Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Solid Cast

RiggsMcClane

Well-Known Member
Recently a friend commissioned a piece from me. He wanted a specific green lantern by the name of Kyle Rayner. Someone who replaced the original in the nineties.



green-lantern-kyle-rayner.jpg




Here's my progress so far. It's done over a duct tape dummy of my friend. I started by laying out a basic shape in clay. Keeping in mind where the eyes and center line of the face were.


kyle1_zpslcz13uwb.jpg






I then take one half to a semi finished state so I can get a better idea of the look. At this point I'm playing around with the style and making a decision whether to strictly adhere to the look of the comics.


kyle2_zpsbgeq9bi1.jpg






Finally both sides are nearly done but the symmetry needs numerous tweaks. I've now departed slightly from the characters original look going for a somewhat romanesque style instead. I may very well change this but I think it looks interesting for the moment.


kyle3_zpswqlhulec.jpg




Tell me what you think!
 
Last edited:
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask

The finished piece, sort of. Each time I take a pic of it I find something new to tweak. lol Either way this is as close to finished as it will get before casting a resin copy for further smoothing etc.


kyle6_zpsbeefdgnz.jpg
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask

I'm a big Green Lantern fan and this is a great representation of Rayner's original mask. Pretty spot on. Will you be casting it in a clear green resin or solid green?
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask

I've actually been looking into both urethane rubber and clear resin. My only concern is that if it's not cast in a softer material it'll be uncomfortable. I definitely want to do at least one or two in clear green resin however.
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask

Okay, the final final look. I hope. Just wasn't in love with the bulky look of the forehead. I changed that up a bit and extended the lower scallops making it a bit more accurate to the comics. Hope you like the changes.


kyle7_zpstog21fge.jpg
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Final Sculpt

Master is out of it's junk mold. Some symmetry is still bugging me and will be fixed before the final mold.


kyle10.jpg
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Master

I've had a couple people want this in a clear material. A decent clear rubber is triple the cost of clear resin and I'd rather these not be too expensive for those who want them. As it stands the resin master seems decently smooth on the inside, fits nicely against the face, weighs only a quarter pound, and poses no real comfort issues during fittings. Thoughts?
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Opinions

Weeeeell, things were going well, to a point. The mold turned out okay but the initial test cast had issues. I've honestly never worked with a resin that had more than a couple noticeable bubbles per cast. So I was a bit shocked when the clear came out with hundreds that weren't even apparent during the casting process. The other issue became the transparent look itself. Anywhere the cast was slightly thicker the color changed considerably.




kyle13_zpsvhzlkm6x.jpg




There are some things I can change in the mold to keep some of the build up from occurring. However, if the bubbles weren't due to temp or humidity I may not solve them without a pressure pot. Something that may not be worth attempting for a single project.
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Test Cast

Ahhhhh the "joy" of the unknown.....Lookin really Cool Mr.McClane.....My sculptin brutha from anutha mutha.....SUPER GREEN!!!:cool
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Test Cast

That looks pretty cool, but I see what you mean about the colour. I've never worked with resin. Is it difficult to maintain a consistent colour? I also understand what you mean about wear-ability and flexibility. If someone's going to be wearing the mask for long periods of time you want it to be comfortable. It's certainly presenting a lot more challenges than I would have thought. Excellent work though and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Test Cast

If I maintain the thickness throughout the cast the color should remain consistent. Part of the problem in this cast was the half inch lip I created in the mold. It caught more resin than expected causing most of the color variations. This isn't typically a problem with solid resins since you simply turn around and paint them. I may try that next for the fun of it.
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Test Cast

Clean looking sculpt, we're finishing up a New 52 Kyle mask for a client, I like the mechanical, alien machined look of his mask.

Generally clear resins work best in platinum silicone moulds and are pretty annoying to hand lay without a pressure pot and generally not worth the hassle haha. Did you add a layer of baby powder to the mould? That helps with surface tension when a resin is prone to surface bubbles. Nice work, I like the adjustments you made, it's a nice mask!
 
Re: Green Lantern: Kyle Rayner Mask - Test Cast

It's a platinum mold. I typically use the baby powder method but didnt for this. Even without it there were very few surface bubbles. Most ended up deeper in the cast. I'll try another pour technique and see how that goes. I definitely didn't expect this kind of bubbling. Look forward to what you do with the new 52 look. I nearly went that direction with this one.

In the meantime here's one cast from my normal resin and painted similar to the comics. I likely need to play with the green a bit more:

kyle14_zps0it1wxdp.jpg
 
I love your design. I've been working on casting clear resins for a project I'm working on. I've found that after you mix it and are ready to pour, I put a heat gun to it. Warming the resin makes it more fluid and pops most of the bubbles that are in the resin from mixing. I then do a very high thin slow poor which takes care of any other bubbles there may be.
 
Looks really great man.

Basic question for you? What's a junk/dump mold? How did you go about doing it? I've seen it mentioned in a few threads but not really explained. Trying to learn more about all this before I start my first project.
 
A junk mold is a mold that will allow you to get one or two pulls out of it before it becomes useless. Alginate is used a lot for it. I've also used thin layers of silicone and urethane backed with plaster bandages. It's a cheap way of getting a clay sculpture into resin form for final cleanup before the real mold.
 
Interesting tips on the clear resin pitchfork. Thanks, I'll have to give that a try on the next one. He's also spot on about the junk mold method Mags. For this mask I did a few layers of silicone and plaster. Perfect for a quick pull.
 
Last edited:
Would also have a buyer interested when you're done! Love the transparent green.
 
This thread is more than 8 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top