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Dark Knight

Registered: 03-2012
Posts: 985
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Re: Starting my Dark Knight suit sculpt (lots of photos)


Up until now, I have really only been blocking out the rough sculpt, but as I got closer to happy with the finish of the cowl have been doing some work smoothing out the surface, with sculpting rakes, filling and patching.

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Then I thought perhaps before I finish off the surface, I should try the cowl on. So I brushed 10 coats of latex over the sculpt and when it dried, I was able to peel it off and try it on for the first time... Thats where I hit a snag :grumble

The lifecast of me that I used for the cowl, was taken when I was a teenager. Because I didn't know anyone who could do a life cast at the time, I did it on myself. I cast the two front halves vertically one at a time, then I did the back in one piece, then I used plaster and a lot of scraping and rasping, to "glue" the three pieces together and I ended up with a pretty good life cast (if I do say so myself). I have a very small head (that's why I cannot buy a cowl), hence the reason I decided to build my own. Although I have used this lifecast for many special effects prosthetics and masks over the years, this is the first time I have made such a tight fitting mask from it. Soooooooo... with a combination of my face changing over the last 20 years, latex shrinking when it dries, although I thought I had compensated for these factors, by making the sculpt relatively thick all over, it seems that I didn't allow for enough. The cowl feels like a comfortable fit when it's on, and it actually looks pretty good (although it is white for this test), the problem is that it is too tight across the forehead and where is stretches tight, it loses the detail of the brow and frown lines.

All is not lost though, never say die and never surrender! What I will now do to fix it, is bulk out the top and rear of the sculpt, which should take pressure off the front, bringing back the detail again for the finished product.

The lesson in this is what my woodwork teacher used to say when I was 12 years old "A mock-up prevents a muckup!". Wise words Mr. McNaughton, wise words indeed!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the latex test cowl...

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Caped Crusader

Registered: 10-2010
Location: Gotham Central
Posts: 1080
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


This is a fascinating process. Other cowl sculptors have posted works-in-process, but this may be the first time I've seen some of the tools used and tests run. Very fun to watch.

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Dale
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Dark Knight

Registered: 03-2012
Posts: 985
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


Thanks Dale.

It's funny, everyone likes to show off the finished product, which is cool, but I love looking at all the behind the scenes stuff, because I learn heaps from them in respect to technique and materials etc. I enjoy posting all this step by step stuff, because I figure if I enjoy watching the process, then someone else out there must.

Plus, the comments are really encouraging, if no one said anything then you could easily go "um, why am I doing this again?". That's why I love this board, because no matter how basic the work that someone is doing, I have never read anything but encouraging comments.

Kev



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Caped Crusader

Registered: 04-2004
Posts: 8656
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


Wow, that's an awesome job. I can't wait to see the final product.

Sean

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Caped Crusader

Registered: 03-2011
Location: Green Bay, WI.
Posts: 1339
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


This is very funny, I was just on a site looking at sculpting tools and saw the rakes and thought" What the heck do you use those for?" and low and behold you just should me how :lol
I also have the issue of no body around that can help with a full head life cast as my wife and friends in the area are too scared thinking they'll trap me inside the plaster bandaging. I know how to do this and have told them in detail how it is done but they are still too nervous about it.
Thanks for the step by step and best of luck with bulking your sculpt out just a bit. Make sure to try another test fit again after bulking it it out though so it's not too big or still too small. :up :cheers

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Larry
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Dark Knight

Registered: 03-2012
Posts: 985
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


Quote:

AlphaPrym wrote:

my wife and friends in the area are too scared thinking they'll trap me inside the plaster bandaging.




Hahaha, I have had the same conversation in my house emoticon

If you have a local school that runs a special effects course, you could ask them if they can help get you a lifecast. They often teach the students how to, so they may be able to let you be one of the guinea pigs. Alternatively, most special effects houses will do it for you, but you might be looking at $300 - $400, which is not as unreasonable as it sounds, because there is a good $100+ in materials to do it right.

My method of self casting, was messy and frustrating, but it did work. Having done it, I could give some pretty good advice now to anyone who wants to try it on themselves

Kev emoticon
  

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Caped Crusader

Registered: 03-2011
Location: Green Bay, WI.
Posts: 1339
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


Unfortunately there are no classes taught or special effects houses in the area.so I was considering doing the same thing you did. I've done parts of my face and head before so I think I'll use a grease pencil and draw out the seams on my face, that way I'll know where to trim and join the pieces together. On the other hand my best friend is good friends with an art teacher so he might be able to give me a hand as well, I know he's a member on the RPF and does some amazing sculpts so I'm sure he'd be able to help.

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Running with scissors and having a blast...

Larry
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Dark Knight

Registered: 03-2012
Posts: 985
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


Hey Larry,

When I get home tonight I will write up how I did it, and how I went wrong so you dont make the same mistakes.

Cheers
Kev

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Caped Crusader

Registered: 03-2011
Location: Green Bay, WI.
Posts: 1339
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


Kev, Thanks.. :cheers

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Running with scissors and having a blast...

Larry
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Dark Knight

Registered: 03-2012
Posts: 985
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Re: My Dark Knight suit and cowl sculpt TDK (lots of photos)


Hey Larry,

Here is how I would do it, based on what I learned the hard way from my previous attempt:

HOW TO TAKE A LIFECAST OF YOUR OWN HEAD AND SHOULDERS

Shave your head, or apply and glue down a bald cap. I would shave your hear, it will be so much easier, but then I have a shaved head anyway so it's easy for me to say emoticon
 
Get an indelible pencil, dampen the tip and have someone draw a line from shoulder to shoulder, over the head, behind the ears. Then a line from the top of the head, down to the centre of the chest. This line is very important as I had no reference to know where the two sides of my cast met. Indelible pencil will transfer on to the negative mould, then on to the positive.

Get someone to help you do the back, and using a good quality slow setting alginate, get them to apply it to the back of your head and shoulders, overlapping the line. Have a bunch of pre cut strips of plaster bandage and get them to layer them up on the alginate . It is really important that you are aware of your head position, so that you don't turn your head or look slightly up or slightly down. You need to replicate this head position perfectly three times. Once the cast is complete, get your Ultracal plaster and brush in a very thin coat to cover the surface of the alginate without getting any bubbles trapped. Now brush in a 1/2 inch layer, again overlapping the indelible line which hopefully will be visible in the negative cast. Now leave this to set while you work on the front pieces.

Get your assistant to redraw the line that you have just covered, keeping perfectly on the previous line.

Now you need to do do the two vertical panels at the front in the same way, but this time you can apply the alginate so that you get a better bubble-free finish, presuming that you have more experience than your assistant.

Reapply the line down the front of the face between front panels. Now the big mistake I made was on one panel I had my jaw clenched and on the other one I had my jaw relaxed. You need to make sure you have the same on both otherwise the jaw line will not align and you will have to chisel one down to match the other (this is what I did and it took ages).

Now that you have the three pieces cast and set, remove the plaster bandages shells and peal away the alginate. This will all go in the trash so don't even attempt to save it. Now take your three pieces and use a rasp to file down the three parts up to the indelible line. I used a Surform rasp like this one from a hardware store:

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If you are careful, you should be able to get the pieces to meet and all match up real cleanly. Now align them and put a series of little pencil lines across the joins in a number of place, so that if it slips out of alignment you will see it easily. Next wrap tight bands of duct-tape or something around the three pieces to hold them together tight (this is like juggling a bag of anchors). Double check the alignment lines to make sure that it has not moved and set it up upside-down in a bucket or cardboard box with old towels or something helping it from slipping over. so by now you have a replica of your head which is almost hollow. Take some pieces of hemp, or hessian sacking material and apply Ultracal to them and apply them inside the cast, like bandaids over the joins. let them set firmly then mix up some more Ultracal and fill the whole cavity to the top allow this to set, but only just. Now rasp off the top surface which will be the base once you turn it over the right way.

Now flip it over and remove the tape, then you need to mix up some creamy consistance Ultracal to rub in to the joints, which will bring them up to level. You may need to do this a couple of times to get it all right. It is best to do this before the plaster all dries out. You can even give it a sprits with a spray bottle before applying the Ultracal to the joints so that they don't suck the moisture out of the soft plaster and make it crack. Then finish off with some scraping of the excess over the lines and five a rub with some fine sandpaper if needed. Now leave it in a warm place on a wire rack to dry out completely. This can take many days, but it is important that you have it totally dry before you apply oil based clay otherwise you will get your lifecast going moldy under the clay. Keeping it on a wire rack is important too so that it gets air flow underneath for the same reason.

And there you have it. That is my tried and true method for taking a lifecastcast of your own head.

Check out some videos on lifecasting on Youtube first to see the techniques that they use if you have not worked with alginate and plaster bandages before.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Cheers and good luck :cheers
Kev

Last edited by Batbaa, 2/3/2013, 8:45 pm


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