Sculpture--Buddecke Bust

Augie · 1 February 2007, 04:10 PM

As I indicated in this posting, I have been busy with my first entirely original piece in this genre: a 1/8th scale bust of Hans Joachim Buddecke. The face is "all-but-done"--there's about 25-30% left to do, but I am far enough along, with "everything in its place", that I can now begin to devote some attention to the balance of the work and integrate the head with the rest of the sculpture. To this end, the kalpak and tunic are roughed-in and in the preliminary finishing stages. . .

Augie

PS--Since I took this image a few days ago, I have tweaked the left eye, and further refined the planes of the face. Slowly but surely. . .

Rich74 · 1 February 2007, 08:59 PM

Augie,

Buddecke is a great subject to depict. A colorful character.
He's really coming to life, great likeness. Looking forward to more of your in progress shots.

Have you seen the Turkish pilot that ModelCellar is coming out with?

Keep up the great work!
Rich

Augie · 2 February 2007, 02:56 AM

Thanks for the kind comments.

Buddecke's coming along very nicely. I am very much enjoying the "casual", "no deadline" approach that affords me not only a constant "fresh look" at the work in progress, but leaves the door open for any new insight, as well as the opportunity to "stumble" upon a hitherto unknown photo of the subject

.

While the likeness is most attainable, I'm still struggling with uniform details: namely details of the kalpak (cruciform? or star-shape?? lacing); and when it comes time to painting, the colour of the lacing and the tunic.

RE: the ModelCellar offering, I've seen images of the the painted piece, but nothing in the way of the master or a raw casting.

Augie

Bonehead · 2 February 2007, 09:38 AM

Hey Augie,

Great subject!! Having sculpted Buddecke myself, more than once, I find him a great subject!

He has an archetypal slavic face and his name confirms that ethnic heritage.

You have made a good start with the likeness! There are two points which I think will make it better. One, his eyes need to be more deeply recessed beneath his brow. You can see in the above photo how his right eye seems to nearly disappear under his brow. His eyes are quite deep set, in fact.

Great job on the mouth! I would say that the lower lip needs to recede a little more beneath the upper lip. In some photos (not this one so much) it almost looks as if the upper lip is compressing and pushing the lower lip downward. You have this going very well, I think it only needs to be exaggerated a little more.

I didn't know you carved your figures. That sure takes guts! I prefer soft modeling myself. The lacing on the top of the hat is a simple cross shape. One tape fore and aft, the other side to side. You have got to love those Turkish pilot's wings! They are perhaps the most beautiful flyer's insignia ever concieved. Awesome!

I hope this helps! Keep up the good work!!

Cheers!!

Mike Good

Augie · 2 February 2007, 02:13 PM

Hi Mike,

First off, thanks for the kind comments. Your points are duly noted and I agree in toto.

I'm working off a select group of ten photos. This is the pivotal image:

The mouth is still very much a work in progress--arguably the most distinctive feature of the subject. One of the first things that stoked the creative juices was the apparent overbite: always a challenge to avoid the lapse into caricature.

The eyes are just about there, but as you noted, there is still some "reduction" to be done. In fact, that was the first thing I touched upon after examining the digital images--and it can stand a bit more

.

More of a hybrid approach, but essentially a carver. The general shape and volume are modelled in; once cured, I break out the tapered burrs and the #12 X-acto blades. Diversity is the life's blood of the creative process!

Having sculpted Buddecke myself, more than once, I find him a great subject!

C'mon now. . . surely your not going to leave us hanging like that??? Any pics?

Thanks again. And in closing, I hope the Voss figures are available by Atlanta. . .

Best,

Augie

Bonehead · 4 February 2007, 10:36 AM

The mouth is still very much a work in progress--arguably the most distinctive feature of the subject. One of the first things that stoked the creative juices was the apparent overbite: always a challenge to avoid the lapse into caricature.

Yes!! The overbite is very noticable. I know what you mean about lapsing into caricature, however, I sometimes find myself idly looking at people's faces and am sometimes shocked by how "exaggerated" these features can be in real life. Go ahead, PUSH it! Sometimes a little exaggeration gets the point across much better. A case in point would be Frank Caliendo's briliant imitation of John Madden. He sounds more like Madden than Madden does! It is because he has so clearly picked up on the mannerisms and pushed them a little further. That is art, my friend!

Having sculpted Buddecke myself, more than once, I find him a great subject!

C'mon now. . . surely your not going to leave us hanging like that??? Any pics?

Well, unfortunately there are no pics. The sculptures in question were faces only. One I did for one of the dozens of Dragon figure sets I did during the '90s. I did so many of them that i could not possibly hazard a guess as to which set it was in. The second was a sculpt for a GI Joe I did for Hasbro. Again, it was an early '90s thing. Sorry to disappoint. But I do still have a casting of the Dragon head in 1/16 scale in my spares box. Perhaps he could become a full figure some day.......?

By the way, I am not familiar with that pic in your email. It is certainly one of the best I have seen of Buddecke. Cool! Maybe if I saw some more of those pics I could be "inspired"!!??

Cheers!!

Mike