Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (many pics)

[ShadoKat]

So this is my first sculpt... like, ever... unless you count Play-Doh when I was a kid. This is also posted over at the 405th and, while I absolutely love that site, and they were the inspiration that got me to creating this thing, I need some helpful advice, so I figured I'd post here, as well, to cast a wider net. Here was the sculpt about a week ago:

The symmetry is good, and the details are roughed out, so at this point I have started the smoothing process, after which I plan on refining the details, then molding and making a cast. The detail lines are just rough placeholders at the moment, as I fully expect them to be in in need of refinement once smoothing is done. To hold their place, I inserted some blue rubber cord. A tip for anyone else that would try this: use something else. This cord was cheap, but it stretches way too much, and is not rigid enough to really hold the shape.

So, yeah, smoothing... this part is giving me trouble. The surface is a bit lumpy. I've been trying to even it out, and not having much success. All I seem to be accomplishing is making the lumps smooth. I've used metal scrapers, rakes, rubber kidneys, and even a wire brush to really rough it up and try to even it out from there, but nothing is working well so far. No matter what I do, it's still ending up pretty uneven. I've added, subtracted, pressed, pulled, cursed, scraped, rubbed, screamed, and even tried mineral spirits with cosmetic sponges, all to no avail.

For example, this is one section I've been working at for about three hours tonight:

Fortunately it doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better, either. The surface of the lumps are smooth, but the lumps themselves won't go away. If anyone has tips (other than "keep working it," as I'll be doing that, anyway) I could REALLY use them.

Thanks for looking, and I appreciate any help you might be able to send my way. The sooner the better, if you'd be so kind... I was planning to start molding this weekend, but this issue has convinced me to set it back another week so I can try to fix it. If I can't fix it in that time, I'll probably just mold it anyway and try to sand it smooth after casting.

Thanks much!!

 

[tubachris85x]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

YESSS!!! I've been waiting for someone to do a Samus!! One of my favorite games ever! Very good job on the sculpt! Im not too talented with clay sculpting, but from what I understand, one of the better methods (also more expensive) is to mold it as is, then cast it (fiberglass preferably) that way you have a solid piece to work with. From that, you just sand, fill, sand and fill until you can get that surface as smooth as you like, THEN re-mold that to make the final helmet. I have an un-finished Darktrooper helmet that I've been having the same issues with lumpy/non-smooth surface, and that is my plan in the future

Called "transition" molding. Hope that helps!

 

[Oni Warlord]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

The smoothing part can be difficult. On clay I personally like to use a flat piece of flexible metal to smooth out round surfaces. I used the flat side of my basic scraper in a circler motion to smooth down the dome on a skull. The surface came out well with no lumps. You can also use the back of the spoon. The only problem is that some metals will discolor the clay, but that shouldn't matter if you are using the clay as a cast.

I am also very glad to see a Samus helmet. I'm getting a little sick of that one cosplay that gets a lot of attention but in reality is done poorly.

http://www.geekologie.com/2007/11/19/samus-1.jpg :unsure

 

[jaymay023]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

what kinda clay are you using, looks like a plastice non-air drying type. Ive used vasaline and shaping tools to smooth my sculpts. That should help, my war machine helmet was molded twice, like tubachris suggested.
The sculpt looks great! Keep up the great work!

 

[MooCriket]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Very, very cool!

 

[Contec]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Maybe you are using one of those clays that you can use a heatgun on, that melts the clay a little bit thus making it smoother.

 

[Tommyfilth]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

I have had the same problem, and I figured out I suck with oil based clay, no matter what the soft/hardness, I suck at it, give me WED or waterclay and I can make anything. what I ended up doing was sandpaper (like 60 grit) and lighter fluid or the citrus goo gone or naptha all work (you'll get clay crumbs everywhere). but I gave up and molded it and cast a bondo solid piece and now I'm refining by carving sanding and skimcoating.

Tommy

 

[Protocol]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Great stuff! The world could need some more Samus love. Very inspirational

 

[nick daring]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Great sculpt!

Here's a high quality Samus Costume-

More pics here- Yukilefay's Gallery

Nick

 

[ShadoKat]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Thanks much everyone for the compliments and encouragement! It helps keep me working

tubachris85x: Transition molding... that term sounds familiar, and the concept is one of the things I have considered... I'm starting to like that idea very much at this point. I'm going to keep working the clay for another week and see if I can make any headway, but I'm definitely going to mold next weekend, no matter what kind of progress I have or have not made. I can most likely sand from there, so that should overcome any difficulties associated with the clay medium.

On clay I personally like to use a flat piece of flexible metal to smooth out round surfaces. I used the flat side of my basic scraper in a circler motion to smooth down the dome on a skull. The surface came out well with no lumps. You can also use the back of the spoon.

Thanks for that excellent tip, you can be sure I'll be trying that out!! By "basic scraper" you mean just a regular flat metal scraper, yes? Rather than circular motions, I was just pressing hard and dragging the flat part along the sculpt. Came out super shiny-smooth, but it really brought out the imperfections, and subsequent passes left awful smears that were very difficult to recover from.

what kinda clay are you using, looks like a plastice non-air drying type. Ive used vasaline and shaping tools to smooth my sculpts. That should help, my war machine helmet was molded twice, like tubachris suggested.

Yes, that's correct, I'm using Chavant NSP medium oil-based clay. I've seen Vaseline mentioned elsewhere, but I'd really appreciate a detailed description of how it might be used. For example: Small and sparing amounts, or a liberal coating? Apply directly to the clay, or to the tools instead? Which tools, specifically? Circular motion or criss-cross/cross hatch pattern? Light pressure or vigorous rubbing? A video would be helpful, if you know of or have made one. I searched, but couldn't find any. Also, I'll be molding with Rebound 25 which, apparently, is EXTREMELY sensitive to sulfur. Anyone else have experience with this material after using Vaseline?

contec: Dangit! No heat gun, unfortunately, but I have considered the temperature factor. It's been in the 90's this week, though, and I have noticed the clay smearing a lot more than normal. Maybe with more heat it would liquefy more and spread out more evenly? Won't be able to get a heat gun in time to try it on this sculpt, unfortunately, but there is still the rest of the costume to go!

Tommyfilth: I came to that same conclusion about myself... what I lack in talent I make up for in persistence Smoothing is simply the latest challenge I'm attempting to overcome that serves as an outlet for my OCD... Hah!! Remind me to tell you what I went through trying to tackle the symmetry problem (LOL)!!! Haven't used those other clays you mentioned. Because of how long I take to get anything done, I needed something that wouldn't dry out. I tried sandpaper, as well, but it really ended up a mess, and the results were questionable, at best. I may yet try that again on a small section and see how it goes. The smoothness you see in that "progress" pic is the result of a technique that's a little like using sandpaper.

@ everyone: Before I started this project, I tried to find as many Samus projects as I could to try to get some idea how I might approach the project. The two mentioned so far have been quite inspirational to me. There is also this costume right here, but very few other than that. I hope that my finished product is anywhere near as good (especially Yuki's, which was the single most significant inspiration).

Thanks again, everyone! Keep those ideas coming!!

 

[STEALTH]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

ShadowKat are you a girl?

if so , it would further strengthen my claim that girls are better sculptors lol


wow...amazing first sculpt.

 

[Contec]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

contec: Dangit! No heat gun, unfortunately, but I have considered the temperature factor. It's been in the 90's this week, though, and I have noticed the clay smearing a lot more than normal. Maybe with more heat it would liquefy more and spread out more evenly? Won't be able to get a heat gun in time to try it on this sculpt, unfortunately, but there is still the rest of the costume to go!

You could also use a hairdryer.:thumbsup

 

[ShadoKat]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Hair dryer didn't work, unfortunately, I don't think it's hot enough. However, I got a little time to try the Vaseline/metal spoon technique on a small section of the sculpt tonight, and it looks great so far! Still takes a lot of working the clay with other tools, but I'm really really amazed with how well it works. In the interest of cautious optimism, I'm going to come back to it tomorrow, and look at it with a pair of fresh eyes at that time. The sculpt always seems to look different after a day, for some reason. I'll get pics (maybe even a video of the technique) tomorrow night. Wish me luck!

 

[MrSinistar]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Holy crap, that sculpt is amazing!! Gotta love Samus!

 

[EvilFX]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Looking good! I recently did a commission for a Samus Helmet. I took some liberty's with the design on the back of the head making it more flush rather than the tapered out style.

 

[Soulinertia]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Looking awesome so far ShadoKat, keep up the good work!

 

[Carenix]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

ShaoKat: I can't offer any wisdom, but I think you've got an awesome start on your Samus helmet sculpt. It's one of my dream costumes, so I wish you well and hope you keep sharing your experience and what you learned with us.

 

[ShadoKat]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Looking awesome so far ShadoKat, keep up the good work!

Thanks much, I really appreciate it! The "smoothing technique" video didn't work out due to set-up problems. However, the technique itself, as I suspected/feared, doesn't seem to look as good the next day. The shiny-ness of the Vaseline covers up a lot of the flaws. Not to say that it doesn't still work... it's still MUCH better than when I started, but not as great as it looks upon first glance. Really, smoothing seems to be somewhat light-sensitive. Also, I suspect user error.

In other news, I think I'm done with this. I've gone just about as far as I can go with clay. Its malleability is far too sensitive for my clumsy hands, so I'm just going to start molding and try to clean it up in the cast. So, here's what I've got...

And, if you're interested, here's a very short 360 video...

YouTube - Samus Aran (Metroid Prime 2/3) helmet sculpt

Since I've never molded anything before, I decided to do a practice mold with a (1.5 year old) Smooth-On trial kit and a different test subject before tackling a mold of the helmet sculpt...

Pray for the kitty... And wish me luck! Thanks much!!

 

[tubachris85x]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

Looks great man! I wouldn't mind having something like this for display

 

[ShadoKat]

Re: Metroid Prime 3 Samus Aran helmet sculpt (lots o' pics!)

PLEASE HELP!

I started molding today, and made an idiotic noob mistake... It's been over two hours and there are a few small spots that don't seem to be curing... they all seem to be "underneath" spots, but I was wearing latex gloves while applying the Rebound 25 silicone, and I neglected to read the little warning on the material sheet that said latex can inhibit silicone curing. Since they're very small spots, can I press on and still be okay? Will it cure eventually, say if I leave it overnight? I read something about baby powder, too, will that help? Can I use a paper towel to dab off the silicone in the spots that aren't curing? Anyone have any experience here? Is there any way to save this?