Star Trek's Captain Kirk - William Shatner - 1/2 scale bust model

Excellent work :thumbsup It really looks like Shatner. These sculpts sometimes look creepy if they're too lifelike, but this avoids that somehow, it just looks great!

Thanks Robn1. Hopefully it will look even better with paint if I don't drop it down the stairs bringing it to the oven haha. I'm used to things I make getting destroyed though.
 
Just fantastic! Shatners' likeness in a sculpt has been most difficult, for some reason. I think you have pretty much nailed it! Very impressive. How many hours do you think you put into it?
 
Just fantastic! Shatners' likeness in a sculpt has been most difficult, for some reason. I think you have pretty much nailed it! Very impressive. How many hours do you think you put into it?

Thank you. Well I looked on line and didn't see a real good Kirk anywhere. I just found this one thought yesterday. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...95145362.72784.100000438716413&type=1&theater
It did seem to me people were having trouble getting it to look like him so I really thought I could do it. Starting it was really quick. I thought I had the proportions right enough to start finishing it. Then while I was tweaking things here and there I noticed there were too many wrong things and it wasn't working out. So after a so many hours I stopped keeping track and then I starting getting lazy from not wanting to look at it anymore. The problem with me is starting a project is easy and I basically know what's its going to look like when it's finished. The hard part is the waiting for my hands to finish it. It gets kinda boring and I end up looking at it over and over again changing and re-changing depending on what reference I'm looking at. I could really tell how many hours I put into it though. I know I started in Dec and finished in Aug. some weeks it sat there and some days I only worked on it for a hour. I think the clay had a lot to do with that though because I had trouble getting it smooth. I think when I sculpt Spock I'm going to use toy wax instead. I think it will be easier to work with in some ways. Thanks again.
 
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Absolutely museum-quality work!

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of polymer clay did you use...(did you buy it in bulk?)? Did you have problems firing/baking such a large piece without cracking? How long did your whole process take to complete?

Sorry for all the questions, but it just came out so beautifully...I'm truly amazed!
 
Thanks a lot for the great compliment. Really makes me feel good, because I was really having a hard time finishing it. I just kept looking at it and tweeky here and there. I did find this Kirk figure just a little while ago which is really good. I don't know if the link will work for you though.
Your "tweaking here and there" proves how much you wanted to get it right, and your attention to those details is one of the things that makes your sculpt stand out in the crowd.

I have seen the bust in the link you posted. Good for a mass-produced item and better than most, but there's something about the forehead and brow area that isn't quite right; yours is far better!

I think when I sculpt Spock...
Now that I'm looking forward to! Spock has been my favorite Star Trek character since the first episode aired in September of 1966 (yeah, I'm an old fart) and, like Kirk/Shatner, I've seen very few sculpts that did him justice. I realize it'll be a while, but I'm not going anywhere. ;)

That, of course, leads to this question. Do you have any plans to make castings of these sculpts available to those of us who lack the talent and/or skills to create our own?
 
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Absolutely museum-quality work!

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of polymer clay did you use...(did you buy it in bulk?)? Did you have problems firing/baking such a large piece without cracking? How long did your whole process take to complete?

Sorry for all the questions, but it just came out so beautifully...I'm truly amazed!

I used gray firm polymer clay I bought from I think The Complete Sculptor. I did buy a box of like 12 1 pound blocks or something like that. I tried it on it's own before and I found it is too firm for me so I mixed 1 pound of super sculpey to 1 pound of the grey firm and that is what I used for Kirk. I used more then 1 pound of course. So I had a lot of mixing to do.

I didn't bake it yet, but I'm going to ramp bake it. There are examples on this site. Techniques for Curing Polymer Clay I'm going to put it in a cold oven first and work it up slow and then let it cool in the oven later too.

Well I started sculpting it back in Dec and finished in Aug, but wasn't working everyday consistent on it, so I couldn't really say accurately how long it took me.

No problem about the questions I'm glad to answer them and I’m glad people like the work I've done. Thank you.
 
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I just skimmed thru the thread so Im not sure if this was asked, but will you be offering castings of this?

I have been a Trek fan since I was 3 years old and must say this is the best likeness I have ever seen! I am so impressed, I would kill (or hurt someones feelings at least) for this! I love it!

Please post your parents phone number so I can thank them for creating you :love
 
Your "tweaking here and there" proves how much you wanted to get it right, and your attention to those details is one of the things that makes your sculpt stand out in the crowd.

I have seen the bust in the link you posted. Good for a mass-produced item and better than most, but there's something about the forehead and brow area that isn't quite right; yours is far better!

Now that I'm looking forward to! Spock has been my favorite Star Trek character since the first episode aired in September of 1966 (yeah, I'm an old fart) and, like Kirk/Shatner, I've seen very few sculpts that did him justice. I realize it'll be a while, but I'm not going anywhere. ;)

That, of course, leads to this question. Do you have any plans to make castings of these sculpts available to those of us who lack the talent and/or skills to create our own?

To me Spock is one of the best characters ever created. I like the whole cast of characters, but Spock is the most appealing to me. Probably because he's not all human and most of us wish we were more then just human. When I do start him I will use toy wax and if I do that I can leave the project alone longer if I have too. When I use clay I'm afraid it will dry out so I try to finish it before it sits around to long. I could start Spock now if I wanted and chip away at him slowly. Then I would have to make a mold of him and cast him out of something. The Kirk head I can just bake and paint if I want, but I do want to cast him and make copies available somehow. I might talk to Gene Jr. somehow and see what can be done. There's some pretty good Spock likenesses out there, but I haven't seen any really accurate sculpts yet of him. Hopefully I can make a good one. Thanks.
 
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I just skimmed thru the thread so Im not sure if this was asked, but will you be offering castings of this?

I have been a Trek fan since I was 3 years old and must say this is the best likeness I have ever seen! I am so impressed, I would kill (or hurt someones feelings at least) for this! I love it!

Please post your parents phone number so I can thank them for creating you :love

No problem, I don't like looking through the whole thread either to find something that might not be there. It's also stupid if someone gets mad that you didn't read it already if it is there. So if it was a repeat question I don't mind answering and it's not hard to answer at all since I could easily copy and paste an old reply. To answer you though I want to make castings, but I have to look into it first. I'm also not sure about what materials to use.

Thanks a lot for the compliment. 867-5309
 
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Get a silicone mold pulled on this. That way if anything ever happens to it you can cast another in any plaster or resin. I mold everything I make so there's no chance of losing it.

Steve
 
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