Mydigitalvoid's Predator Build

[mydigitalvoid]

Hello Everyone,

I am fairly new to the forums and just started working on a predator build. I haven't quite decided which version I am going to attempt, but I am leaning towards the AVP predator since I really love the look and the armor. I have done very little in regards to prop/costume making so this whole process will be a huge challenge, but one that I think will be a lot of fun. Plus, everyone here seems extremely helpful and the documentation is great. I am not in any huge rush to get this done and I will probably focus on one piece at a time starting with the head.

I know everyone loves pictures. So here you go. I wanted an armature to work on without the guesswork of making it fit my head so I decided to give life casting a try. I figure I will probably use it a few more times during this process. The whole process took about 3 hours which when you have to sit still and can't talk or open your eyes is a very long time. But, not as bad as I was expecting.

Finished armature of my head cast in plaster. It's actually a little weird to look at.

I bought 10 pounds of clay which clearly is not enough. This is what I have so far with all 10 pounds on the armature. I'll head over tomorrow and pick up another 10 pounds. Once again, please remember this is my first sculpt ever

Thanks for looking and please let me know of any lessons learned you may want to hand down

-Dustin

 

[KmikzeKen]

Welcome to the forum! Looks like you've got a great start, I can't wait to see your progress!

 

[Justin sic]

Welcome! Looks good so far!

 

[troggs]

Good start so far, to save on clay you can tape something like a coleslaw tub to the back of the head and sculpt over that, and if you're going to be casting the mask in latex remember to allow for the shrinkage.

 

[Big John]

Hi, Welcome, I am new as well but looks like you have got off to a great start.

Cheers

Big John

 

[mydigitalvoid]

Thank you everyone for the comments and encouragement!

Good start so far, to save on clay you can tape something like a coleslaw tub to the back of the head and sculpt over that, and if you're going to be casting the mask in latex remember to allow for the shrinkage.

Ah, excellent idea!  As far as the latex is concerned I was thinking about a platinum cured silicone.  I haven't quite decided which one yet.  Unless that's a bad idea for some reason

 

[AlphaTech686]

Welcome to the Lair. First I want to say your wife or girlfriend is awesome for helping with the life cast. That is a great place to start. Slow and steady wins the race. 

 

[mydigitalvoid]

It's been a while since an update but I was struggling with symmetry so I pretty much started over.  Here is where I am now.  However, I am probably going to redo the mouth closed vs. opened so I can have a bio over the mask.

 

[Predasaurus]

It's off to a great start!


Eli

 

[mydigitalvoid]

A small update. Got another 4 hours on the sculpt before I ran out of clay once again. I also am working on getting the teeth sculpted and cast in resin which will be added after the pull. Still lots to do, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far.

 

[cmetzger]

yeah, looking good. are you planning a polyfoam or latex over skeleton construct? I found polyfoam to be very rewarding for a static piece (no moving parts). Casting the tusks in resin is the way to go for sure - I got a lot of comments on how realistic they look. I did that for the toe claws too. What are your plans for casting the clay head when you're done with it? I did a direct Hydrocal which worked great. Soft mold for hard casts, hard mold for soft casts.

 

[mydigitalvoid]

I honestly haven't decided on the skeleton yet.  My focus has been 100% on the head.  I did do live castings of both of my arms last week so I can work on them after the head.  I will look into Hydrocal. I am pretty much to the point where I need to start thinking about adding texture to my sculpt.  It's a bit rough finding any sort of how to on this.  The one I found shows a guy basically using plastic sheets (mylar/cellophane) laid directly on the sculpt and then using different tools to texturize it.  Is this the standard way to do this?  I picked up a small sheet of .003 mylar and tried it on a small piece but the plastic pulled up a thin layer of clay.  I'm presuming because it's to soft and may need to be cooled first.  Unless there is something I can spray on the mylar to prevent this.  The sculpt at this point is very heavy and moving it around would be a real pain.  Thanks!

 

[mydigitalvoid]

Started working on texture today.

 

[backbone]

Looking great so far, is this going to be a custom design?

 

[Imaika Tachiri]

looking great so far 

 

[mydigitalvoid]

Looking great so far, is this going to be a custom design?

Yeah

looking great so far 

Thank you!

 

[xdmray]

just use cheapo plastic wrap for cooking to lay in texture. no need to buy anything fancy/expensive.  what kind of clay are you using?