New P1 On The Way - FINISHED.

[Predatoj]

I cabo patched it but I'm not satisfied with the results. So I figured I'd resculpt and recast the Crown an glue it down as an appliance.

 

[Predatoj]

Finally started painting wip.

 

[Jmen]

Great!

 

[LunaticNic]

Awesome work so far man! Good Idea to use the neck ring for tests as well

 

[Jmen]

Awesome work so far man! Good Idea to use the neck ring for tests as well

hmmm... and now i see it.
i need to remember it

 

[KingJamie]

Also do you think I'll get away with a two peice mold? My under cut's are quite deep.

First of all what a truly remarkable sculpt! Though the undercuts are deep the areas of concern are large enough that you shouldn't have any problem engineering the mold to release in two parts.

 

[Predatoj]

Oh man don't go there! I had a nightmare with I'm lucky to have salvaged one good bust from it. I had to resculpt the Crown so that now is a separate appliance that I glue over the top of the damaged one. Other than that it came out fine.

 

[KingJamie]

Crap, sorry, I didn't see the page where you explained your mold. OMG, of course it jammed and cracked to hell! A fiberglass jacket would have been the way to go instead of plaster.

 

[Nightdweller]

Wow man. So sorry for the trouble you had. That is one very very beautiful bust you sculpted right there! Your paint Job looks awesome as well. I think you can be proud of yourself! It looks gorgeous in spite of all the trouble. I took some screengrabs of your sculpt as anatomy reference
I hope you will still feel proud when it's finished. I'm glad that you didn't give up!

 

[KingJamie]

What a phenomenal paint job! Im really impressed by your use of contrast in both your choice of color and visual texture. Excellent result for having problems with the mold. You managed to get that clam shell open while I would have seriously thought about taking a hammer to it...lol

 

[Predatoj]

It was heart breaking. I should have finished this thing a year ago but I've spent that time repairing, patching and resculpting whole sections. Then putting it down because I'm pissed off with it. I've got respect for mold makers now tho. Not as easy to get right as I thought. In hindsight I wish I'd done an easier project to learn to mold and cast properly. I got cocky because my first project my P2 bio went like a dream.

 

[KingJamie]

I've been told by expert mold makers, of which I am certainly not, that the Predator head is one of the most complex anatomical quagmires to successfully capture with a mold. So what you did you did very well considering the snags you encountered along the way.

 

[Predatoj]

• Well. I did it the way everyone else has - two halves with the wall around the Crown. It got stuck through suction. It made an almighty gassy sound when released. I didn't worry about chipping because I used the hardest plaster available in the UK and I knew the sculpt wouldn't survive. Where I went wrong was the laying up process I discovered hair line fractures everywhere that seemed to have occurred while the plaster was gelling - just before it goes off, I know this because they were not due to trauma. I've never discovered why this happens. But my guess is I didn't mix it well enough and layerd too quickly between coats.

 

[KingJamie]

Most often than not, spiderweb cracks are caused between the application of layers when one layer reaches its kick point against the cooler and contracted layer beneath which causes it to expand and crack.

 

[KingJamie]

Also, you can always use a filler fiber to strengthen the plaster should you use the same process again.

 

[Predatoj]

Ah you mean exothermic reaction? That would explain it. So I need to leave it longer between coats? I did use burlap though. The actual molds structural strength is sound, you'd need semtex to destroy it. But that's for **** if the beauty coat is week. I also learned that plaster can and does delaminate. I just wish I could've learned all this before I tackled a pred head. I was planning a P2 half mask to go with my bio but went ahead with a P1 coz I'm a big kid that can't wait.

 

[KingJamie]

Actually what you want to do is apply each successive coat as soon as the layer beneath kicks. Your foundation layer should be hot and pliable yet firm enough to support the weight of the layer being added.

 

[KingJamie]

If this is what you did then the problem could have been that your layers were too think. With thick layers the skin cools before the core so as the core finally cools and shrinks it cracks the shell.

 

[City90pet]

It was heart breaking. I should have finished this thing a year ago but I've spent that time repairing, patching and resculpting whole sections. Then putting it down because I'm pissed off with it. I've got respect for mold makers now tho. Not as easy to get right as I thought. In hindsight I wish I'd done an easier project to learn to mold and cast properly. I got cocky because my first project my P2 bio went like a dream.

I have faith in you!!!!

 

[Predatoj]

In keeping with the tradition of not leaving old posts at a loose end, I'm book ending my thread with the (nearly) finished P1 I started over two years ago. I've finally found time to finish painting. It still needs lacker which I'll do over the weekend. You will just have to imagine the dreads, I'll do them at some point in the future.

This is it for me. I'm sad to say I will almost certainly not be returning in the foreseeable future with new work for the simple reason of not having time for this hobby. I'm too busy with audio work and holding down a day job. I do have other projects in mind for the future, time permitting but non-predator related. Apologies for the photo quality the Canon 5D I previously used broke.

Sayonara...