witchblade sara pezzini: completed pics page 3!!!!

[Charliefox]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum and new to cosplay (i just called it fancy dress ;p ) im going to london comic con in February, the witchblade/ tombraider crossover was the first "grown up" comic i read and after a bit of the old googleing decided to attempt sara pezzini (why start small) the closest ive come to cosplay previously is a spectacularly crap 45 minute tankgirl (it involved cardboard bazookas, many staples and one hell of a lot of gaffa tape) so i kind of feel like i have to redeem myself! Im going for a start of transformation cop sara, so i get to wear clothes and make some exciting pieces, kudos to the ladies who go full metal bikini but as a first time cosplayer i think id have a better day with a little more coverage! So far I've tackled the gauntlet and changed how to do it twice, currently working towards a latex slush moulding up to the elbow with pieces applied to the upper arm and face, shoulder piece and half a bra. Phew.

So. Heres the gauntlet sculpt so far its taken from a few sources with a splash of artistic license, going for the earlier slightly feral style, more organic less engineered, did a 2 layer modroc cast of my arm /hand, did it in one go and cut it off, with only mild panic as i was by myself! Filled with plaster for strength and brushed the surface with melted modelling wax, i want to give it significant thickness above my arm because the slush moulding requires a thickness of latex and i want to be able to get my hand in. Then its just been sculpting ahoy, id estimate about 9/10 hours so far which definitely would have been cut down if id had a plan before I started. Plan is to do a 2 part plaster but i dont know what i can get away with in terms of releasing the latex cast, is it flexible/ durable enough to deal with significant undercuts and spikes or should i do another join where the elbow spikes are to ease it out? Also is it worth brushing a layer of latex into the mould open to make sure i dont get surface bubbles? Any thoughts/ opinions are greatly appreciated im little way away from casting but hoping to get it in mould soon as possible for drying times etc.

 

[heiro5]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Your sculpt looks absolutely fantastic.

You are ahead of me as far as molding and casting, so I can offer no technical advice, but I wonder if it is possible and desirable to cast the finger parts all completely separate (not just fingers, but joint-to-joint) so you could build an articulated glove..?

I, like you, have a tendency to plan for deep end diving in (why start small, indeed) so I don't know how feasible this is or if the engineering interests you. Even as a solid piece, the sculpting is going to make this pretty spectacular.

As far as how you would articulate a glove, I wonder if any of the many Iron Man build threads (or builders) might have something to offer as far as technique.

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

 

[Charliefox]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Kind of figured the latex would be flexible enough to allow some movement, origionally i was going to do the ridge/ armour sections seperately and apply them to a glove but i started the sculpt and figured it was fun to just go for the full thing, less risk of things pinging off halfway through as well! Thanks, its getting there, the only advice id have is draw out what you want before hand! I just kind of winged it and wasted time on stuff i took off because it didnt work later down the line!*

 

[ManitobaMando]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

If you are doing a two part plaster mold and latex is going to be your medium of choice for casting, you should have no issue with the release. The only thing that sticks to latex is more latex. It doesn't take much to get it pulled away, though if you do too thin a cast, it can tear. When I do a slush cast I find that 1/16 inch is more than enough strength. (masks)

A two part mold with keys to ensure a lock tight fit would make for a good slush casting. You could (theoretically) release your latex casting just by separating the plaster molds from each other and trim off the flash as needed. When you come to the release stage, go slow and do it in sections to make sure all that detail pops out without a hitch. Even brushing a thin coat or two into the molds before you put them together for the remaining slush would go a long way to ensure capture of all that excellent detail. Its a little more work, but worth the effort.

The one problem I do see here is making that dividing line in order to make your plaster mold. You will need to be able to get in between those fingers somehow to block it up.

 

[closet batfan]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Awesome arm sculpt, I love that the wrist section looks slightly skeletal like real articulation. Keep going hopefully I'll see you in February.

 

[Charliefox]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Its more the fact some of those spikes will be totally encased by just doing 2 parts, i was thinking maybe painting in 2 layers and backing the main bulk with a skrim then slushing it

 

[BlackKaos]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Nice sculpt!

 

[Judge Spartan]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Subscribed!

 

[RacerMachX]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Hi,
Just be aware that latex does shrink when dry/cured.
I think about 10%.
You can pop air bubbles with a little compressed air (air compressor or can)

 

[IllynReaver]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Amazing!

 

[booksandcorsets]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Beautiful sculpt... you may be interested in this thread which has how one version of the arm molds was handled. Was done in urethane rubber I think.

Seamless Arm Moulds, with Collapsible cores | Facebook

(When I look at this molding technique I cry a bit at my messy molds)

 

[Charliefox]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

that is just unbelieveable moul making, some people will do anything to avoid cleaning up an edge. Seriously though that is talent, if i had the time/ thought the sculpt was worth it id be up for trying it, as is the sculpt is kind of an end in itself (porfolio hopefully) and the costume is a kick up the backside to actually finnish something. Ive done a collapsible sillicone core before but it was a simple shape! I knew latex shrank, part of the reson i built on the outside of my modroc cast but i have to confess to being a tas nervous now about sizing, 10% is alot.....

 

[Charliefox]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Progress? Not sure about the ridges could be neater but hey ho, id estimate about 12/13hrs so far and realistically another 5 for finnishing, its what always trips me!

 

[Reacher]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Lovely work!

 

[Durkness]

Oh wow.... I can't wait to see it finished.... and I hope you start an interest thread if you decide to produce a couple copies.

 

[BATS]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

My 2 cents


Your doing great, and by far the best sculpt of this that I have ever seen done so far~
Most people try to get away with mishmashing things together to build this glove but its
just not possible when it so obviouslly screams for sculpting!

So with that said, a couple of things.

Your fingers are a little to thick, the clay on your fingers and more importantly in the knuckles and webbing needs to be no more than 1/16 thick, anything over that and a couple things happen

a. your going to fight against the material that you pulled it from, so your standard pose is going to fixed in that of the sculpture, not always a bad thing but it means your muscles will fight against the material every time you move, and in the case of the hand, well you'll end up with a cramp I bet after not to long.... lol assuming you tried to play the wii or thumb wrestleing for dollar

b. thicker means less gap between your fingers which will lead to higher instances of friction, so your piece will wear faster, and especially your finish will suffer from extensive wear, so the metal silver in this case is going to rub off fast and you'll be looking at rubber again pretty quick.... not a big deal at comicon but for something like this you want it a pull and paint up to last forever~

c. dexterity is limited every time you slip on a glove, so the thinner the material the less impact you'll have on your ability to do more than high five or do the robot~ LOL
Keeping it thinner and lighter means you'll be able to shake hands, hold a glass, and scratch your nose without putting out your eye.

2. The wrist and the gauntlet should be separate pieces if possible. Again this is 100% about flexibility and not fighting against the glove itself or causing unnecessary wear and tear. I learned this one from Steve Wang and the guys at Spectral Motion. This was figured out when they were making Abe Sapien and the first round of gloves constantly tore. So learn from their valuable lesson~


The gems are also a bit of a struggle to get right, or I should say to get them to not look like plastic which is what every previous version of this glove suffered from. So that's going to be a tuff one to really put this over the top.... and it may involve you making your own or spending 10x more on the jewels because most of the ones from craft stores are just plastic and dead.

Lastly here is my absolute favorite reference for the glove, and seams like your headed in just the right direction!! I'm staying tuned to this thread!

So you have a little example to see what I mean, here's a glove that the clay is no more than 3/32 anywhere on the fingers.

 

[Charliefox]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Hrmmm alot to think about there, ive been putting off doing the fingers just because the way i have the arm set makes them a little difficult to get to. The chunckyness has alot to do with latex shrinkages and having enough room to get my fingers in! Its kind of making me question my desision to use latex, its alot of effort for a perishable, but that rockets the costs because its sillicone and flexible rubber..... Polyflex number blah cant remember but ive used it before. Im going diving for a week from saturday so i have time to think but its time out of making, was hoping to have it in mold by today but thats not happening! Its excellent advide but i cant help wondering if im aided by the fact the gauntlets not like a second skin, it is a chunky ******* with a bit of wiggle room. Was planning on brushing the mold with a bit of graphite powder and gold powder before casting just so i get a permement colour pre painting dunno if this will disgiuse wear for longer? Also ive only used that technique in sillicone so dont know if it works in a plaster mold. As for the gems im casting them myself anyway, despite all clear materials being satans evil and horrible to work with (no bitterness there ive spent too long hovered over degassers) thanks for your kind word and the advice its food for thought, and the lovely hand sculpt pics you have there, very elegant.

 

[Charliefox]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Owwww my eyes hurt. Got a little more done this evenin, taken quite alot of material away from the fingers and got them all roughed out, started on the under armour round the fingers. Thats a massive pain in the balls! Very little room combined with a super thin skim of wax means it just keeps pulling away from the plaster, not helped by the fact a couple of the fingers are loose. Anyway its on hold for the next week for diving (woohooo) so heres where im leaving it, enjoy.

 

[BATS]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

sorry to add to your frustration, just want to see this become the best witchblade ever and have it be the standard


I'm guessing it could be a nightmare to do, but what you need when sculpting gloves andwell pretty much everything and anything from the shoulder down is that bodycast needs to be on a pipe that can be braced or bolted into 10 different positions. Then you can turn the piece, work on it, then turn and work, turn and work etc.

I'll see if I have a photo of my setup when I did those hands. And thank you.
my hands are almost done, just need to do some secondary detailing and then they are ready to mold.

But now I'm waaayyyy more interested in seeing yours finished!! lol


Have a good time diving, be safe and if you see any big sharks........
they aren't like the ones in Finding Nemo!!

 

[Charliefox]

Re: witchblade sara pezzini 1st timer

Survived all marine life encounters, so back to work! No new pics of the sculpt but i did get my ebay on and found this wig which while its not perfect looks a damn site better than the fuzzy abused mop that is my hair! Found some better shape ones but they were the wrong colour, seemingly every colour but the one i wanted (grrrr) im falling behind on this i need to get it moulded by the end of the week to have any chance of it dryi g in time. Wank. The boyfriend has also informed me he wants a darkness inspired costume but we will see how much time i have! http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums...287756F9-268-00000036878F2465_zpsb4c143c3.jpg