Just for good ol' times memories...
http://www.spike.com/video/2788348
Mini-Movie that led to the creation of the video above, played before the concert...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b--lOyp45z4&mode=related&search
and the concert version of the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io5HHGnemVg
Enjoy!
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Oh hell, why not?!.......Now to business......
As you know, I am working on a "
SECRET-SECRET" costume, but NOT-SO secret after this point and some few people who knows about it already....but this is celebrating the 25th anniversary of such character......I just want to share the talent and the progress so far within the forum.
Here are some "TEASER-PICS" of my SECRET project in progress so far:
"SUPER-TEASER" pic:
and a bigger perspective, yet from another angle...
UPDATE:
Just like the post's title....this is a "SECRET" costume (namely to prevent being sued by COPYRIGHTED stuff). I will send a copy to STYX's agents in California (yes, I have the address and info).
I have to wait for an opinion from them first before making the replicas to the general public. (Either way, PM me.
)
About my progress this past weekend, I had to redo the cheeks, basically cut some of them (they had quite too much), and still working on them since I don't have an original mask and just having reference pics. Working hard on the eyes area, and the nose. As we speak I am in the process of sculpting the mouth area. Once I finish with the face, the rest will be a piece of cake (three more pieces (top-back, back-neck, neck piece). Damn, somehow I feel like a PLASTIC SURGEON!
Here's another progress pic: eyes detail (not complete, since once I finish I have to do the comparison progress, fix discrepancies, and then the "smoothing process" by "shaving" lightly some of the rough surfaces, and then a brush and alcohol treatment before molding (the rubbing type of alcohol, not the drinking type)...LOL.
I got to fix some discrepancy with the eyes, where they meet with the nose, and reduce the profile of the cheeks (too "squared"/paralleled like the ones in Vaders helmet). :confused
Best angle so far...
Here's a progress of my work so far...
I have improved and completed the last details.
Not 100% accurate as I wanted it to be, but really close.....based on the short time and resources I have (since I don't have a job yet). :confused
Here is a pic of the clay sculpture ready to make a mold of it
One side....
and the other side.....
From the distance, since pics taken close don't look as good....
I am making a silicone rubber mold, reinforce with plaster bandages, to then cast in PLASTER, which will be the MASTER MOLD for the Vacuuforming table. This process will take a LOT OF TIME!!! (since it's about 10 coats of the brushable latex rubber) :eek
I’ve got to finally do the plaster bandages shell, but had to reinforce it again, since it ended up too flimsy.
Then to my surprise, when I removed the clay underneath and the rubber mold, I’ve noticed that some areas of the rubber were not completely dry yet, and some of the detail got lost.
But I will solve the mishaps when I do the plaster casting. Here are the areas that got messed up, normally, the corner of the eyes, part of the cheeks, but mostly in the side details where they got the most problems.
First view of the plaster casting
Another view of the plaster casting process.
I had to add the description, just in case, which has my nickname inscribed at the bottom left (not shown here, though)
Plaster casting result. As expected, all the deficiencies found in the mold are reflected in the cast, but easy to deal with...
...specifically these areas, not counting the squared-shaped details from the sides and top....
...but I wasn't counting about this one: an imperfection on the cast, due for the fact that the plaster bandage shell was not strong enough, and the clay that was supporting the shell in place, was pushing THAT area due to the weight of the plaster, when I poured it in the mold completely.
Here's a better area of the damage. Easy to fix....reinforce the shell, and redo the casting in some other method, stronger than just plaster.
One of the areas affected by the mold, cleaned up. (just fixing the casting, and practice for next time).
The other eye corner, fixed as well....just practicing.
As well as the "venereal-decease-looking" thing in the mouth area. Cleaned up.
UPDATE:
The only updates I could post, is that I was trying to redo the casting with both "
Durham's Water Putty" (amazing thing, BTW), and the rest of the plaster I have.
So far, after reinforcing the plaster bandages shell in the parts I REALLY needed to reinforce, I've tried to do a thick crust of DWP (Durham's), and fill it up with regular Plaster of Paris (PoP). Unfortunately, the second casting I made, came out really brittle, cracking at sections, and most of the details I wanted to achieve preserving for the vacuuforming machine got messed up. Right now I am in the lookout for a better material than PoP, which is almost like DWP, but even stronger. It's a plaster that's used exclusively to create STRONG ceramic molds. I know it, since I took ceramics classes before joining the military right after graduating High School.
UPDATE:
I've being fighting with this project since I've started, and all due to real-life reasons, plus some failures in between. So far I got sucess today, since I've changed the plaster type for a stronger one, and made some changes for a lighter version, and also to help with some holes I have to make to obtain detail of the face. Here's the idea and the reason why:
Here's what I got so far,
That hole was made by a bowl I pushed while pouring the
HYDROSTONE plaster to save in material and weight, thanks to an idea from a guy I know from the
www.TK560.com website, that are helping me out with vacuuforming info and other stuff.
I will post more progress pics by tomorrow, since I was kind of busy today.
UPDATE - PART #2
Just to let you know, I've finished sculpting the second piece of the mask after 3 days, (and that was fast), which I will call
PART #2 (it consists at least of 3 parts, but will do it in 4 parts.
This is the part I've just sculpted and finished today (the RED area):
Now, this is the start of the sculpting process...a really rough basic shape.
And with the finished details and cleaning:
Now two different angles,
And now straight from the top.
I've just started the silicone rubber mold making progress, and THAT is the tedious one. This time I will let it dry and take my time, since I don't want any mistakes this time from the first attempt with the face part. My next report will be when I finish the silicone rubber mold....probably by next week.
NEW UPDATES:
Well, I've been working with Part #2 of the helmet, now I just need to sculpt part #3 (and last one)....and I will do that this week or weekend....too much ongoing this whole past week and weekend as it is.
Anyway, I've just finished the sculpt last weekend for part #2, but I didn't post any pics of the progress, since it's the same process as part #1. I've just finished part #2, and these are the pics so far for the piece to be vacuuformed on top. Can't wait until I start (and finish) Part #3.
The three parts together: Mold, plaster-bandage shell, and HYDROSTONE casting.
Part to be vacuuformed with, just need a little few minor fixes here and there, but nothing biggie.
Pic of the silicone rubber, which came out....PERFECT! Even the studs that makes the little holes, came out in PERFECT shape, IMHO.
WEEKLY UPDATE:
Well, so far I wanted to give you a FULL UPDATE of the third, and final part of the helmet/mask, since the other (very last, namely the front - lower neck) part will be just improvised, custom made to size. It will be a waste of plastic, time, resources and electricity doing it in a vacuum forming way.
I wanted to go with measurements (which I did and kept), to start doing a sculpt of that back piece, but I’ve just discovered that this piece is the MOST DIFFICULT to accomplish, more than the face, since it has to connect somehow with the other two parts previously done….and based on the last cast….the calculations were a little WRONG……somehow. Not bad news, since I was going BY-SCALE from the original on the videos, but I managed to find a solution, since there’s no actual or really defined pics of the back of the original ones, so I am coming with an really original idea, just to unite all parts together, and not compromise any gaps in between.
Here are the pics of the progress so far, be advised that I’ve tried to do so many calculations, and it’s still getting difficult, since this has to connect with ALL the other parts at the same time.
Last minute decision of what to use for the round neck backing. The plastic gallon is ROUND, not squared like a gallon of milk, just to point that out:
I’ve chose to go with the "flower foam" instead, but they leave a whole mess around....specially sticking to the clay…
...so, I've decided to cover the "messy part" with a plastic bag, and then do the whole shell on top of it with clay, which I had to add some more clay underneath the plastic gallon plastic for support, since there will be a lot of pressure from the sculpting, but not as much as I thought:
Here's the result of the BASIC FRAME (as of today). I did this to save on clay….
More progress coming soon…probably by next week.
