Jparr3085

Greetings all! I wanted to break down the process of how I created my elder predator bust/mask for anyone who was ever interested in trying to do something similar. Ultimately, the idea stems from the creation of the original elder and how those talented artists at Stan Winston Studios brought the predator known as Greyback to life. Utilizing a head from the original predator film, they modified the mask by adding foam latex prosthetics to give the creature minor variations that set it apart from the Jungle Hunter as seen in P1. I decided to do the same. Using one of my own P1 masks that I sculpted (the process of which can be read here... https://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/2745-p1-jungle-hunter-mask/ ), I used foam clay to make new mandibles and a ton of little horns in various sizes. Once those were firm, I attached them to the mask. I then made a mixture of cabopatch (part prosaide/part fumed silicate) and applied that to the forehead to create a more pronounced, wrinkled texture than was found in my original sculpt. Once that was dry, it was time to paint and bring the elder to life, liver spots, and all. Utilizing reference photos from Stan Winston Studios was the best route to see the colors and patterns on the original, along with some additional photos I found here on the Lair and elsewhere. Once I was wrapping up completion of the painting, I began making the quills, dreads, and the numerous styles of beads that would adorn the dreads. In reality, that was one of the most time-consuming parts, I ended up sculpting and molding a lot of dread beads. Then came the painting of each to look like various metals, bone, wood, and attaching leather, teeth, and all the other fun little things that would make even Jack Sparrow envious. Fortunately for the long bead strands that dangle among the dreads, I just utilized store bought beads for those and strung various color combinations that resembled what the original sported. And so that's how my Greyback mask/bust came to be. Hope you enjoyed it, and remember that if you're ever contemplating starting on your own build but holding back because you're unsure how it'll turn out or worry you'll mess up, stop fretting. Don't hesitate any longer. You're in one of the best places you can be for support and knowledge right here at The Hunter's Lair. There's a wealth of resources right at your fingertips and a whole community of fans who treasure this 'ugly mother fuc***' just as much as you, that'll be by your side every step of the way along your own costuming journey! 🤙

Daren, I know you've already spoken to myself and a few others since posting this same question on the Lair's Facebook page, but I just wanted to say welcome once more after seeing your post here. Looking forward to seeing the P2 build you pursue as you tackle your neext project focused on our favorite City Hunter!

Greetings all! I wanted to take a moment and actually put down the beginning to end process I went through recently over the course of a month and a half to create my P1 mask. Choosing to sculpt the head out of WED clay, I purchased a 25 lb bag (and toward the end a second 25 lb bag to make sure I had enough) and jumped right in. This was my first project on this scale so I scoured the Lair, other threads, message boards, videos, and anywhere else I could gather information to prepare for the task. I wanted the head to be as accurate to the original as I could, so I tried to find as many images as possible and was fortunate to have some members here provide reference material as well. As I sculpted, I also worked on the mandibles and teeth separately from the head as those would be ultimately cast in resin, and also made the quills. By the time the sculpt was done I ended up using around probably 35 lbs of WED clay and like 2 lbs of sculpey give or take. From there it was time to mold. Molding took the better part of an entire day. It was my first time working with hydrocal and so there was definitely plenty to quickly adapt to. I went with a two part mold and was able to get everything done without incident and all the clay cleaned out of the two halves. Now that I had my mold, it was time to cast the teeth and mandibles. I sculpted the teeth/mandibles out of sculpey oven bake clay and made silicone molds so I could cast the final resin copies. Half the quills were made out of Bake and Bend sculpey but then I tried Sugru and found I liked that better, so I've been using that for quills since. It's cheaper and you just roll out the shape and let it dry and it remains bendable so it cuts out the baking step, which saved me time. Once all those pieces were done, I put my mold together, poured my RD-407 casting latex inside, let it dwell, and then poured it out after its time was up and waited until the next day to fill it with a 2 part soft polyurethane foam since the first one was going to be for display purposes. (The second is a wearable mask that I'll post pictures of also). Once I had my mask, I opened the airbrush I bought to try out on this project since I hadn't airbrushed before this, and just got right to it. As one person reminded someone else in the Lair's Facebook chat right before I started the painting portion of this, it was something like "it's only paint, if you fuck up you just paint over it". So that's what I did. I painted, and if I did mess up I learned from it and found ways to fix it and knew what not to do the next time to avoid having to redo layers. Once all the painting was done and the gloss and sealer were applied, I attached the dreads that had just arrived and voila, one P1 Jungle Hunter mask. Now I finally had my display head! Then a week later I started half of this process over to make an actual wearable mask for someone else. Fortunately I didn't have to worry about going through the sculpting and molding part again as I now had those and could just cast all the parts and start painting, but this time I made the dread beads myself as well, first out of clay, then molding one and casting if multiple times so I could make 12 additional rings to make a larger mold of those to cut down on how many times I had to cast beads, and then casting them out of resin, priming, painting, and sealing them to add to the dreads. The next part I'm working on and have started making in small batches are my own dreads so I can make every piece by hand, but still has a little time to go on those. (Photos of the second mask aren't uploading currently) So that's how I did it. I hope that helps break down some of the process for people looking to just get started. This was my first time doing something like this so if you're hesitant to get started, just remember... you'll never know if you can or not if you don't at least take that first step and try. After all, you may just surprise yourself at what you're capable of.