Ancient Elder Bio ~ Bio Sculpt, Mold and Cast project.

[Uratz]

These 2 are sold. My best pieces and I miss them. 1 in Guangzhou and 1 in Baldwin NY.
Brownish-Rusty earth metallic

Bluish Metalic

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Hey Hunters

I'll be posting pics along the way of sculpting my first BIo - Ancient Elder. I know there are some good ones out there already made by Biohunter. I'm pretty much doing this as an excercise to learn about sculpting, mold and casting a bio. I've got all the videos of John Brown's sculpture series (Gnomon Workshop) and learning as I go along. Here are some pics of the undermask I'll be sculpting on. I'm planning to make Celtic, Ancient Elder, and Gort sculpts in the near future depending on how much time, energy and resources I can muster up. Would appreciate any tips/ comments.
-Mike

Undermask version 4 (will post the others later)
Since I want to sculpt on a plaster underform that I can remove and cast seperate I made an armature for the plasterform from metal wires of 2 different thickness and a lot of masking & electrical tape.

Here is the plaster bandage on the armature. This way I can make different plasterforms to sculpt on for different masks.

 

[BANE]

koool, looks interesting, i may have to try this method. again interesting.

 

[Uratz]

Here is how I made the underform with the correct angles of the forehead.
Based on Biohunter's helmet side view (for ref) I drew lines in Adobe Illustrator with the underform roughly 1-2cm thick (49cm actual length) below the profile of the mask.

Further Details:
Then I printed it out on A3 paper (little bit larger than 11x14inch paper)
Traced the outline on to a corrugated cardboard and cut out a template for the wire.
Then twisted wire armature to match the angles I have on paper and refine in 3D until I
have the whole undermask done. I taped in between the wire frame until the whole mask takes a solid appearance.
then constanly measure the angles to ensure I have a accurate "predhead form."
ONce the shapes is good I use clear packing tape (approx. 2.5inches wide) to tape all over the mask so that later the plaster will not drip thru the frame or stick to the wire. Easy removal!!!

 

[Uratz]

Advantages of using this Plaster form method:

- Its good for people who dont want to waste time (online search) and too much money to find the Predator head undermask.
- It quick and cheap way to get an underform going and get to the sculpt in no time (1 day to plaster the form. 1-2 days to dry in summer weather, add extra days per layer for thickness)
- Also duplication method of making many plaster-forms allows the freedom to sculpt different masks at the same time vs. buying costly& heavy Predhead plaster casts.
- No more waiting or destroying beautiful clay sculpts for the next bio sculpt project.
- With this you can make a strong enough plaster form that you can carve & cut with dremel tools to fit the design of the BIO.
- The wire frame underform is soft enough to be bend easily with your puny weak fingers and strong enough to support plaster bandages which allows for further customization for your bio's or predator heads.

Anything else? You can try it if you're crazy about doing multi sculpts and casting projects.

 

[BANE]

thanks for the info. i'll put it to good use.

 

[one and only]

I like where this is going a lot. Good luck.

 

[Uratz]

Here is the Wire frame armature to be used as underform for plastering. Notice the wires in the back shot and oh a lot of tape.
The clear tape on top helps the plaster form slide off the armature after it has cured and dried.

Other picture are the mechanical pieces of a bio already sculpted and cast into resin. When i sculpt these piece can then just be stuck onto the oil clay surface later. These piece has imperfections that need to be dremel sanded and cleaned since they are part of something to be molded later. Also will save u some headache of sculpting something technical looking in oil form. Since the pros do it by sticking real pieces why not do the same

 

[Uratz]

Here are 2 plaster forms made from cardbaord underform #3. With this version I can custom make my own Bio right away by adding clay. These plasterforms are already dried/cured to stone hard. It very thick(1.5-2cm) and heavy at this point. The only part I dont like is the forehead/ face angle is not as curved as it should be. Anyway its no waste and I can use these guys later. Maybe use one to make GOrt?

 

[Uratz]

Project on Hold! Due to some bulls*it terorist crap happening in C hina, all chemical related supplies like my A/B resin are being detained and prevented by the local police from getting its destination. Really sucks. Since I'm in Sh anghai one of the major targets any sort of chemicals are being confiscated. I think its stupid, since gasoline is combustable and more easily available anywhere why don't they stop selling that?

Hunters I need all of ya prayers! Pray for peace and love and that I can get my resin! SO that months of my work is not in vain. I've invested so much only to be stopped by this.

Anyway The last stage of my project which is to cast the Helmets may not happen but I will continue to sculpt (since it takes a long time) and make molds. Hopefully by the time I finish I can get my resin.
-Peace!!!

 

[Uratz]

To further my knowledge and develop my FX skills I've picked up the following books:

1 of: The Winston Effect: The Art & History of Stan Winston Studio
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
1 of: Sculpting a Galaxy: Inside the Star Wars Model Shop
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
1 of: Designing Movie Creatures and Characters: Behind the scenes with the movie masters
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
1 of: AVP: Alien Vs Predator: The Creature Effects of ADI [Illustrated]
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
1 of: Aliens Vs Predator Requiem Inside the Monster Shop [Illustrated]
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC

It'll arrive in 3 weeks. I can't wait!
for anyone interested here are the amazon links:

http://www.amazon.com/Winston-Effect-Histo...d_sim_b_title_1

http://www.amazon.com/Sculpting-Galaxy-Ins...pd_bxgy_b_img_b

http://www.amazon.com/AVP-Alien-Predator-C...d_sim_b_title_5

http://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Predator-Requ...pd_bxgy_b_img_b

http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Movie-Crea...d_sim_b_title_2


peace

 

[Uratz]

Project on Hold! ....... I can get my resin.
-Peace!!!

By the Gods of YautJA I got me Resinz!!!!
Here are the Mr Hobby a Japan brand resin hardness SHoreD close to 60 to 65. SImilar to Smooth-On 60D. I got another bunch (not pictured here) the hardness is 70-75 ShoreD. Should be tough enough for those Bios.

 

[Uratz]

On with the project!

Here are some makeshift objects: Makeshift Lazy Susan aka Makeshift Susan and a Makeshift Armature thing for sculpting my Bio.
Check it out. Ya gotta save money for things like silicone and resin. Also spent billions on Airbrush set, dremel tools, sculpting tools, etc.
Whats in the cookie container? Used oil clay from previous projects to keep the base heavy and steady. Saves storage space also!

"A man who does not make his own tools does not make his own art." - Michelangelo

 

[Uratz]

OK Gonna blog less and sculpt more. Gonna lay down the clay tonight and start blocking it off. Check back in a few weeks.
wish me luck

 

[BANE]

uratz, peace to you man, and god bles! great info, will definately use in my build ups. take care and be safe.

 

[ssnake66]

handy tips! TY

 

[Uratz]

Got some spray paints. Black, Silver, chrome, and some clear coats. The matte clear coat can also be used during the mold making process when spraying over the water based clay jsut before making a mother mold. Yeah makes no sense now. Show u guys way way later

OK some clay blocking shots , looks like nothing. Still more work

 

[Uratz]

Here are blocking stage 2. Yeah still a long way to go. I'd like to let everyone know, especially those of you who pay hard earned dollars for folks who make their own bios from scratch and sell it, these people deserve every penny. This really isn't as easy as it looks. Man my back hurts, gettin old. Enjoy the picts

 

[SUICIDALRAIDER]

Here are blocking stage 2. Yeah still a long way to go. I'd like to let everyone know, especially those of you who pay hard earned dollars for folks who make their own bios from scratch and sell it, these people deserve every penny. This really isn't as easy as it looks. Man my back hurts, gettin old. Enjoy the picts

too cool dude..very informative!! really appreciate the insight...keep up the great work and keep the update comin!

 

[YAUJA WARRIOR]

SWEEEEEEEEEEET !!!

 

[BANE]

last night i started on my wire frame under mask , i must say wow, pretty big , i likes it, took me a couple goes to get the wire bending to suit me. i made a wire bender template board, to help in my wire bending efforts. uratz has hit the nail on the head with this idea. thanks again for the info. i'll post pix when i get a chance to. of my wip on my version of the wire under masj, i'll also tell how i made my wire bender template. later and uratz thanks again, the info is being put to use.