Montag, 21. März 2011

Fullbody Hairing - The English Version - Part One

So here we go with the tutorial, since I know that my English language readers are waiting so much for this, I wrote it right away in English to be faster about it. I hope I did not make too many mistakes. ^-^

1) Introduction:
Hairing complete model animals is fun, but can be rather time consuming. Still the result is usually so lifelike that it was worth all the time and curses (probably) invested into the endeavour.
This method usually enhances furry companion animals and horses/ponies that are supposed to have their winter hair. You can also use this technique to create a beard on your model-riders, though.
The following two images show some examples of finished animals and also compare different materials used.
First image:
hairing-how-to
1 – Dog OSC (the very first I ever made), material used : rather coarse sheep-wool, already dyed white
2 – Schleich Shepard puppy, not altered, material used: rests of mohair
3- Dog OSC (my second one), material used: rests of mohair
4 –Dog OSC, material used: coarse sheep-wool and mohair
5 – Schleich foal, not altered, material used: rests of mohair
6 – No-name toyhorse, hooves overhauled, material used: coarse sheep-wool

Second image:
hairing-how-to
Both dogs are sculpted and haired by Juliane Garstka of Luckenbach Ranch. Material used: real fur, I think of a rabbit

2) Materials needed:
  • Reference photos
  • A model animal (Consider that hairing will make the model look thicker!)
  • Paint in the colours that you find on the animal
  • Hairing material* in the above mentioned colours which has a texture that fits the breed/condition of the animal you are remaking (coarser material for a pony in winter-fuzz, for example, finer hair for a dog that does not live outdoors)
  • Glue that dries up transparently
  • A little container for each of the hair colours (preferably not plastic, as it gets very static, glass is better, but something like a folded little paperbag does it, too.)
  • Sharp scissors, normal sized
  • A pair of small scissors, if nothingelse is available, use your nailscissors
  • Optionally a pair of tweezers
  • Time and patience, like for all remaking activities
*You can use about everything hair/wool-like
  • mohair (expensive)
  • wool from a ball of wool(split the thread to get single hairs)
  • sheep-wool (Sold like this in our hobby stores here: http://www.trolle-und-wolle.de/images/pflanzengefaerbte-maerchenwolle.jpg)
  • any other kind of wool that is not yet spun into a ball of wool
  • plush might work, too, but I haven’t tried it, yet, so don’t go and shave innocent teddy-bears and expect stellar results…

Part two follows in a moment.