Cinema Secrets Ben Gardner head (Jaws)

[ob1al]

These are really rare and hard to find, molded directly from the screen used prop seen in one of the most memorable moments in 'Jaws'.

Here's a good pic from Jim's site:

With a few mods (hair punched, second eye removed) these will make a base for a very accurate Jaws display piece.

A good place to look right now would be online auction sites for this Severed Bloated Head. :thumbsup

When mine arrives, I'll take some pics of a before and after, with the modifications.

Al

 

[steveo]

Man, even out of context in the film, that head still freaks me out.

 

[Apollo]

When mine arrives, I'll take some pics of a before and after, with the modifications.

Nice and I mean NICE catch Al!! :thumbsup

 

[patsmear]

I can't believe cinema secrets did this.

Going to call the wholesalers now!

Pat

 

[ob1al]

Cast from the original too - amazing stuff for the price!

I can't believe Universal haven't marketed these as a Jaws collectable already..!

 

[Bilbo Baggins]

He looks more surprised than we are about this :wacko

 

[ob1al]

Just for comparison, here's the original in Jaws:

And here's the same one with Spileberg in the 80's:

Al

 

[ob1al]

I thought I'd document the possible modifications on the Cinema Secrets Ben Gardner head prop, to more closely resemble the screen used prop as seen in JAWS.

The head itself is a very good base from which to start. It's nicely cast in thick, sturdy foam filled latex and is believed to originate from the screen used prop, as many of the same details are present.

Here's the first bunch of photographs of the unmodified prop, straight out of the box:









Here are some brightened up images of the real prop for reference:



Step 1:
I quickly painted the teeth using a pale flesh acrylic paint. This revealed a lot of air bubbles in the teeth which didn't look good.

I mixed a little liquid latex and thickner and filled in the air bubbles in the teeth, plus the other small air bubbles in the cheek, ear and some tiny ones around the left eye (left, as we look at it).

Having more definition in the teeth improves the look of the piece straight away, despite not being properly detailed yet:




I'll leave this overnight now to allow the latex to dry before moving on to the next stage.

STEP 2
I cut out the second eye with an exacto knife and hollowed out the eye cavity, being careful to leave a bit of material still behind for support (you don't want to go all the way through). I then filled the cavity with liquid latex to create a nice flat base for painting later.

Whilst the latex was drying, I repainted the skin tones on the face using humbrol acrylic flesh paint and a sponge:





The repainted skin looks much better IMO - a bit lighter and more natural looking than the orangey-pink colour these are painted as standard.

More to come later.

 

[Howlrunner]

Whilst the latex was drying, I repainted the skin tones on the face using humbrol acrylic flesh paint and a sponge:

Is that the Humbrol enamel paints that come in small tins used for model kits? Can you use them on latex busts/masks? I thought latex busts/masks need special paint?

 

[ob1al]

No, it's the humbrol pro acrylic range - you just need to mix it with a little latex and it works well on latex busts etc.

 

[Apollo]

I have been waiting for you to post this.

Love the re-paint so far, looks better in the photo's so i know it looks even better in person.

Can't wait to see you're progress on this

 

[Howlrunner]

No, it's the humbrol pro acrylic range - you just need to mix it with a little latex and it works well on latex busts etc.

Ah right, thanks. I have a blank Cryptkeeper to paint and had no idea about what to use.

Ben looks a million times better already. :cool

 

[greatgarlando]

Thanks for posting you progress on this Al. I picked up one of these as well and plan on doing the mods also. Any idea on what you are going to use for the eye entrails?

 

[ob1al]

I'm thinking about latex pieces really mate - I'll probably make a quick and dirty mold and make some strands etc.

 

[Rylo]

Cool!

Okay. Someone send me a link on where to get one.

 

[ob1al]

The good news is, it looks like CS have done a whole new batch of these:

http://store.cinemasecretsonline.com/aa047.html

 

[ob1al]

Step 3

I have started adding some fine detail to the paint, using a very watery brown wash for the 'pores'. I've also painted in the eye socket using red and black acrylics and added a charity shop shirt which matches Ben's closely enough (it's kind of a tan / khaki color):




Next step will be adding the gory detail to the eye socket!

 

[ob1al]

Before I start work on the eye-gore, I couldn't resist adding a little bit of hair - still needs extra layers on the hair and there's none on his head yet, but I think you can start to see 'Ben' taking shape now:

 

[frosty]

looks great bud, a lot better with the new paintjob

 

[greatgarlando]

Looking good Al. I cant wait to see yours done.