Over the last week or so I have been constructing a bust of Groot from "Guardians of the Galaxy".

When i satrted this project I was not planning on publishing it as an ible' so there arn't any images of the initial framework, as such it is more of a show and tell, than a full on Ible' but hopefully it will guide and inspire.

This project was my first attempt at sculpting and using techniques of Perpakura and materials such as Fiberglass and Bondo in cobination with papermache and tin foil....

Step 1: Materials

This project is relatively simple and cheep. You will require

Pepakura File - I used this one - http://www.onekura.com/blog/gaurdians-of-the-gala...

Card stock 160g

Exacto knife

Hot glue gun

Fiberglass (resin, hardener and fablic)

Car Body filler

Tin foil

Tissue paper

PVA glue

Primer

Satin wood black paint (water based)

Various model paints

Dark oak wood Gloss varnish

Clear Gloss varnish

Matt Finish

Rotary tool

Sandpaper

Hand files (assorted)

Protection - Fiberglass and car body filler arte highly toxic so i cannot emphasise enough the need for:

1) GLOVES

2) RESPIRATOR

Open space well ventilated

Please read the info sheet on the materials.

Step 2: Pepakura

This is not a Ible on how to assemble Pepakura models. There are plenty of guides out there and they do a far better job than i could at this stage. I do recommend on gertting a good base model as althoough the initialk build will be more complex, the added detail makes the rest of the project so much simplert.

The first thing you need is the Pepakura viewer: http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/ its free for the viewer and a small fee for the full editor thaty allows you make changes and save your work.

Print off all of the pages (make sure you go into settings and "SHOW EDGE ID" as this will give numbers to each join.

Careefully Cut out each part (I opted to starte with the underside and worked up from there) . i also used the back of the knife to score alongh the fold lines. ( --- for mountain fold. -.-.- for valley fold). Glue the tabs and continue .

Due to size and complexity of this model, I used fiber glass resin on the inside of the shoulder and neck area before continuing with the face and crown. this helped streanthen the model.

Once complete coat the ouside in a cvouple of coats of fiberglass resin. you can also fiberglass the whols base unserside to makle iot more stable.

MAKE SURE YOUR WEARING GLOVES AND A RESPIRATOR

Step 3: Bondo

Now for the fun part.

Mix car body filler (Bondo) in small workable amounts. Apply to designated area and sculpt. I found iot easier to apply a relatively thin amount, allow to cure slightly and then work in the bark effect with a scraper. Don't overwork as this stuff seems to be designed to do the oposite of what you want. (All of the youtube videos i watched showed people struggling to get it smooth, believe me if you want a rough finish it smooths itslef lovely.) just tease the curing filler with the scraper, typically in the direction of the grain.

Once the basic structure is completed, sand and file as required. Apply more Bondo and repeat.

Step 4: Shoulder and Crown Detail

For those of you familliar with the film, you will have already noticed the top forehead area is wrong. its too simetrical and not split. I used a rotary tool to carve into Bondo and then resculped the crown adding much needed texture and height. the initila hollowness was filled with tin foil that was hot glued in place.

I wanted a branch like effect on the shoulders and crown area. fotr this i opted to use crumpled tim foil, to form the basic structure. this was then coated with watered down pva glue and tissue paper overlayed as a papemache to gie the final structure. I spenmt quite alot of time making these appear to overlap and give it a natural branche effect. especiually where they merge or separate. some tightly twisted tin foil was used for the smaller branches.

The same technique was used for the crown. I dabbed tyhe papermache into the join with the bondo to make it seamless.

The papermache was then coated with two coats of fiberglass resin.

Step 5: Paint

Once i was happy with the overall look and the resin and Bondo were cured, i coated the entire model in grey primer.

Once this was dry, I mixed a small amouint of black satin wood paint with water. (i just had it spare so thought i'd try it) This was then coated over the entire model. To my surprise, the paint did not stick to the high areas and gave an instant wood effect which i could work with without too much effort.

I allowed this to dry and then used an assortment of model paints with a 1 inch brush to "dry brush" colour onto the model. Contrary to what you'd expect ,(and, yes it did cause an argument wuith my 13 year old daughter), there is relatively little brown on a tree. As such i layered up the effect using a combination of greens, yellows, blues and red with a hint of white as needed. Overall this gave a mottled bark efect which i think is more natural to a tree based lifeform.

For the eyes i simply pained them white, applied a circle of black to the centre and then used a combination dark oak and clear gloss varnishes. this is a trial and error approach to get the final look. ( i think i resarted ity about ten times before i fially got it right

The whole model was then coated in a matt finish (eyes masked out to keep them glossy)

Step 6: Final Thoughts...

Overall, this has been a satifying build and although not an exact copy of the movie character, is with acceptable tollerances and has acheived the desirerd look.

I'm not convinved i did a good enough job with the pepakura to start with, and there was some sagging and miss-shaping of sections. Nonetheless, as my first attempt i am more than satified with the fiunished sculpt and paint job.