How could I make miniature statues?

Question

I have to build a 3D model of the Mirador de Colóm (a.k.a. the Columbus Monument) in Barcelona, Spain. I need some ideas on how to make somewhat realistic-looking miniature statues. They need to be somewhere around 3 inches tall.

I'm also willing to buy some that look similar to the ones on the monument. If anyone knows anywhere that I could find small statues, that would help too!

Pictures of the monument with statues:
http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~grover/photos/Barcelona/Columbus_monument.jpg
http://columbus.vanderkrogt.net/es/barcelona.html

Answer 1

That's a very complex monument, with a lot of little things going on, including a lot of figures! But here is some info on using polymer clays, if you want.
```````````````````````````````````````

Polymer clay (Premo, Fimo, Sculpey, Cernit, etc.) are great for making small figures, but to truly get a *realistic* effect, you'd have to be fairly skilled at sculpting, and each one would take a fairly long time to make.
If you want to do that though, here are some pages to help:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/sculpture.htm
(... look especially in the Websites section at the bottom)
http://glassattic.com/polymer/sculpting_body_and_tools.htm
And a bit here:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/miniatures.htm
(... click on "Figures, etc."...)

OTOH, you could buy a few small kind of general figures (like action toys or small ceramic figures), then make a mold from each with polymer clay, and bake.
Then you'd need to shape some raw clay in the baked mold you made for the new figures (remove form molds, and bake the figures... they wouldn't have to be fully detailed on the back side so just a one-piece mold should work).
http://glassattic.com/polymer/molds.htm

If you got a basic figure without excessive clothing, or that just had a basic type of clothing, you could then add more clay to each figure to create a different defining thing, like a cloak or a hat, for example, or long hair.

While the clay is still raw, you could also change the basic pose of each figure. To successfully hold the pose during baking (since the clay can slump when heated if thin), you'd need to prop those figures, or parts that need it, with tissues or cotton fabric or polyester batting or a pile of cornstarch (...you could also use scrunched aluminum foil, but put a tissue over it to prevent any shiny spots from developing on the baked object in areas of contact).

You could use pre-colored polymer clays, or you could use original white Sculpey (in a box) or flesh-colored SuperSculpey (in a box), then paint over them with 2 coats of acrylic craft paints.
If you use white clay, you can also color it when raw by mixing artists oil paints (in tubes) into it, or a bit of acrylic paint (don't use much acrylic though, and let that colored clay sit out awhile before baking).

The 3 Sculpeys are more breakable after baking, and also softer to shape with, but that won't matter too much if you're careful with them after baking... also the 2 Sculpeys in boxes will be cheaper than the clays that come in bars.
(Premo, Fimo, Kato, and Cernit will be stronger polymer clays after baking, if that matters to you).
You can save money if you want by using an armature inside the figures instead of their being solid clay (like well-scrunched aluminum foil, or anything bakable at 275 F).

You can also make the clay color itself look like real stone from the get-go, as well as just painting it to look like stone afterwards for imitating the monument color/texture.
You can read about various ways to simulate "stone" with polymer clay on this page, if you want to do that:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/Faux--many.htm
(... click on "Rock-like Rock & Stones"....)


Good luck!

Diane B.

Answer 2

Femo or Sculpey are awesome to make small objects with. I use alot of Sculpey.

Answer 3

The word for the case is a "curio cabinet" or a "display case". The name for the statues is "religious statues". I figure you want the word, not the opinion of Christian as to what and how Catholics worship.

Answer 4

use clay ,i no that ,that is not the answer you want
but if it was me i would do a 3d drawing of it and take a lower grade