Footnotes

Sculpting something for the Skyefigure to stand with.

The claws I already had. Back when I was making Whirlwind, I mixed way too much putty and figured I might as well use it on something since it'll harden regardless. I made a bunch of little raptor claws, in case I'd need them for something. I think at that point I was already planning on making Skye from scratch, though I hadn't quite decided yet exactly how, so they were always meant for her. I picked the ones that looked like they'll work best for the size of the figure. Also, another little reference image, for getting the length of the toes right.

Victoria and one of my fluffy Velociraptor figures (who might as well have a name, too - she's called Kanervikko now) were also present as reference and moral support.


Because of the putty having a time limit on working with it, photos from mid-sculpting are also limited, but here's the results of the first work session:

I didn't want to give Skye the huge feet the JWFK raptor figures have, and went for more realistic proportions. One of the toes has the wire of the leg inside it. I intended for it to be the third toe, but the foot looked too turned outwards, so I made it the fourth (outermost) one instead.

The scale texture is made with a paperclip. I cut the plastic coating near one end so I can slide it over the metal wire inside it, and it makes a nice stamp for tiny, round scales, like those on birds' feet.

The figure still couldn't stand on its own at this point, and needed a tail stand for while the putty cured. The ceramic bowl's edges are too high now that the correct position of the toes against the ground makes a difference, but this thing from one of the JW figures' packaging had a nook at the right height.

Second work session:

Adding more shape and detail to the right foot, and starting on the left one. The ankle is a bit thicker now, and the third toe has scutes on it.

The scutes are made by flattening a small snake of putty, cutting pieces from it, and placing them one by one onto the toe, then smoothing the edge that's towards the base of the toe flatter to help the putty attach, and carefully rounding the corners using the side of the sewing pin's needle part. Dinosaur scales don't overlap, but the scutes on the toes of birds do a little when the toes are not wrapped around something, mostly because the scales are pushed together by the position instead of actually growing over each other.

Also shaped the second toe (the sickle claw one) a bit, such as making the skin around the claw more even, and added the dewclaw. The first toe is a single piece of putty, I drew the line between skin and claw with the sewing pin and nylon line loop. It's too small to add scutes to, so I also drew small horizontal lines to the front of it to represent those.

And wrapping putty around the left metatarsus for starters.

In the third and fourth work sessions I pretty much repeated for the left foot what I'd done for the right one by this point:

And also added scutes to the fourth toe of the right foot. They're a bit time-consuming to add, hence why they're taking multiple work sessions. I prefer to add them when the putty is at its most adhesive, right after it's been mixed, so the little flakes stick better to the surface, since I can't smush them against it too much.

The legs started looking too thin compared to everything else, so I added putty to those as well next.

The scutes on the metatarsus are a single sheet of putty that I pressed lines onto rather than added individually. I didn't add scutes to the sickle claw toes, as I think they would be barely visible with the position the toe is in.

Then finally,  I shaped the soles in hopes the figure can stand without support.
And it turns out...

Yes, she indeed can!

Mostly I added putty to the ball of the foot so that it'll keep the figure from falling backwards, and a bit to the right fourth toe to prevent falling forward. I had the figure in my hand while working on the soles, and I put her on the tail stand from time to time to check that the soles are flattened against the ground in the correct angle, and carefully removed the tail stand to check whether the figure will fall and in what direction, then made corrections and checked again. Couldn't leave her on her feet for long at a time, though, since the material holding her up was still soft.

I also couldn't have her be on her feet while the soles cured or they'd get squished out of shape, and I didn't want to rest her weight on the head feathers (though they'd probably be fine), so I made her a cozy sock bed to sleep on, lol. With baking paper sheets, so any putty I may have had on my fingers while holding her wouldn't get on the socks.

After that had cured I still added small bits of putty here and there to the soles to make her more stable. And so, the birb has feet! Still a few things to add, but we're approaching finish line for the sculpting stage!