Glass eye in bust question

[Garthok]

I have a several part question relating to all the incredible sculpts I have seen on here. How on earth do you install the glass eyes? I have done a search of both here and google but have not had much luck.

Do you make some kind of template first or do you trim them down bit by bit till they fit, and if so with what? How do you make sure they line up?

I want to purchase one of Howard's Indy busts in the near future but I am clueless, and a little daunted in regards eyes. Is it wiser to buy a couple of sets of eyes to be safe?

Is there any info or books on line that someone can point me to?

When you are sculpting a 1:1 bust how do you allow for the eyes?

Any information would be greatly appreciated. You blokes make the sculpting look easy, but I am continually just blown away by your talent. Tell me once upon a time you started off just like the rest of us...please!

Cheers

Glenn

 

[allosaur176]

well, most of the time the busts are made hollow, so inserting the eyes are easy, its lining them up thats a hassle...

 

[fettster]

what i do is drill a small hole inthe centre of each eye. I then use that hole to line up where the eyes are from inside the sculpt. Using a dremel, I cafefully grind away the back of the eye area until the front of the eye is completly gone. I then test fit the eyes and secure them wuth a big lump of oil based clay and line them up. I then use milliput on the out side to fill in any gaps in the sculpt aroun the eyes so they look seamless. once the milliput has set, i remove the clay and its all done.

hope that helps

 

[staermose]

Where to Buy Glass Eyes

Sorry for the hijack, but this thread comes along just as I've been contacted regarding painting a Joker full scale bust.

Where can I buy glass eyes for such a project? Its for Howard S sculpt of The Joker as portrayed by Jack Nicholson.

 

[ave4uevoli]

Hmm.. well i just put in the glass eyes into the locutus bust -

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=48758

the seller, Korbanth, had already dremeled out the eyes - but to get them even I had to dremel out the back of the eyelids a little more.

what I usually do for lifesized busts is I use small pieces of tape to hold the eyeballs in temporarily. Once they're lined up and secure. I use milliput (a clay like epoxy) to hold the eyeballs there permanently.

If you have eyes that you may want to replace in the future.. just use tape - just don't tell anyone. .haha.. but tape does work temporarily. After a few years the glue on the tape gets crusty and the eyes may fall out - but after a few years.. putting them on again with more tape isn't a problem.

There are various grades of eyeballs - some are better than others.. some look more lifelike than others.. You usually get what you pay for. I usually start with plastic eyeballs - and then when I upgrade.. work my way up to glass ones. Plastic eyeballs are usually half spheres.. they're not actual "balls"

no need to trim them or anything - as long as you have a dremel - you just dremel out the eyes of a sculpt - then thin out the eyelids from the inside and the half sphere eyeball should just fit and can be secured with tape - until you want to use a more permanent measure.

~T

 

[THStudio]

For glass eyes, www.vandykestaxidermy.com has great ones, cheap as well. Really good.

 

[Garthok]

Thanks for the replies, it seems like a silly question now I hear the answers. I think I am just a little aprehensive at taking the Dremel to any one of those incredible busts, so I looked at it from another way

I saw the locutus bust thread. It looks fantastic, one of the best paint jobs, and most life like finished busts I have seen. You also got the shape of the torso perfect too..I had to check a few times that it was in fact a bust.

Cheers

Glenn

 

[vaderdarth]

For me the problem comes with actually choosing the correct size. Each bust is different and requires a different sized eyeball and also a different sized pupil etc..... I have found it's quite challenging to always find the appropriate color and sizes for what the sculpts require.

Dave

 

[staermose]

I have ordered a set from www.vandykestaxidermy.com for the Joker bust I'll be painting. Afyerwards I found this on their site
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/product/01301503/

I may use that option in the future to get a more accurate eye for each subject.

I don't think the price is too high for a custom glass eye that'll add just a tad more realism.

 

[ave4uevoli]

Thanks for the replies, it seems like a silly question now I hear the answers. I think I am just a little aprehensive at taking the Dremel to any one of those incredible busts, so I looked at it from another way

I saw the locutus bust thread. It looks fantastic, one of the best paint jobs, and most life like finished busts I have seen. You also got the shape of the torso perfect too..I had to check a few times that it was in fact a bust.

Cheers

Glenn

well thanks for the compliment - much appreciated. For dremeling..I know how you feel.. it scares the crap out of me too. I can only suggest that you use a drill - to drill out a small hole in the center of the eye.. then use bigger and bigger heads on the dremel to make that hole bigger. You don't wnat to start off with a big drill bit because the dremel spins so fast you want to be sure that it doesn't slip and you end up scratching or damaging something else. the smaller the hole the more control you'll have and then work your way bigger and bigger. Once the hole is big enough use an attachment that is like coarse sandpaper to slowly dremel out the little details and what needs to be done.

The course sandpaper is slow - so you'll be able to see the resin slowly being rubbed away. USE SAFETY GLASSES!! The last time i did this - I got a lot of resin in my eye... not fun.

Once you get one eye done.. it'll be all good - you'll be fine.. and worse comes to worse.. You can buy some milliput to fill in any screw ups but lets hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[asoncsm101]

For me the problem comes with actually choosing the correct size. Each bust is different and requires a different sized eyeball and also a different sized pupil etc..... I have found it's quite challenging to always find the appropriate color and sizes for what the sculpts require.

Dave

The average human eyeball is about 25/26mm in Diameter When we are born the average size is 18mm Diameter...It it grows to full size within a year amazing huh?

 

[Qrest Fourstar]

Sorry to necropost, but thought it was better than starting a new thread.

So, when ordering eyes from Vandyke, I want the Human Liflike eyes?

At one time I thought someone had recommended a site that had a larger selection of eyes.

 

[DahnLee]

In addition to the slow Dremel process, I take one more step with the glass eyes I've done. After I have the eye socket hollowed out, I will give the glass eye a thin coat of liquid latex and then lightly tack it in place with Krazy Glue. I then take some two-part epoxy putty (Milliput, Magic Sculpt, Aves, etc.) and fill in the slight gaps between the eyelids and the eyes. Once the epoxy sets, pop the eyes out, peel off any remaining latex, and lightly smooth out the eyelids with fine steel wool. Now, when you put the eyes back in the head, you have a perfect fit!