Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien)

Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Yes, I've added lips and tendons to some of my head castings and no matter how thick they are out of rd-407 they always rot.

Its also bizarre to see that you've made your molds almost exactly the same way I have. Trust me, I feel your pain with the hand- rotocasting! I've gotten agreat shoulder workout. LOL.

I'd also love to be able to paint up one of these. I think I nailed the same process and techniques that Giger used on the original.
 
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Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Your castings are coming out as sweet as your sculpt Leigh. I can't wait to own one of these beauties......it will complete my 1/1 Alien noggins!
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

That is awesome! Could you do another where the dome isn't as transparent?
Thanks!.. Sure :)

Alien_Sculpt_By_Leigh_Artwork_By_Kasper_GigerStyle_DarkDome_zps4dc6caa5.jpg
 
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Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Well...he now has a full set of teeth with no bubbles or tips missing :)

Oh, nice. You're a man after my own heart. If a mould doesn't work the way you hoped, modify that sucker! I've not tried it on something this size but it is an approach which has saved many a mould for me.

I originally wanted to make the tongue so that it was fully poseable with the hinges hidden under a layer of rubber. This looks like its going to be quite difficult to do

You could always dip the final cast into liquid latex, lol. (No don't. It would shrink down into the hinges and gum them up. Would take several coats to hide them, anyway. And it'd rot).

My vote would just be to go with what you have. People can work out their own solutions, putty and a fixed pose or something more sophisticated if they want. But you'll probably come up with something brilliant I'd never have thought of. :D

Or close up the seams on your master with the jaws somewhat open, then mould and cast the tongue in a durable elastomer with a wire armature cast in place. Simple and poseable...
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

My vote would just be to go with what you have. People can work out their own solutions, putty and a fixed pose or something more sophisticated if they want. But you'll probably come up with something brilliant I'd never have thought of. :D

Or close up the seams on your master with the jaws somewhat open, then mould and cast the tongue in a durable elastomer with a wire armature cast in place. Simple and poseable...

Hmmm, at the moment I'm casting the tongue components as they are, so that I have the option of fixing them in a pose, either open or closed.
From there I'm thinking about modifying one of the casts. I can shave a millimeter or so from around the hinges both on the little jaws & where they fix to the end of the tongue.
I could then make a mould of those parts, run a cast, assemble the 3 pieces, carefully tape the hinge gaps & then build up the shaved areas with clay & then mould the end of it & cast the space with urethane rubber.

What do you think??
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Hello Leigh,
Watch this video as someone has made​​, at his home, a form with thermoforming technology. He used a coil resistance of the electric furnace and vacuum cleaner. This technique could go for the transparent part of the head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4s9Sy3XG2k ;)
 
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Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Leigh, not sure I'm picturing it correctly. You mean sculpt a removable new segment onto the cast, which can then itself be moulded in flex urethane?
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Err...OK, If you imagine the tongue with the teeth fitted via its little hinges, then the hinge area ground down a bit (recessed), & then slip a rubber band over the hinges to hide them...

Only, I'll make the rubber bands so that they look like part of the tongue :)
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Yeah, got it, a sculpted rubber band. It will be a little difficult to anchor I suspect.
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Yep, I'll try to figure that one out when I get there :unsure
The tongue is actually causing me more trouble than any of the other parts so far. Its silly things like moulding the inside of the tongue so that it can slide in & out :wacko
I have successfully made a mould of the jaws for the tongue though :)
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

If there is enough space you might want to make the mould for the inside hollow of the tongue as a sleeve; itself hollow. EG slide a candlestick in and pour the silicone around that, then melt the wax out with hot water or a heat gun.

The advantage is that instead of a long cylinder of silicone that is difficult to remove out of the cast, you get a collapsible tube. Hopefully rigid enough to cast accurately but flexible enough to be withdrawn easily. Ooh er sounds a bit rude. :)

Another tip, you're probably ahead of me on this one though, does your inside mould go all the way through or did you split it in the middle? Much easier to remove a mould piece that only reaches half way through the tongue; so you have one on each side.

Also, the inside mould section doesn't need to be an integral part of either mould half, either. It can be a third element that can be slotted in place either before you pour resin or even as you do so - that is, you make the mould as a sleeve for the outside of the tongue (or better, as the usual two-half type, longitudinally). You make the inside section as a plunge piece which fits into the rear of the main mould. Stand it up, half-fill with resin, plunge the interior section in. Messy as you get a bit of overflow of course.

Or just vaselining it might solve the problem. :lol
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Wow, that rendering SankaraRaider did is awesome. Leigh you have a lot of talent, along with yours, :) here in this thread. I can't wait to see you make the clear dome.
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Thanks DC :)


If there is enough space you might want to make the mould for the inside hollow of the tongue as a sleeve

The advantage is that instead of a long cylinder of silicone that is difficult to remove out of the cast, you get a collapsible tube. Hopefully rigid enough to cast accurately but flexible enough to be withdrawn easily. Ooh er sounds a bit rude. :)

Also, the inside mould section doesn't need to be an integral part of either mould half, either. It can be a third element that can be slotted in place
the usual two-half type, longitudinally

Or just vaselining it might solve the problem. :lol

This is kind of what I've done, thanks for the suggestions :)
I was having trouble getting the mould of the inside of the tongue back into it so that I could mould the outside :lol

Hopefully I'll be getting some pic's up soon, assuming the rest of the mould works & it'll be easier to see what I've done :)
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Err um! Never remove a piece from rubber before making everything else, if you don't have to! :lol
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Err um! Never remove a piece from rubber before making everything else, if you don't have to! :lol

I needed the inside mould to be longer than the inside of the tongue, so I actually moulded the inside of another tube with the same ID. I moulded a 6x6mm oak rod through it for support & cut a split down the length. I had to hook a wire through the end of it to PULL it through the tongue, that part has worked OK. Since I should only have to remove the it in the future, I wont have to worry about faffing about with a wire again :lol
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Why am I not paying more attention to this thread?!

Leigh that is outstanding work, I'm speechless!!

Harry
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Thank you Harry :)

Here's the pictures of the moulds for the tongue & its jaws:
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The wee jaws should both come out with one cast & the main tongue mould is supported by an MDF box. Both moulds will have the holes for the hinges cast into them in the same way as the main bottom jaw. To cast the holes into them I've made the moulds to have steel rods fitted during casting. I've ordered some stainless steel 3.2mm (1/8") rod, it should be here today or tomorrow. When it gets here I'll run casts & post some pic's :)
 
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Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Mate! Honestly, I think that is more than good enough. I'd be perfectly happy with puttying the hinge, or putting latex over it. Leave something for us builders to do, eh? :lol
 
Re: Bob the Alien (Giger inspired Alien) Sculpting finished page 45

Beautiful job. It never finishes surprising me and to thrill me. If I had not met this post, I don't know if I would have succeeded in continuing my sculpture. Besides I have taken many you sprout and measures from your job together with that of Yoshihiko Sano and from that original. I don't intend me of mold and relative materials. I wonder me if I can also to build mold to end sculpture. Surely it will be very complicated. According to you, will it be possible holding whole the sculpture?:confused :)

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