I decided to sculpt the mask and cast it in latex and then make the boots and gloves out of foam.
I built the armature for the mask sculpt with some wood scraps I had laying around and some drywall screws. I also screwed on a couple of pieces of heavy gauge aluminum wire on to support the wing shapes on the sides of the head. They will allow me to flex them into position and adjust them, but I hope will be strong enough to support the clay. It's about 8 or maybe 6 gauge wire. I had a bunch of old water based clay sitting around from school so I used that for the sculpt. I also bought some white hydrocal to make the mold.
.
I started packing my sculpture. It was still really sloppy 'cause I was just getting the rough shape of my head in.
Had to make a wire clay cutter so I didn't make much progress that day. I did adjust my proportions a bit though. I used calipers to take measurements of my own head and now I need to let it dry. Then I sprayed it with a little paint so I know where my original surface is for when I got into the full sculpt.
Then I did a practice sculpt to feel out the shapes. I don't think I got the proportions quite right and I need to extend the eye sockets up the head, but that is why it's practice. I think the head should be a little more narrow from the front view. Overall I think it looks pretty good and I'm ready to start on the full size. Before I do though, I might try to make up something for the back of the head since there is no reference yet. I want to try to use some sort of a design that will hide the mechanism that will help me get the mask open so I can put it on and take it off.
I made the trek up to the fabric district in LA to pick up the cloth for the costume. Most of the stuff I found pretty quickly, but the coarse dark brown cloth with red stripes for the scarf/poncho thing was really tricky. I ended up getting some dark brown upholstery fabric with a really thick weave and some red textured yarn that I am in the process of stitching in for the stripes. It is a lot of work, but it was impossible to find that exact fabric. So, I got some two tone black/crimson sheer fabric for the shirt. I will stitch pieces to the shirt and fray them once it is sewn for the texture-y bits. I got some thick red chenille for the pants, some dark silver satin for the sash and a random remnant of black lycra for the mask lining and some other odds and ends.
I got a little time to fix some of the proportions ad then I started putting in some of the details, straightening the lines and smoothing out the surfaces. I kinda made up a lot of detail for the back because there is no reference. I added those protrusions in the back near the base of the skull to imitate the shapes near the front along the jaw. I know from the side profile there is a little glimpse of the back and it doesn't have those but it really needed something so whatever. Creative license. It will also help me hide the slits I will need to open the back and get the mask on and off.
Next I finished up the sculpt and textured it. I tweaked things a little bit and straightened out some lines and then just used a big grouting sponge to dab things smooth and erase the fingerprints.
I bought a piece of steel roof trim, hammered it flat, and then cut it into squares to make the dividing wall between the two halves of the mold. Then I hammered them close together into the sculpt and hot glued them together. The wings off the sides of the head were really tricky because they are so thin and the metal cards just cut all the way through them. They didn't stay in very well without hot glue and the two halves of the wings risk being misaligned. I built a little wall around the bottom to catch the drippings, make the mold thicker and to be able to fill under the chin. I just used little bits of clay stuck to the wall to make the registration pegs so I can get the halves lined back up cause I'm cheap like that. I sprayed two coats of really light shellac on it before I started with the hydrocal just to make it stronger and kind of seal it so that I didn't smear any of the details while making the mold. I mixed up a thin batch of hydrocal and brushed it on with a paintbrush for a couple of layers to make sure that there weren't any bubbles in the detail areas. Then I used a thicker batch to slather on with squares of burlap and build up the mass. Once I got the whole thing as thick as the outer wall I smoothed it all out and let it dry. I should have been more careful to smooth out each layer, but at one point I had a batch setting very quickly and had to just cake it on as fast as I could so there will probably be bubbles inside. Hopefully they won't cause too much trouble. under the chin was also a really tricky area because the wall on the bottom was too close and I could barely get my fingers under there to make sure there were no bubbles.
I have officially finished the mold. I ran into a little hiccup with the second half. I ran out of hydrocal about halfway through and ended up with a batch that was too watery. I stupidly decided to try to put it on anyway and try to soak it up with lots of burlap scraps so it wouldn't go to waste. That led to the clay walls I put up collapsing and all the plaster running all over the back half of the mold and the ground. Thanks to a quick refill of hydrocal from a friend at work I was able to get back on track tonight and got it finished. Now I just have to wait for it to dry out and then I can crack it open to see if it turned out.
The back half is a darker color because my friend gave me ultracal instead of the cheap hydrocal I was using, but it should turn out fine.
No comments:
Post a Comment