How to carve Dwarven pillars with faces from XPS foam

#TableTopCraft #CarvingXPSFoam #FoamCarving
Hi Guys, welcome to my first proper tutorial. Today we will be carving an epic Dwarven Pillar from XPS foam, for use in table top games such as D&D. My other videos show some of my project's and creative process but this is the first time I have posted a full tutorial of the step by step process of something in which I am actually proficient.
I originally learned the technique of face carving from Doug Linker a fantastic wood carver and you can check his original tutorial out here : • The Most Fantastically...
If you have any questions please leave a comment below.
The live interview / crafting session, about this carve, that I did with Crazy Crafter is now up on his channel. So if you are interested in seeing more about this carve along side lots of nerdy D&D chat then check out the link below!
Crazy Crafter : • Carving Dwarven Pillar...
If you are a beginner and are interested in how to paint something like this properly then go to Black Magic Craft where you will find excellent tutorials on the subject that presently exceed my abilities. Better to learn from someone who has the answers to the questions.
Black Magic Craft : / @blackmagiccraftofficial
If you want to buy your own carving tools so that you can better execute a carving such as this then you can check out this great deal on Amazon, I am using the knife from this set.
Carving Knives : tinyurl.com/y4...
Finally this is where I got my XPS foam. It might not be the cheapest but it is where I purchased mine : underfloorheat...
Thanks for visiting my channel, I hope that you found something that may be of use to you in your creative crafting endeavours.

[@KevinWarnerandGrayson]

I have been working mostly in clay lately, but this has me excited to jump back into Foam again!

[@Nat1videos]

Awesome Kevin ! It’s great fun to work with !! Thanks for commenting :)

[@crisis53142]

right, i took a break from building foam terrain to work on a few armor and sword projects, and i just wanna start foam carving again, i know my next terrain build

[@rumo_der_wolpertinger7742]

Absolutely incredible! You sir, are a True Master of the craft! Great work!

[@Nat1videos]

Thank you so so much! That is so encouraging, I often doubt myself and this made my day !! Thank you :)

[@hecknflip]

I know this is an older video, but I’m new to foam builds and found this fascinating. Been trying to learn your technique and have had some great results. The idea of using wood carving techniques is perfect and something no one else is doing! Please do more with similar. You’re super talented. Thanks!

[@TabletopWitchCRAFT]

Well done... these look great.

[@Nat1videos]

Wooooo Hoooooo I've made it ! LOL thanks so much John, I appreciate your kind words ! Keep killing it with your channel, i'm a big fan !!

[@TheBottegaChannel]

I'll have to remember this as a prop building technique for when I whittle gifts like ornaments or carved letter opener handles. ❤

[@Nat1videos]

Oh yes, this would be super useful for that :D

[@michaele1407]

this is great, i had so much fun and relaxing time watching you and do step by step carving, thank you for great tutorial. i will plan to make more and have few for Christmas time . off course i have to practice a lot more and watch this show over and over again which id joyful for me , :)😎👏👏

[@jeshurun9460]

The transformation after u paint it is so cool! Looks so realistic!

[@Nat1videos]

Dry brushing after your base coat is the trick!

[@TheMiniMason]

Such amazing work! I'm gonna have to get into this! Any foam carving tutorials will be most appreciated 😁

[@Nat1videos]

Thank you! Yes, I will be bringing a miniature statue carving tutorial very soon. The statues from this build :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnrbhYKfn7x2sK8

[@TheMiniMason]

@@Nat1videos oh yes! That's an amazing creation!

[@Nat1videos]

@@TheMiniMason Thank you so much! I appreciate that :)

[@TikarinkaGlavatskihRUS59]

It's amazing, made with love!

[@Nat1videos]

thank you so much :D

[@andresfeliciano7085]

Very good tutorial, so going to attempt making one.

[@Nat1videos]

Thanks so much! I saw your carving on the foam modelling workshop page, great job mate ;) It made my day that you did the tutorial! It really makes working on these videos worth it :D

[@matthewspoon9671]

SWEET

[@ScairCroBoat]

Did not realize how in-depth and time consuming this build is! Gives me a whole new respect for the dwarven pillars! Question: would carving need to be done with a mask to keep from inhaling foam or is it save to carve?

[@Nat1videos]

Hey Sam, the foam is safe to carve! No mask needed ;)

[@leiflohne3096]

Thank you for this great videp

[@Nat1videos]

My pleasure! Thanks for watching :D

[@leiflohne3096]

I've made three! Kinda fun and great for my old warhammer Dwarf display

[@thedungeon8034]

great video man!

[@Nat1videos]

Thank you again :D

[@thedungeon8034]

@@Nat1videos I also have a small channel, would love to hear any suggestions you might have on some of my builds. I'm thinking of taking you'r idea of the carved pillars and incorporating it into an ork cave im working on

[@Nat1videos]

@@thedungeon8034 Hey I checked out your channel and subscribed. Content looks great but obviously on some of the videos there is a language barrier for me... but everything looks fantastic :) Great channel!

[@thedungeon8034]

@@Nat1videos thanks man! that means a lot!

[@kerriefearby9542]

Loved this. What do you consider the best glue to use?

[@Nat1videos]

Thanks :D For gluing foam together I generally use wood glue ...

[@nobuckle40]

Thank you for making it look so fun and easy. I am about to have my first go at carving XPS. I want to carve a skull for a dice tower I am making. Any suggestions? I would also like to carve one of your dwarven pillars, but on a much smaller scale. Maybe 2 to 3 inches tall. Wish me well!. Thanks again.

[@Nat1videos]

Thats awesome! The only tip I can give you is be prepared to have a couple of goes at it. Allow your first try to be a draft, make your mistakes and figure out the best cuts. It may take a couple of trys before you are getting to something you like. But once you have got it, you will be able to do it over and over again. Also, remember you can melt xps foam...So a hot wire knife might come in handy for gouging out areas like eye sockets etc Please let me know how you get on, I would love to see :)

[@forgefather]

Outstanding!!

[@Nat1videos]

Thanks so much :)

[@forgefather]

@@Nat1videos I went and bought myself the carving knife, you good sir turned me into a student lol I make terrain already but you took it up a notch for me, thank you :)

[@Nat1videos]

@@forgefather Awesome! Glad to have been of some help !! If you need any help just let me know. Not to push my Patreon but it's really easy to get hold of me there if that takes your fancy ;)

[@mrunmoyable]

brilliant!

[@Nat1videos]

Thanks :)

[@derskalde4973]

Random question: Does anyone know a Trick to make a pillar, that has 4 faces on it? Like, one on every side? Cause I think that'd look really cool. Or maybe something like the ornamental dwemer faces you see in Skyrim.

[@Nat1videos]

I think that would be pretty easy to do using the same techniques as above, but ypu would need a thicker piece of foam... like 4 times as thick to make it work I recon.

[@aislingpatterson271]

it really popped after the paint

[@Nat1videos]

Thanks! A bit of dry brushing covers all your mistakes :D

[@GladRags]

that's one sharp fucking knife

[@Nat1videos]

Yes! Gotta be careful... I have had a few slips. Not fun

[@troydoggett4561]

focus focus focus

[@Nat1videos]

Haha I know, sorry about that... I really didn’t know what I was doing back then. I think things have improved a lot since then. Still useful information I hope. Maybe I will remake this video at some point

[@webjaker]

DUDE you're intro music made me deaf, then you come on whispering... Level your audio

[@Nat1videos]

oh sorry about that! This was back in September and I still didn't really know what I was doing! Will make sure to balance the audio better in future ... thanks for the comment :)

[@Ghryst]

designs and technique literally ripped straight from whittling video "The Most Fantastically Simple Yet Satisfying Carving Ever" by Doug Linker on youtube.. your intellectual property theft crimes dont impress me.

[@Nat1videos]

You are absolutely right! I learned from Doug. Doug is a legend. And I give Doug full credit for learning this carving as you can see in this video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZ6Wk32rZbyea8U But these whittling design are pretty standard for wood spirits and I am not trying to rip him off in any way. This video is applying it to XPS foam for the purpose of turning them in to Dwarven pillars, with the additional elements of Dwarven trim etc for table top gaming, not a wood spirit to hang on the mantle piece. People use ideas from other people all of the time. I learned some cool techniques from Doug and I have applied those techniques to new materials and added my own embellishments.( which is the whole purpose of Doug teaching them by the way, so other people can learn them and use them)

[@Nat1videos]

there is also a credit to Doug below this video...

[@dougLinker]

Faces are faces -i give credit to Tom Hindes in my video and on it goes to the next in fact these carvings are much better and detailed than i show in my video so everyone needs to lighten up a bit

[@Nat1videos]

@@dougLinker thanks Doug ! I appreciate it. Just hope some people find it useful and entertaining :)

[@Ghryst]

@@Nat1videos excellent, glad to hear. didn't watch yr video, nor read the propaganda below it, just recognised the unique style from the thumbnail. good on Doug below for being so casual about it, not all creators are so generous.. however his generosity is totally not the point, though it seems the point is not required here, a rarity on youtube.. meanwhile, i've noticed more and more ppl are trying to take credit for his work

[@ChristopherElst]

These are impressive, man! Way to go!

[@Nat1videos]

Thank you so much ! I will be using this idea again in my next build ;)