Labyrinth eye moss - Finished

Howlrunner

I'm on a bit of a Labyrinth trip at the moment, waiting for VashDstampede's excellent 'Allo Worm and was thinking about making a section of wall for him to sit on, along with some of the 'eye moss'.

I was originally thinking of making sculpey 'snakes' ending in a single eye, painted, with real lichen attached all over them. But there must be a better way using some kind of material...

Stills from the "Making of":





Any ideas to get the lichen covered effect? It kind of looks like raw/ripped sponge to me, painted different shades.

Also, any ideas on how to get multiple inexpensive blue eyes - bulk and in different sizes - without having to make and paint each individual one one or buy lots of pairs of dolls eyes?

Sith_Lord_Hritz

That would be a cool display to go with allo. I would say look on ebay for the eyes or just google search you can probably find a bag of them for a reasonable price. For the moss I would just get some inexpensive self hardening clay and shape it to what you like and cover it with the moss you find at a hobby shop used for train models.

Treadwell

That lychen looks like the stuff model railroaders use for "trees". Check out your local train store.

Howlrunner

Yeah, I was originally thinking real lichen (like the train set tree/bush stuff), but watching the "making of" it's definitely all one piece of material that is stretchable and soft (the eyelid moves when it blinks) that covers the whole eye stalk. I was curious as to how they achieved that - it must have been done in bulk, and it couldn't have been sculpted.

Invicta

Check out "Woodland Scenics" they make flock, gravel, chippings etc for use on model railways. I used a lot for my layouts. They sell bags of fine shredded sponge foam almost to the consistency of fine sugar as regards to size.

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandsceni...ms.cfm/Foliage

http://woodlandscenics.woodlandsceni...s.cfm/FineTurf

This is as close as I could find on the WS site it gives you an idea of what I was talking about. The top one comes in a sort of mat and is stretchable over contours. It's easy to fix down with some white glue.


Malc.

Howlrunner

The foliage looks pretty good. Will have to look into that further....

quiznak

To me the lichen in the photo looks somewhat similar to what happens when you start pulling apart a fleece blanket. I am not sure how that material would take paint though.

Bradleyfett

After seeing these screen caps, I'm convinced they did use the Woodland Scenics Folage products. I've worked with this stuff a lot and that close up looks like the stuff to me.

In fact, the WS Folage does indeed act like a fleece blanket when its pulled apart when you work with it.

Mark

Invicta

Thats what I remember from my railway days. Damn good stuff and it goes a long way.

Weezer

What about using some green scouring pads for the moss? Pick at them or rough them up with some coarse sandpaper. Glue them to a wire form and give them alittle dry brushing of lichen colors?

For the eye use different sizes of beads. Paint them glossy white, drill a recess hole for some glue and a glass eye. I think you can buy clear glass eyes and the you just paint the backs whatever color.

Just an idea.

jackdoud

I think you're gonna want the coarse turf instead of the fine. The fine isn't as fluffy as what's on the eye plant, the coarse stuff has the thick spongy look you want.

EDIT: here's a gif of that scene. I contemplated making a robotic "houseplant" version of this a few years ago but never got much past the concept stage.

Howlrunner

I got myself some of the Woodlands Scenics products - the Coarse Turf looks too fine, but will be good sprinkled on top to break things up and add variety. The Foliage looks about spot on - Medium Green and Late Fall. Will be using this as a base, with different colours sponged/drybrushed on.

Was considering using white marbles for the eyeballs - but they're not that easy to find - the new "white" marbles tend to be more of a pearl colour.

Anyone know what "Scenic Cement" from Woodland Scenics is made from? I'd like a sprayable water-based adhesive that dries with a matt finish (which is what SC is/does), but I can't find any and I'm guessing there are cheaper alternatives.

rollerboi

If anyone works with glass here, they can make their own eyes by following this excellent tutorial:

http://jane.walkerillustration.com/minieyes.htm

Does anyone have a good size guesstimate for the eyes? I may have found a decent source.

Howlrunner

OK, finally got this started:



The plasticene is just for the proto just not and will be replaced with something else. Stalks are thin, hollow brass tube from B&Q cut to size, eyes are 20ml plastic eyes for "Re-born" dolls - not really the right shade of blue, but they'll do.

Haven't decided yet whether or not I'll bulk up the brass tubes with Milliput (or air drying clay) or if I'll wrap sheets of sponge around them. You can see the foliage that will be used to cover the stalks (and eyelids) at the sides of the pic.

THStudio

I think they're the right color blue, just realistic. The eyes on the real prop look to be one color.

HMS Mike

Hi Guys,
The material that was used to make the eye covers was "Scott Foam" and was some were in the 50 to 65 PPI range. It is also called Reticulated Foam. You can some times find it at a hardware store. This material is use for some air filters, It's also what the Henson Company uses for most of there puppets.

Hope This Helps,

HMS Mike

Contec

Bump
Any update?

Howlrunner

Thanks for the info HMS Mike.

Not yet contec. Been working on my allo worm, stormtrooper helmet, Chip Hazard, Beetlejuice shrunken head guy and gremlin embryo!

Howlrunner

OK, finally got round to pulling this out of the cupboard and getting back to it after it sitting in there for over a year.

I decided to do a little photo tutorial as I went along incase anyone wants to have a go themselves....

Step 1:



Attach your 20mm diameter plastic "Re-born" doll eye (these things look great and they're really cheap!) to the length of copper tube (the tube is an exact fit and goes straight into a slightly larger tube in the back of the eye).

Hotglue your eyestalk to a strip of foam that sticks out slightly past the eyeball (I had the foam in a bag left over from some packing material).


Step 2:



Roll the foam around the stalk, laying down lines of hotglue every so often until you get the thickness you want. Hold until the glue is dry.


Step 3:



Cut off excess foam up snug to your glue line.


Step 4:



Using scissors, taper the foam from the end of the roll back into the body so there is a smooth (not stepped) transition. Cut excess foam back away from the eyeball, leaving enough for eyelids (most of the eye moss stalks in the movie had no eyelids, so don't worry about leaving a lot of white showing).


Step 5:



This is the messiest and most tedious bit - with your thumb and forefinger rip out tiny patches of foam from the surface. Do this over the entire surface of the foam. You now have the desires surface texture. You WILL need a vacuum cleaner after this - the tiny bits of foam cling to EVERYTHING with static - I was COVERED!


Step 6:



Bend your eye stalk into an appropriately alive shape.


Step 7:

Repeat for each of your eye stalks - ensure you vary the shape and length of each. Once you have a few, group them all together:








Next up will be creating a base for the stalks (something more permanent than plasticene), then painting.

Moviefreak

SWEEEEEEEEETTTT!!! I am so making a set of these. Awesome work there!!!

propologist

very cool...can't wait to see the end

Beechy McFly

Awesome work.. Can't wait for it to get here..

propologist

i remember years ago seeing a tutorial about making eyes blink from a puppeteers stand point. Kind what Jack is talking about

Howlrunner

OK, got him (or is it a her?!) finished.

I painted it up with greens, browns and a little blue and yellow and then hotglued some lichen (which I pulled off a tree in the garden) onto it.

I think it looks rather nice next to my 'Allo Worm:

jackdoud

Awesome! Glad someone finally managed to finish one of these.