How to Sculpt Chains Easily in 2 Simple Steps (Tutorial)

Time needed: 4 hours.

I will be doing this tutorial on a flat area. However, it works the same on a miniature, I just don’t have one that needs chains at this moment :)

I apologize that some of the pictures are a bit blurry. I got so caught up doing the tutorial itself that I forget to check the pictures I took as I went. I’ll learn some day…

1. Roll Out the Green Stuff

   Roll out a thin piece of Green Stuff like so.
   
   

2. Place the Roll

   Then lay that piece on the miniature where you want the chain.
   
   From there you want to gently smooth the roll out a bit to push it down and attach it to the surface of the miniature. If you don’t do this step then the next part will be annoying and nearly impossible.
   
   You don’t want to push too hard and flatten it out otherwise you’ll lose the roundness of the chain links.
   
   I like using Nivea to lubricate my sculpting tools. It’s a skin cream you can find at virtually any store in the US. The stuff is amazing at keeping your tools from sticking to the Green Stuff.

3. Poke Holes

   Now you want to poke holes into the Green Stuff. Yep, holes.
   
   Do this for every link in the chain you want to create.
   
   
   
   Not shown was a step where I cut off the excess on the end. Odds are when you poke in the holes for the links that you’ll have some extra on one end. I just used my sculpting tool (lubricated) to cut off the excess so it ends on a whole link.

4. Cut in the Shape

   The final step for this first half is to separate the chain links. You do this by pressing a sculpting tool between each chain to create an indent and define each link.
   
   Since there’s holes in it, you’ll notice it’s nicely created a separation already so I’m just defining it more.
   
   
   
   I wasn’t aiming for perfect with the cut-ins. I’m going to widen the holes a bit more below so there’s no need to get too fussy yet.
   
   I also noticed in the image that I forgot a few links. That’s fine, again things will get defined a bit further below.

5. Smooth it Out

   What I like to do after is a bit of smoothing out. I gently go around the outside of the links to smooth that. I then also reaffirm the holes from earlier, just pushing them out a little bit more to define them once the sides are cut in.
   
   At this point the Green Stuff has firmed up a little so it’s easier to widen the holes without moving the entire thing around.
   
   
   
   From here you want to let this dry fully to make the next step easier. If you’re impatient then you can proceed – I’ve done it in the past. However, any mistake will ruin everything. So, I suggest letting this dry for a few hours at least.

6. Roll Out More Green Stuff

   Now, you want to start by rolling out another piece of Green Stuff like earlier. Then you place that over the previous chain links.
   
   You’ll also want to press this down a bit over the other chain to stick it down. Again, go lightly to not flatten out the links.
   
   

7. Creating the Final Links

   Now the fun part that brings it all together!
   
   Using a sculpting tool you want to push the Green Stuff roll into the holes of the previous chain. This is why letting it dry is useful; it prevents you from mushing the bottom layer.
   
   Push down right in the middle of the hole and it will create two chain links attached to the one underneath.
   
   Do this for every chain link and that’s it!
   
   

8. Final Smoothing

   Now, you could work this a bit and smooth everything out. Here’s a last shot where I did a little smoothing out but nothing major.
   
   
   
   I could definitely spend some time refining this a bit and making it all perfectly smooth but I just wanted to show you the quick and easy.
   
   Since I did this tutorial on a flat surface, I could let this dry and then peel it up to use later on a miniature.