cadeus' 2015 Aug-Sep Sculpture Contest Entry

[Cadeus]

Hey, everyone! I am going to try this again... three times the charm, maybe? I think everyone here knows me. Talented, talkative... never finishes anything. That's me...but I am turning over a new leaf, I hope. I should be able to start finishing the things I started, soon. No excuses. But enough about me. I have always, (since Marvel's Avengers came out), wanted a large scale collection of the Avengers to display, and eventually a large scale collection of the Fantastic Four+ Silver Surfer. And I always planned to sculpt them myself. So I decided to begin that collection for this contest... Everyone I know thinks I should start with Iron Man, which is nuts, cause he is, without a doubt, one of the harder profiles to sculpt. Bu I love Iron Man, and my wife loves Iron Man... and especially my SON loves Iron Man, so I am going to go for it. And though I may not win many points for originality, I should make up for it with the "wow factor".

My entry for this contest will be a 1/3 scale Iron Man mark7 from Marvel's Avengers. I will either use monster clay or possibly paper clay... I will give him a unique pose to distinguish him as my own creation, and possibly a base as well. Here is a reference pic I found on Google for all you guys who love to see pics. (This is not the pose he will be in, it is just a reference.)



As soon as I can get to the print shop and build the armature, I will post a pic of it all. Wish me luck!

 

[Michael Bergeron]

Counting on you to finish this time!

Good luck!

 

[Cadeus]

Thanks Michael. I won't let you down. I'll have my base pic with the date posted by Monday. I had to drive to Hammond LA today or I would have, already.

 

[Cadeus]

OK, so I'll be able to go to the copy shop tomorrow to get a blow up of the iron man suite mark 7, but I went ahead and printed out a base figure to scale to begin my armature. So here is a shot of it with today's paper and a couple other shots. I am going to sculpt this armor in the same manner a ball jointed doll is sculpted, using a paper clay and a cardboard armature. I know that sounds flimsy, but it isn't. It will be quite stable when it has cured. I can't swear he'll be jointed, I am just using the same technique. And the paper clay will allow me to get a very crisp surface detail. If you need a shot of the completed armature with a current paper, let me know. I intend to post lots of progress pics along the way, anyway. when I get home from work tomorrow I will be able to spend some time on it, and then post some more pics Tuesday. I have class tomorrow evening from six to nine so I don't expect to be up for much when I get home tomorrow night.



That's all for now, so I'll see you soon! Thanks for looking.

 

[Michael Bergeron]

Gonna be a stickler this time so to be safe take another paper shot when you've got something started. You can use the same paper

 

[Cadeus]

Hello, again! OK, so here is my official official starter photo. I started off with the head and torso. I will explain the details in the pics that follow.

(I know it's a little ugly, but aren't they always, in the beginning?)

I decided to start with the head and torso because they are the easiest to marry. I have never used paper clay before, so I did a lot of studying and chose materials for a base structure. Being poor, I used cardboard. Then I hot glued some balsa foam I had left over from another project onto the frame and sanded it down to make a pretty little head to sculpt the helmet around-


The substance you see on the torso is actually a gap filling foam from Home Depot, (cause I'm poor). I lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed the foam out into a continuous layer. Then flipped it over, removed the foil and allowed it to cure before using a bread knife to cut out what I needed to glue to a cardboard silhouette of the torso. I was actually kind of proud of myself for being creative. (My first attempt at a base structure was just cardboard blocks, but it was a pain in the butt, so I abandoned that idea). The foam is easier to tweek, too.


So there it is, for now. I am gonna spend some time tweaking the bases tomorrow and finally get to the print shop to get my references printed to scale... and hopefully start putting clay on him in the next few days. I will post some more progress pics when he begins to look more Iron Man and less like a mannequin. I am having a lot of fun with this project, and my wife and kids are eager to see the finished product. My four year old spent a whopping 10 minutes watching me sand and carve the head today. I couldn't believe it! Thanks for looking, and feel free to post comments/questions

 

[Syrus54]

Well this is interesting.
Never heard of anyone basically, making their own foam....

Usually people buy a few couple-inch-thick sheets, glue them together, and start sanding it down.
Or to use like, a mannequin, and use modelling clay.

This is (i believe) a unique idea.

Mabey you could make a scaled suit out of Paper (.PDOs and what-not), then just inject the insides with the sprayfoam.

Would that save any time/money ?

 

[Cadeus]

Well this is interesting.
Never heard of anyone basically, making their own foam....

Usually people buy a few couple-inch-thick sheets, glue them together, and start sanding it down.
Or to use like, a mannequin, and use modelling clay.

This is (i believe) a unique idea.

Mabey you could make a scaled suit out of Paper (.PDOs and what-not), then just inject the insides with the sprayfoam.

Would that save any time/money ?

I have the means to do so. At 1/3 scale I could take any of the pdo's I have and scale them down, but I feel that it violates the spirit of the contest. I mean to use the foam as a base, only. pepakura is more like model building than sculpting, and I have great respect for both. I pepped a full scale Iron Man helmet a few years ago and it wasn't easy. I did decide to use monster clay over the foam for the helmet... I just couldn't get the paper clay to cooperate well. It took too long to cure. thanks for looking!

PS- I don't mean to be unique... I am just poor. poor people find ways to get by. I think it is just "survival", but thank-you. more often than not I wish I had the means to use more appropriate materials. The results are far easier to produce.

 

[Cadeus]

Hello, again! I promised an update and here it is. I must first admit that my sculpting skills are worse than I thought they were. I had a really hard time getting the geometry right. The materials I used were unfamiliar to me... it was just a disappointment from the start. And sculpting a geometric figure seemed more like carving to me, which I suck at. So my model has transformed into something more organic, which I am much more comfortable with. Instead of a geometric armor from the movie, I have decided to use a model I found on the net for a more organic take on the Iron Man suite. It is a design the original artist composed from a suite from the Iron Man comics. Apparently this suite of armor was inside Tony's bones and oozed out of his skin to form the protective armor. Fair warning: THE FOLLOWING IMAGE IS NOT MINE. And, out of respect for this artist's amazing tallent, I will not attempt to re-create the image exactly. I have simply been inspired by it to create my own interpretation of this amazing armor. OK, blah, blah blah.... sorry to write so much. Here it is:


OK, so I had to make a new armature, and then start skinning it in monster clay. I took a few pics which anyone here could agree this is only about an hour and a half's work. I don't have a paper with today"s date, so while I let the clay cool, and I am going to go grab a green-sheet. That way no-one can say I just substituted a finished piece. I am not being a prude. I just want to maintain the integrity of this contest which has become so fragile. So, here is me going in a different direction.


If there are any objections to this, speak now or forever hold your piece...

*UPDATE*

Here is a shot of this weeks Greensheet with the armature


And this is my son, Anakin. He is sculpting like his dad, because he thinks I'm cool.

 

[Cadeus]

Hey guys. I am struggling really hard to get this finished by the deadline. But I have had some problems in my life... my daughter had a heart cath procedure Friday to repair a hole in her heart. They went in thrue her femoral artery in her leg up into her heart. The procedure revealed a lot more damage... and now she is going to have to have open heart surgery to repair all the damage... on top of everything they also found a blood clot caused by the catheter they have to remove. The surgery is scheduled for Monday, and she is on blood thinners. I am just a nervous wreck cause I have to work, and I haven't been able to get up to the hospital to see her in two days. My wife is with her, and I am watching my son when I am not at work. It's just chaos. So anyway, here is where he's at now. We'll see what I can do with him before the deadline. Thanks for looking.

 

[ChickenHaunt]

So sorry to hear that, Cadeus. Sending good thoughts your way.

The sculpture looks to be on the right track!

 

[Michael Bergeron]

That's rough man. Best wishes your way!

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