Hammerpede

This is my clay 1/1 scale replica of the Hammerpede from the amazing film From Ridley Scott, It is a parasite that bursts out of the eyes of its victims. generically engineered to reproduce new life from its host, it infects and then forms this shape then burst from the eye's of its victims.. then its life cycle is not entirely known...?

The Hammerpede's that attack the humans in the film Prometheus are from the Engineers that suffered an infection on the planet Zeta 2 Reticular some 2000.00 years ago, these parasites survived 2000.00 years on the bodies of the engineers and then when in 2096.00 when the Prometheus crew activated the genetic urns when they entered the shrine of creation/destruction, they triggered the urns and thus released the genetic product that fed the Hammerpede from the first outbreak some 2000.00 years before changing them in to this form...

OK this is the latex cast from the mold, its technically a puppet because it has a steel wire frame within the foam body that allows the pose to be changed, all the seem lines are still in full view but I had to post this build in stages so you can see the construction process. Next step is cover all seems with latex and work away all the lines so it looks one complete animal...

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This is the finished Hammerpede puppet, I have painted it using acrylic poster paints and liquid latex applied with various brushes. It is quite heavily coloured because the film version seems to go from almost white with a hint of off blue to pink...


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I hate parasites, I hate prometheus, but I love this piece. Keep it it in a tank because that things scary as hell.

Brilliant! Got any pics of the molding and casting?

God that thing is sick, I gotta see this movie.

Wicked Awesome! I would not want to meet that thing in a dark alley or worse my bed.

Rustymetaldog said:

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Brilliant! Got any pics of the molding and casting?

Hi and thanks for the message, I use an aggregate mold because its so cheep and I don't like the fumes that resin has... but I'm moving towards resin and fibreglass molds when casting latex items because it lighter and not as fragile to stresses. sorry I did not take any photos while casting the Hammerpede because I was so enthralled at making it work.. I keep the separate parts of the mold apart because all my latex is air drying. I then after about three or four coats of thickened latex I cut strips of soft foam sheet about 10mm thick 1/4 inch and using contact adhesive glue that foam to the inside of the skins, shape to suite with scissors and then glue the to skins along the seem lines. There was four sides to this build because I split the sculpt in half. then its hiding the seam lines with latex and your ready to paint then.

This is a superb sculpture!! very nicely done, great finish

You say you used aggregate for the mould??? Excuse my ignorance but... do you mean like cement?? it looks like some kind of cement??
I guess if it works, then why the hell not eh
It is a lovely job though

Creepy and cool. Well done!

Great job! I'm sitting here with my hand over my mouth just as I did in the cinema watching this creature! :

Awesome work! What did you coat it with to get the shiny look?

Leigh said:

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This is a superb sculpture!! very nicely done, great finish

You say you used aggregate for the mould??? Excuse my ignorance but... do you mean like cement?? it looks like some kind of cement??
I guess if it works, then why the hell not eh
It is a lovely job though

Hi and thanks for the message, Yes is a double skinned aggregate mold, Cement is a perfect casting agent for latex but it is brittle so I use a method of casting the detail layer with pure cement, its the consistency of a liquid but thick enough to hold its weight against gravity, its brushed in to the surface. You have to work fast but my god it takes up every detail. then I use a grit sand mix with the cement for the second layer,This is to strengthen the mold because pure cement will shatter very easily when its in such a thin layer, if you add a little fairy liquid it will help lighten the finished mold. I have developed this methods for my masks works and latex casting but to be honest its heavy and time consuming work but by god its cheep and if like me you cant stand all the fumes you get with fibreglass resin then its user friendly as well. its good to experiment with different method's. Thanks for your interest. regards Paul

Moonwildflower said:

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Awesome work! What did you coat it with to get the shiny look?

Hi, to get the shiny look that will stretch with the latex I use an acrylic glazing medium that is supplied from Winsor & Newton its a liquid that is used for painting on paper or canvas but when diluted in to raw latex at about 20% you get a shiny ribber surface that is transparent but also reflective to light and flexible. Cheers Paul

Rustymetaldog said:

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Brilliant! Got any pics of the molding and casting?

as requested casting the latex, three or four layers of thickened latex are brushed in to the mold.
Each layer is allowed to cure over 12 hours or so...

Thanks!