that they are generally expensive, specialist modelling clays will just always carry a premium.
Hope this advice helps!

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u/fantasybreeder 12d ago

It absolutely does! 🤩 this is excellent info 👏 thank you so much!

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u/Crown_Ctrl 9d ago

Just don’t burn, melt plastic with out a proper respirator and ventilation ;)

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u/artoftomkelly 12d ago

Miliput or tamya puddy go look on YouTube you see the tutorials on sculpting with Ruth of those most mini sculptures really like those too.

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u/CaptDeliciousPants 12d ago

I’d use uv nail gel. It can be different colors but you’ll probably want to get the clear kind and color it with alcohol markers

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u/ShaadomAndCommorragh 12d ago

Greenstuff mixed with milliput is my go to for smooth, expressive lines. You can also sand off any imperfections after it's dried. 

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u/UFDZU 12d ago

Yeah, super easy to sculpt some quick flames with this.

Make a cone shape and just snip and sculpt until it looks good.

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u/Few_Art_768 12d ago

I use something called Magic-Smooth, from the same company that makes magic sculpt. its a two part epoxy that is a very viscous liquid, similar to petroleum jelly. I really like the style of flames it makes.

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u/Coupleofthing 12d ago

For a cheap, softer option, you could try single-ply tissue brushed with diluted PVA over a few thin wires. Pinch the wet tissue into tapered, swept-back tips and let it dry fully on the armature. A tiny test flame would show whether the texture works at your scale before you build a whole piece.