The Judge from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

[Mutant-Enemy]

Recently I acquired the screen-used armor worn by Brian Thompson when he played The Judge Demon on the TV Series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I have wanted to own this armor for sometime but have alway's said that if I did finally get it I would HAVE to recreate a full sized standing figure of The Judge in order to properly display it.
Here then is the beginning of the head sculpt for that full standing figure.

I put together a number of really good photo's of Brian as the Judge for reference.

Here is the life cast of Brian I'm using. Not going to mention where I got this as those guy's were pretty rude to me during the purchase process. I wanted to get it from my friend Jack Bricker as he and Shawn McEnroe had worked with Brian a number of years ago. Unfortunately those castings don't exist anymore and my friend Dick Smith was unavailable when I called.

I had to turn the life cast of Brian into a bust and bore out the eye sockets so the eyes could be sculpted as open. Took a mold off of a medical glass eye-ball and cast up a couple in Black to match the eye's of the character. Brian has a massive head and neck.

The horns are being made to be removable so they can be cast separately.

Originally Shawn tried to sculpt the ears directly onto Brian's but found that the placement was wrong. We realized from this that the original make-up was a pull-over hood with the ears already attached and the face and horns as separate pieces. Brian's ears were then removed from the bust and these character accurate ones were then able to be placed in the right places.

I'll post more photo's as the sculpture nears completion.
Thanks for looking.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.482656005085725.111338.371244096226917&type=1
Help Reassemble the Judge.wmv - YouTube

 

[Betamin]

Very cool!

 

[Doh2]

Looks good to me.

 

[Beechy McFly]

Amazing already.. Looking forward to seeing more..

 

[Mutant-Enemy]

Thanks for the interest guy's!
I'd be open to suggestions on alternatives for casting up the final sculpt.

Tempted to go old school and just do an Ultra-Cal 30 lay-up then slush cast the silicone and fill the core with expandable foam, but I'm not looking forward to slinging all that Ultra-Cal!

Is there a better, easier casting method that some of you have used? Maybe a brush on mold compound of some kind?

 

[alphademonic]

i remember this character this is a really good idea and your doing an amazing job keep the pictures coming

 

[bhsfx]

You could go with a fiberglass mold. The process is pretty much the same as Ultra-cal (mold wall, one half at a time, etc.) Some very good tutorials over at Relocate in the tutorial sections.

I know some might see it in bad taste to refer another forum, but we're all here to get better at what we do, and knowledge is power.

Jim

 

[Mutant-Enemy]

Thanks Jim, I'll check it out!
Yes, Dick Smith say's the same thing concerning "we're all here to get better at what we do". Big believer in sharing information as am I...it's why I find it so shocking when someone say's something to me like "I can't divulge that information because it's a trade secret" or some such nonsense.

Thanks again.

 

[LuthienTinimiel]

That is looking amazing, great work!

 

[Mutant-Enemy]

Meant to post this sooner! Here is the completed bust. I'm about to mold up the horns as I type.

 

[SonOfPumpkinhead]

The sculpt on this is AWESOME! Definitely cast in silicone! Can't wait to see it painted!

 

[Mutant-Enemy]

Thanks man!:cool
Molding up the horns in silicone so they can be cast in resin. The head will be cast in Ultracal 30 in two parts which will be slushed in silicone and then injected with rising foam. That way it can become the new head on my mannequin display. I may have more pics soon but not sure if I should post them here or in another thread.

 

[TomSpinaDesigns]

Wonderful work! You've captured the likeness and your textures are really stunning. :thumbsup

Tom

 

[BornKilr]

"Don't you look spiffy!"

Great work, man. Can't wait to see it all put together.

 

[Mutant-Enemy]

Thanks guy's! The under bust being Brian Thompson's Face really helped on this.
Had ANOTHER falling out with that LA Armor Maker who made the armor for Buffy so WONT be having him make the over priced leggings for this!
That guy's ego really chaps my A $ $.
No worries, already picked up a set of leggings that when I'm done with them will look perfect.

 

[Welmanshire]

Wonderful work! You've captured the likeness and your textures are really stunning. :thumbsup

Tom

Great work! You even have the Spina stamp of approval! I am looking forward to seeing the painted bust.

 

[Mutant-Enemy]

Finally got the horns cast up!

 

[Deathstalker II]

This is FANTASTIC work!

Starting from the lifecast was such a genius move.

 

[SatyrLady13]

That skin texture is amazing, I'm catching myself staring. What did you do to get that?

 

[Mutant-Enemy]

Thanks kindly!
The real detail comes from a very simple tool that's made by hand from a piece of dowel about four inches long and around an 8th of an inch thick.
One end is sanded to a point while the other is flattened to resemble the top half of an exclamation point.
The pointy end is used for recreating pores all over the face while the other end is used for elongated pores around the nostrils and under the eye's.
It's pretty tedious work but I think the pay-off speaks for itself.