This is a short guide to the process we go through on each project to convert our customer's concept art into a finished sculpt ready for production.
When we begin a project our first step is to take the approved concept art and determine what parts or armatures need to be machined for the particular piece. These are crucial aspects of the project and are created with precise care.
Once any necessary machined work has been finished the piece is begun in oil-based clay. This allows for a rough form of the sculpt to be built up rapidly, developing a basic shape of the piece to ensure that the pose and character is headed in the correct direction.
When the clay piece is at a point where the rough shape is true to the character we cast a wax copy with a waste mold. Using this denser material allows us to provide the sculpt with the detail necessary to ensure that the project is character correct. We do this utilizing wax tools that we handcraft as well as a hot wax tool, which is used to add small amounts of wax to the piece.
After the sculpt has been approved by the licensor the project is molded and then urethane castings are produced for paint approval and tooling master molds.