I was surfing at work one day when I found a costuming website that was talking about making a custom dress form using duct tape. I was considering doing one up for a base to sculpt armor when I thought, "This would be a good way to get a base to sculpt a helmet on for my giant noggin." I figured rather than soft batting material I wold get the rigid expanding foam they use for insulating to fill the interior. This obviously woud not work for sculpting foam appliances but if you need a roughshape for a helmet sculpt this does work. Be safe, have someone standing by to cut you loose if you put the tape on too tight.
Step One:
Gather your gear. All you need is duct tape, scissors and something to put between you and the tape. Pantyhose woud work though I ended up using a cut-up T-Shirt.
Step Two:
Wrap your head in duct tape. Once you have your head wrapped in some sort of clothe barrier just start wrapping your head in duct tape. Be very care around the neck and wrap it very very loose. The last thing you want is to pass out and be found with your head wrapped in duct tape, though it would make for interesting conversation at family dinners. As you can see from the photo I kept my eyes uncovered, as well as my mouth. You cannot tell but my nose is not completely covered so I could breathe there as well. You do not need a lot of layers. i think I did 2. Keep the tape off your skin, it will pull flesh off if it covers large areas, don't ask me why i know this.
This is time to startle children.
Step Three:
Carefully cut up the back of the tape. If you can get a pair of scissors from a medkit that would be better, the have the rounded edges too keep from poking skin. This is where you battle buddy comes in. Once the cut is made you can tape the eyes and mouth is you wish or wait until it is off your head. Once off you use your tape to repair the cut and, if you have not done so, cover your eye holes and mouth.
Step Four:
Your Ghetto lifecast is almost done. How you do this step is up to you. I used a bucket and towel to support the tape head. I sprayed a bit of the foam in and let it expand and, eventually, set. I kept doing this until the hed was filled. I also embedded a chuck of PVC and base to attach it to a board later. You could do this with stone or whatever you like. I was trying to keep it light weight. The problem with the canned foam was the cell structure would constantly collapse if I put too much in but if I did small amounts it was fine.
Viola. A cheap sculting base the size of your noggin.
Right now there is a little too much give on the outside, I think because of the tape and cloth that I used to wrap my head. I am going to pick up some of that resin cloth used to patch boats and pipes and wrap the exterior of this thing to give a smoothish hard surface. You could also probably do a layer of reside and fiberglass to firm it up.
Hopefully I will start a sculpt on this thing soon. Hope this is a help to someone.
Step One:
Gather your gear. All you need is duct tape, scissors and something to put between you and the tape. Pantyhose woud work though I ended up using a cut-up T-Shirt.
Step Two:
Wrap your head in duct tape. Once you have your head wrapped in some sort of clothe barrier just start wrapping your head in duct tape. Be very care around the neck and wrap it very very loose. The last thing you want is to pass out and be found with your head wrapped in duct tape, though it would make for interesting conversation at family dinners. As you can see from the photo I kept my eyes uncovered, as well as my mouth. You cannot tell but my nose is not completely covered so I could breathe there as well. You do not need a lot of layers. i think I did 2. Keep the tape off your skin, it will pull flesh off if it covers large areas, don't ask me why i know this.
This is time to startle children.
Step Three:
Carefully cut up the back of the tape. If you can get a pair of scissors from a medkit that would be better, the have the rounded edges too keep from poking skin. This is where you battle buddy comes in. Once the cut is made you can tape the eyes and mouth is you wish or wait until it is off your head. Once off you use your tape to repair the cut and, if you have not done so, cover your eye holes and mouth.
Step Four:
Your Ghetto lifecast is almost done. How you do this step is up to you. I used a bucket and towel to support the tape head. I sprayed a bit of the foam in and let it expand and, eventually, set. I kept doing this until the hed was filled. I also embedded a chuck of PVC and base to attach it to a board later. You could do this with stone or whatever you like. I was trying to keep it light weight. The problem with the canned foam was the cell structure would constantly collapse if I put too much in but if I did small amounts it was fine.
Viola. A cheap sculting base the size of your noggin.
Right now there is a little too much give on the outside, I think because of the tape and cloth that I used to wrap my head. I am going to pick up some of that resin cloth used to patch boats and pipes and wrap the exterior of this thing to give a smoothish hard surface. You could also probably do a layer of reside and fiberglass to firm it up.
Hopefully I will start a sculpt on this thing soon. Hope this is a help to someone.
