MeanGene Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 My Predator 2 Body Skins Project. Completed sometime 2009-2010 Part of this topic if the sculpture itself. But seeing as the major part of the work is in fact the molding process. Figured I would plant it in this section. What I learned from this process: Body skins are a huge undertaking. Duct tape dummies work OK. A proper mannequin would be better. * Sculpt the body skins significantly larger to account for latex shrinkage. Don't make ultracl30 gypsum molds again. Ridiculously heavy. WED clay is perfect for this type of larger sculpt. Sculpt muscles and definition much more pronounced and exaggerated, the forms gets lost in latex rubber. The process. Make a duct tape dummy of your body. Then fill it with expanding foam to get a rigid model to sculpt on. Get a lot of clay. Probably used 250lbs of clay for the sculpt. Another 50 or so lbs of White clay for the mold diving wall. I budgeted quite a bit of time to devote to this. The clay will dry out over time. It can be wrapped and saved. All said and done I think I had it sculpted - molded and finished inside of 2 weeks. By the time it came to make these molds I had made probably a dozen smaller molds. Of heads, hands, single body arm pieces. I had a lot of trial and error experience to get to this point. I would highly suggest you try your hand at smaller items before tackling such a large project. Petroleum jelly - I've heard it isnt the best release agent when it comes to separating the two halves. Worked ok for me for years. Basically you make the first half of the mold, then coat the dividing line with a release agent. Allows you to separate the two halves. Paper stock dividing wall. I was inspired by the batman dead end sculpture picture here to make a similar dividing wall. I ended up bailing on the paper stock, worrying it would not be strong enough. Instead White clay was used as a dividing wall. Success! Two halves separated. Notice the rounded registration keys. I also sculpted in channels to the dividing wall which snake down the length of the sculpt. This channel was to prevent latex from seeping out the sides. I won't detail how to mix ultracal here. There are lots of tutorials out there to follow. Just follow the proper mixing ratios and use a drill to mix it. Finished product. Samurai Shinto Suit Will detail out this suit build at a later date. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzzyHuntress Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Excellent work on the skin. The builds are awesome in detail, design, colour and patterns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usurper Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Great write up Gene. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwoff0677 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 wow looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roninpred Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 You have improved by leaps and bounds on your skills Gene. Any other sculpts on the horizon? Maybe a P1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanGene Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 Whats next? You are gonna think I am crazy. Because I am crazy. But this has been on my mind since I made these skins way back... I desperately want a head for display. And seeing that walk around as a costume would off the hook. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YautjaGuardian Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Fantastic Job Gene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pdisc Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Awesome play by play of the process Gene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwoff0677 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 i wood love to see it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lwoff0677 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 really surprised that no one's done it yet I would definitely buy one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptgreek Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Man, this was a lot of fun to revisit. looking back I’m impressed how you just dove into the large scale molds! And yes.. stone molds of that size suck such a great build bro 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bovine13 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 I love these posts! Answers in pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanGene Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 Thanks gentlemen. When I took this pics I had every intention of making a hard core tutorial. But at the end of the day, seeing the process explains so much by itself. So no need to drone on. I think all said and done I would some type of epoxy,resin,fiberglass mold and make castings that way. The weight of those molds is ultimately why I no longer have them. Got tired of moving them around. Wish I still had them though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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