hands cast

i have finally got round to casting my hands. i found from experience brass and silicone don't mix very well so i wrapped the arms in a a thin foam wrap.

then i filled the mould with the pigmented silicone to ensure the silicone got to all the little corners and areas so there wouldn't be any air pockets.

after clamping it shut for 4 hours i pulled it apart, it came out ok apart from a few air bubbles, noticeably the ones near the elbows. I'm thinking ill just put them back in the moulds and pour more silicone in to fill the gaps.

lip sync test

to help me make my mouth replacements i searched the net for some good mouth charts and examples. i came across this one and thought it was pretty good, and a good place to start.

on my lucy break at work i broke down each mouth into single images and popped them into a timeline and made a little test lip sync. its not too bad, could be better but its missing some in-betweens. 

redesigned mouths

this is a really quick and short post, just a quick run down of where my thoughts are.

yesterday i thought really hard about how i want the mouths to look, the style. un fortunately i couldn't do anything about it due to work but in the evening i started re-sculpting. 

from top left: strong E,Y

top right: strong A, I

bottom left: soft A, O, E

bottom right: M, B, P

some of these i suspect won't work so ill have to re-do them but i will test them when i have a good selection. ill keep you all updated.

face sculpts

 today i have been racking my brain and trying to visualise how i want my mouths to look. in the mean time i made a second set of teeth mould and installed my magnets and the metal bits that will attract to the magnets.

below you can see the second set of dentures, these can be glued to the face in a high or low position so i don't have to try sculpting teeth when the mouth is open. they work quite well.

below on the right you can see where i have put the magnet and the left shows where the piece of nail goes. they way the head is designed works well for this magnet system as it can be installed in a prominent position, very effective and a good strong hold.

i have started sculpting the face masks now, i have done a couple of brow expressions and some mouth shapes. i have struggled with getting the mouth shapes looking right, this is the first time i have done lip sync and mouth replacements. i really want an almost cartoony look, i won't bake any of the clay yet, my sculpting skills are getting better so later on i might be able to sculpt them a bit better.

hand mould part deux and head casts

i have spent ages doing the hand moulds because i either had air bubbles or the plasticine/ sculpy failed me. below you can see my latest mould success. i invested in plastiline which is much better than plasticine and doesn't dent easily when removing one half of the mould, it also sculpts well. i did get a scare when trying to separate the two halfs of plastic though, needed to give the mould a good whack with the mallet and a screw driver, even with mould release sprayed on it. anyways its worked great and I'm dead happy with the outcome, i can now cast the arms. woohoo!! 

The head cast!!

i am so excited to have finally got to casting the head and masks. i bought some new moulding silicone rubber and i have to say, i will definitely be buying more. it had no air bubbles and moulds my sculpts so well. it is a really low viscosity rubber so brilliant for mould making. below you can see the mould i made for the two face masks. i did have to widen the pour holes because the were just too tight and i couldn't get the plastic in in time.

the masks sit really nicely on the head and there weren't any air bubbles so i was really happy.

once the core/head was dry i popped it all together and, it fits! the next step is to paint it up and get small magnets installed to keep the masks on.

woohoo!! so pleased with how it looks.

fabrication section 1

this is quite a short post but its all about the fabrication or padding out of the puppet. i have previously tried urethane foam but found it quite hard to get it air pocket free. i also found it quite stiff. 

for this production i have gone with producing actual clothes and padding the characters out with memory foam adhered together with dipping latex.

i cut one long piece of memory foam and bend it over the shoulders with the neck K&S pocking through. once i new it fit i dabbed latex on both sides of the memory foam and pinched it together. when the latex dries (takes seconds) it holds the two half's together but still allowing the foam to be soft and doesn't stop the puppet from being moved easily.

the picture above you can see the seam line where the two pieces are joined.

to help give shape to the shirt the boy will be wearing, i have added sleeve sections.

i did the same for the shorts, i also added some little side panels. all of this will now be trimmed and sculpted with scissors to give it extra shape.

more to come.........