<div class='quotetop'>(temponaut @ Aug 20 2006, 05:18 AM) [snapback]1303876[/snapback]</div>
The work is fantastic, David. Also fascinating to see progress between stages. Thanks for sharing this with us.
A question: How do you create the leather-like texture on the sculpt, which will later be transferred to the mold and finally to the silicon costume? Are the "stitches" along the "seams" individually hand-scored, or are you using some sort of (rolling?) tool to produce them?
What about the grains in the "leather" itself? Do you get these by gently applying real leather onto the surface of the damp clay and then pulling it off? Or are you actually sculpting those patterns into the clay by hand?
Just interested to know more about what goes into creating an amazing piece like this. :thumbsup
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Again, a real big thanks for the supporting comments here.
I do realize that this is radically different compared to the 'typical' smooth cowls but we wanted something that would stand out...make people wonder when looking at the outfit...and simply be different.
The leather texture is done with a texture stamp I made from a very organic looking leather skin. I just poured latex over top of a skin. I then cut the latex sheet into squares of different sizes and use them all in different parts of the sculpt so it doesnt look like the same pattern over and over again.
Lightly heat the clay with a heat guy, a quick spray of universal mold release onto the stamp and press it onto the clay for a few seconds. Slowly peel off. The spray helps keep the clay from wanting to stick to the stamp. It's a long process and very tricky but can look cool. Once done I sponge over the entire area to give it some raised grain texture as well.
The stitches are done one by one...nice pain in the arse....
One of our own here was kind enough to do some cool photoshop work on this stuff...He did it in blue, the suit will be cast in black but I do have to say it's cool to see it like this.
I finished the cowl mold last night...will be molding the chest today so I do expect to post finished chst pics later on.
Enjoy..
And thanks again for the critiques and feedback. :thumbsup
David