Day 6: Monday, May 25, 2009
It's gorgeous outside and I'm stuck in the studio finishing the sculpt because the kids (as usual) just remembered they had homework due the next day, so we're keeping them in. Happy Memorial Day.
Anyway, all the details are in, and here's how he looks:
Not used to seeing a MEGO with so much detail, I decided to compare it to other MEGO heads. Below, you'll see the sculpt compared to (LEFT) the Bill Hinzman Night of the Living Dead head, which we all thought was a bit bigger than most MEGOs, then (RIGHT) a vintage MEGO superhero head.
Yep, I sculpted the zombie head too big. At this size, it would look way too cartoony, so I'll have to consult my good friend and EMCE Toys partner Paul "Dr. Mego" Clarke about this when I see him tomorrow.
BUT TRAGEDY STRIKES! That's right, just as I finally finished the damn thing, I dropped it on the floor. Flat on its face. Nose, lips, eyebrows all smooshed. Grateful as I am that I never did this with any of my kids, I'm still pissed, and in about 20 minutes I've gotten it pretty close to where it was before.
Pretty close; if you look really carefully you'll note that the nose is different; actually, I like it better this way.
Time to fire it now so the Sculpey can harden and we can get a mold off it tomorrow at Paul's. I'm lazy, so instead of setting it up in an oven and firing it over a long, steady period of time, I put it in a boiling pot of water for 15 minutes. Worked before on other minor pieces I've tinkered with.
BUT TRAGEDY STRIKES! During the heating process, a long crack opens up in the back of the head. Right through detail lines. That's gonna be a pain, but I'll revisit it tomorrow when I go to Paul's.
At Dr. Mego's Horrible House of Handcasting
Day 7: Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Paul recommends that I fill in the crack with some more Sculpey and let him cast over it. So, I do what I think is a good job of hiding the imperfection:
Then Paul sets about putting together the mold for the head, when suddenly...
This head cast is making me nervous. I just wanna get it cast now before something else breaks off it. Neck seemingly repaired, Paul finishes molds for it, as well as the thigh and abdomen wounds, disassembling the body in order to do so.
Some SECRET PROCESS later, the thigh and abdominal wounds come out amazing. Just like makeup prosthetics, they contour right onto the body part. Good enough to check this part off and let Paul go on producing final resin appliques.
However, the head continues with its bad luck streak, and a large blob of uncured mold material results in a too-unattractive-to-fake-as-deliberate-zombie-goo spot on the first resin pull:
It's getting late, so I keep the resin to do some paint tests later in the week, and I leave Paul with the task of getting a better mold made.
As I leave the project in other hands, I check the calendar to see how much time we have left to finish this whole thing: fifteen days. No pressure.
I think you are using the grey Sculpty firm? and it may have sulfer in it,especially when un cooked. You need to use a tin plantnium silicone ,like Silicones Incorperated's GI 1000 or if you use the same silicone use a PVA barrier coat or even vaseline to seal it.Sulfer is bad with some silicones. They have both of thoose things at www.sculpt.com
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Chris Orlando! Thanx chief, will do. I'm new to this and bow to pros like yourself...this is why we leave the REAL jobs to people like you (wink wink).
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