Fifth Element Mangalore 1:1 Bust WIP

So me and a buddy and a few other guys wanted to do a 1:1 scale 5th element Mangalore bust.So I got the clay and started one.Its a VERY early sculpt still needs a lot of bulking out and shape defining basically now I'm just plopping on clay in the rough shapes they will need to be, then once Im happy Ill start adding in the surface details wrinkles,textures etc.
In the one pic with the card stock glasses I was able through a friend to obtain actual measurements of a pair of the screen used glasses they wore and drew the template out using those measurements. As you can see they fit pretty good now and I may not have to make to many adjustments to the eye area.

Now starting to rough in some of the facial muscles.

And with the glasses template in place.

Stealth Pilot OOOPS

The first stealth pilot I pulled and painted took a ride off the dryer the other day and hit some copper water pipes then proceeded to bounce a few more times and hit the floor.For as many times as it hit surprisingly there wasnt  a lot of damage but what was damaged was damaged pretty good.It broke a big chunk out of the upper visor section up into the front of the mohawk a bit. The pieces broke fairly clean so I should be able to superglue them back in place and then take some filler and blend it,sand and repaint.But man does that stink.
Thats exactly why i cant wait to have my big shop done so i dont have to share it with the laundry equipment.

Stealth paint and chest mock up

In these pics the stealth paint is basically done just need to clear coat it and add lense and screening in vents.I propped up the chest plate/chest box im working on that will go with this character.I also have the shoulders in the works.

Stealth paint up

So I prepped and started to paint the first casting.I used a darker charcoal grey metal flake paint.Which looks a lot darker in the pic than it really is. I also added some republic cogs on the dome in silver.I know the one on the show didnt have them but I added them anyway just to see what they would look like. I still have to add the 3 horizontal stripes on the front of each side by the cheeks.As well as added the striping around the ears and on the back under the vent.here is where its at right now.

Success!

Success! Sorry for the grainy crappy pic but ill take better ones later and post them. Here is the first casting of the clone wars stealth pilot helmet.It came out really nice.

the casting is on the left and the master is on the right.The casting appears taller only because of the excess resin on the bottom from the casting process.If I have time tomm. Ill get it painted up and post some more pics of a finished one.

Let the molding begin!

Ok so i got the mold dam built using klean klay,and clayed in all the openings like the lense and all vents.Now time to start slopping rubber.....fun....fun.......

Pilot chest box mold done

I know a lot of you have been waiting for me to get this done and molded. Over the weekend i finally had a chance to do it.I have pulled 1 cast and it came out really good.there are some small imperfections but nothing that a few minutes and some sandpaper and filler wont cure.

Here is a pic of the mold and the first casting.

Prepping Stealth For Molding FINALLY!!!!

My finger tips are literally rubbed raw from all the sanding I've been doing on this helmet in the last few days.I do believe it or not have a few spots I still need to fill a little.But I finished the back tonight and added the nose piece/hose coupler.I know it prob doesn't look much different then that last few times Ive posted pics,but the surface and  almost all the pits are now smooth and clean.I also sprayed it with several coats of  of epoxy primer which helps fill in small scratches and give the surface a smooth look.

I'm hoping to start damming tomm. night with clay and getting ready to start slopping rubber on it...how many times have I said that now? I think this time its for real.

Its come along way from this:

Clone Wars Stealth pilot progress update

Ok I have had to keep putting this aside off and on for a couple months now.I am so close to molding its not funny.Today I finished tweaking some stuff and did a final sand on most of the helmet. I primed it white to make the small imperfection easier to see. I am now using spot putty to fill in pin holes and other small imperfections.

Live Video feed from my shop

I added a live video feed from my shop last week and so far it seems to work pretty well.I do need to buy a better web cam though.Once I get my new shop done I plan on having a few cams in the shop showing different views and angles.
The player at the top of this blog is the video feed.If the Live text and red dot is showing all you have to do is hit the play button and the live feed will start.If you'd like to chat you can click the link below the video window and it will take you to my channel with chat included. I dont leave it on all the time so if the live red dot is not on that means I am currently not broadcasting.If you'd like to chat you can click the link below the video window and it will take you to my channel with chat included.

More "Carol" Progress

Not a lot still a real rough sculpt but thought I'd post a pic anyway.

Making Of Clone Wars Gunner Helmet

So I got the Clone Wars character encyclopedia the other day and saw the clone gunner.I have seen this before but the nice clear picture in the book made me want to make it.So here it goes.What I did do is took one of my clone wars animated pilot helmets I sculpted and and cut off the dome because the rest of the helmet is a standard clone.

I then took strips of cardboard and hot glue gun and made a armature of the dome.I then covered any openings with duct tape so the bondo wouldn't drip through and started coating it with bondo. 

I then started fabricating the Mohawk/antenna using cardboard and a strip of styrene plastic. And then caoted with a light coat of bondo.

I started to shape the dome up more on the side and rough penciled in the raised detail areas that will be added on using more filler.In the next few pics you can see I have started to add in the raised sections.

And in the last pic Im an now working my way around the side and back adding in the indented circle details.

Thats it for now so far i have about 8-10 hours in this.I'll update more tomm.

Where The Wild Things Are "Carol"

Loved the live action movie and book when I was a kid .Finally watched it a few days ago and totally enjoyed the creatures.So I'm going to sculpt and build myself a Carol.It will be about 6th scale which If you saw the movie they were huge about 8 ft tall I'm guessing mine will be about 20+ inches tall which will be pretty good size.
I started my head armature like I did the animated Jabba sculpt using wadded up tinfoil coated in bondo.

I bought some 30mm glass eyes set them in using clay and now have begun to rough in the face using super sculpey polymer clay.Its a very early stage but this is about 30 minutes later.

Once I get the head roughed in Ill build a sculpting armature basically a wooden dowel mounted on a piece of 3/4" plywood. I will mount the head to this and build down.This will help support the sculpture.
Once the full sculpt is done Ill mold it and cast it in resin.I have already bought the fur and hair to add later once I am at that stage.

New FX site launched!

 A new Fx site was launched today called FM-FX .It is a site focused on fan made props and special effects,masks,animatronics etc.
Being a new site there isn't a lot of content yet but please stop by and register.We have plans on adding tutorials for the beginner/fledgling prop and special effects artist as well as content provided by experts that are in the industry.

Registration is admin approved to try and keep the spammers out of there so please chose a name that is obviously prop,movie,Tv related you can always change it once your approved.
Here is the link to the new site hope to see you there.

FM-FX.com

Mummified Vampire head

Something I am working on using some new materials I haven't used before,one of many projects to come as I try to broaden my horizons and try and get away from doing only helmets and sw stuff.
This started with a "life size" resin skull I use life size loosely as it is a good size but only life size if it was about a 12-15 year old def not adult life size.
I am using apoxie sculpt to sculpt the facial features.I sculpted in sunken in eyes etc.Once I get what I want done I will use a technique for making realistic looking decayed/mummified skin using nylons and RD-40 latex.Here is what I have so far.

Animated Pilot Chest box slideshow video

Animated Pilot Chest box

 Just finished it and threw a quick coat of white on it and took pics from and angle so you can see the details.Once it dries ill take a front on shot as these pics at the angle i took them at makes the box look long horizontally and short vertically.
I have some small nooks to fill before molding and need to add the last lower round button on the left side.

My web site finally being worked on

 I have had a site for about 8 years now and its been down for about 2 I think. So over the last few weeks i have started to re vamp it.I have posted a lot of old things I did way back in 98-99 when my sculpting skills were less than stellar lol but they were still fun and its cool to see where I'm at today compared to then skill wise.
Most artists are their own worst critics and I feel although I have come along way there is always room for improvement.
So if you get time poke around my site here is the link.


Skygunbros-custom-creatures

Stealth WIP

Well this project should have been done a month ago but I have to keep putting it aside for other things. Anyway its basically done need final sanding and i see a couple screw ups i need to fix before molding.

The Mystery Vader helmet

Does anyone know what vader helmet this is? I know its not fan made. 20th century maybe?
I mean this particualr casting is fan made but was cast off a production helmet.I got this helmet about 5 years ago from someone in a trade.They didnt really know what it was either.I just dug it out that why the resin is all yellowed.It has no coupler attachment for the head and dome but that could have been whoever molded it didnt know how to do it.It also does not have the half moon indents on top the the cheeks like most vader helmet do.

Bondo Stealth Trooper

OK so Im down to the nitty gritty on this helmet.Mostly sanding and minor pit filling and a few more syymetry issues.I wanted to have this done a couple weeks ago but I got sick of looking at it and had to take a break from it.Here is a pic of where its at as of tonight.

Making Stealth Armor Parts

So I decided I wanted to make the armor as well to go with the stealth helmet so i have begun to make the chest plate and chest box.

Basically i covered a mannequin with some plastic wrap so if i slopped bondo on it it wouldnt ruin it.
I then used cardboard and made a template of the main parts.I then coated the templates with bondo and am now sculpting in the basic shape of the armor/chest box.
I then took a piece of sintra(sheet plastic) and figured out button placement.I sculpted 1 button out of bondo and made a mold.I then casted 3 buttons out of that mold so they are all the same.
I used a exacto knife and carefully cut 3mm strips off wooden tongue depressors and used those to make my raise out line around where the buttons will be.
I made some changes to the length of the chest plate and now am using bondo to sculpt in the details and contours of the box and chest plate.
I will also be making the shoulder armor as well and possibly the back plate if it turns out to different than a standard back plate.