The ZYGON Build Diary Part 6
Hey Gang
So Paul, Kelby and I were back at it on Day 6 (and beyond) of the Zygon Build. Today was mostly about making a snap mold for the facial applicance adding a few details and most importantly the paint job!
More Zygon goodness and Info
Finished hands
So after taking stock of where things were at we tackled little closure issues like adding hidden eyes and hooks to the neck to lock the head in place once it would be on my head (and hole the right shape when viewed form all angles).
added hooks and burlap to hold the head in place.
We looked over the head again to see just how far the facial appliance would need to go to blend in with the foam sides.
Checking to see where the appliance will blend with the head
Paul added stirrups to the legs to help hold them in place when worn.
Added stirrups
We spotted a little pre-wear and tear in the crotch and knee... so a small foam gusset was added along with a quick repair brushing on of covering latex.
Repair and latexing some damage to the crotch and knee.
Kelby gives areas a vaseline coating to help pull the mold off later
Then we got out my trusty headcast and Kelby pre applied vaseline to certain areas for easy removal of the algenate later.
Prepping the Snap Mold process
Now it was time to make a snap mold of my face (from the cast) which Kelby would sculpt the facial appliance on (and would ensure a perfect fit when I would wear it!) The table was setup with plaster bandages, burlap, hot water, the extra algenate from our headcast supply run and Ultracal. Paul and Kelby led the charge here as they much more experienced here than I was!
Spearing on the algenate
The Algenate was mized with lukewarm water this time, quickly mixed and then spread over the cast by Paul and Kelby.
Algenate settles
Prepping plaster bandages
The Algenate quickly set within 5-10 minutes and then it was time to take the plaster bandages (pre cut into small, med and large strips) and there were applied expertly by Paul. First the small strips to get the details and the larger strips afterwards to finishing covering the area and build up the layers.
Adding in layers of Plaster bandages
The plaster hardens
Within about another 10 minutes the plaster hardens and we're ready to pull this and the algenate off the headcast. This was fairly easy thanks to the vaseline prep from earlier.
Once set the algenate and plaster is peeled off the headcast
Algenate pull
Once off the cast, I cleaned up some of the extra algenate form the foam head with a rag and water while Kelby and Paul cleanup up the edges of the pull.
Cleaning the algenate edges
Mixing the UltraCal
From here the plaster/algenate was set up to have a positive made (again) of my face. We took some of the spare ultra-cal form my first headcast, mixed it up and carefully applied it into the new pull.
Reenforcing the mold with layers of burlap
Building up the UltraCal
This was slowly mixed in with small layers of burlap to build up it's strength while each layer was poured on and smoothed over over and over til a nice thick mold would be produced with a flat 'bottom' it could rest on where Kelby would be making the sculpt later.
Final Ultracal 'stone' mold
After this was done at the end of the day a stone mold of my face was ready for Zygon action!
Prepping materials and references
Mixing up the Procaid and fleshy orange base coat paint.
After lunch, we then went to a friend of Kelby's to use his garage space (as it began to rain that day!) for the all important paint work. Paul and Kelby mixed up a light fleshy orange color from paints you can get at Michael's which was mixed in with a rubber adhesive (although Mod Podge can work here too) to ensure it would stick to the latex suit. This base coat or pax was mixe dup in about 3 small batches and then all three of us went to town brushing on a good coating of this over the entire suit.
Hands and feet w base coat
Legs paxed
Head Pax base coat
Torso base coat
Once thie base layer was finished, Kelby brought out her trusty airbrush and mixed up a good red color to be painted on for details and also to break up the texture and look.
Getting red detail on hands and suckers
All important airbrush
The main area to get this color treatment was the suckers as they really highlighted the creature (and of course we're mimicking the ref photos and aciton figure!)
Finished Hand
Finishing the Head
I was amazed at how the thin spray of red color over the body perfectly brought the bright orange (almost yellow) down to the right color hue of Orange I'd always known and seen the Zygons to be. Once I saw the finished hands and head I knew we were going to have something really awesome beyond what I'd hoped for!
Paul's motivation for Kelby
Finished legs
Kelby took over a lot of this stage under supervision from Paul while I acted as a third set of eyes when needed. Once the legs were finshed it was on to the torso and once on the body form it was strange to see the difference a little airbrushing makes!
Airbrushed legs vs non airbrushed torso- night and day
The components coming together
Airbrushing the back
Almost there
Accentuating the suckers
Once the entire suit was done, Kelby mixed a darker red to really make the sucker pop and she did another light detail coat mostly on the just the interior large suckers and occasionally on a few other areas of the body that needed the extra breaking up.
Adding extra deep red details and breaking up texture
Feet and toenails get a green paint manicure
After this was done and we called it a day on the body painting. Paul and I agreed the feet needed a little touching up. Kelby had exhausted all of her red color on the body but she got creative mixing up a murky green color to simply touch up the toenails and toe area and that really brought it to life!
Fully painted
With the Paint job done we were feeling pretty good about the costume, so we packed it up for the return trip home!
Loading up the suit to drive home
After this to seal it and give it a bit of a shine Paul used one of the large jars of Mod Podge and gave it a coating which really gave it a nice sheen and brought it home!
Suit after a gloss Mod Podge coating for shine and sealing
Kelby then returned with one of the foam latex pulls from her sculpt. It looked fantastic. She explained how she felt the Zygons essentially looked simian and seeing the face separate from the suit I could see her point!
Final Foam latex face appliance Kelby sculpted over the snap mold
So I did a final test fit of the whole suit with added straps and hooks for comfort and locking everything in. We pinned the facial piece in place and I have to say it was pretty darn cool. (or rather hot inside there as I was discovering!)
Final Test fit!!
Inside Paul showed me the last two touches he'd done to the suit in the interim. Once was to build the Skarrassen Control Beacon base don a screencap. It was thrown together from a plastic half sphere, extra foam scraps, cardstock strips, string and some charcoal paint. It was a little on the wide side from the original prop but the read was fantastic. Outside of a few pics and being judged I never got to wield this much at Gallifrey which was a shame.
Skarrassen Control - or foam, string, a half sphere and some cardstock.
His other crowning touch was adding the 'chest microphone' in the top cheat sucker- just like Broton's in the show. it looked so good everyone thought it was a functional microphone for me (or at least a real mike head that had been cannabalized!). In truth it was just some grey foam curved under some spare wire mesh Paul had and spray glued in place. Simple solutions for good effect- that's what it's all about.
Added chest 'microphone' - or simple mesh and foam spray glued in place
The last thing we had to do was build a Zygon prop for the skit we wrote for the masquerade entry. It called for a Body Print Chamber - so finding some used cardboard boxes at the warehouse where we bought our spray glue, some cheap 2X2's lumber, cheap foam tubing, some spare ganky unused suckers we'd pulled from the earlier molds, a little spray paint and a can of expanding foam... we built it!
Building the base frame for the chamber
Making sucker attachments from Foam tubing and armature wire
Paul came up with a pretty sturdy way to make the frame using the lumber. With the basic rectangle shape done the cardboard was arranged and glued and duct taped in place. Seams were then hidden with tape and expanding foam to gank up the look.
Adding foam to cover the attachment
Paul had some spare armature wire which was arranged on a wood base in a four prong fashion and then covered with the foam tubing. This was filled in with some scrap mattress foam to hold in place (all with spray glue), the latex sucker attached to the end and a lot of thin rope and expanding foam used to texture it up and hide any joins. The foam was re-enforced with duct tape to hold it down.
Attaching sucker controls
Adding foam/thin rope to gank up the Chamber
The Zygon sucker controls were added to the cardboard with wood base screwed into the wood of the frame. We added the last of the rope with spray glue and a lot of expanding foam all over the the thing to make it look gross and organic. Finally brown, orange and red spray paint was used in layers to color it up and make it presentable for the stage. It was very high school play mentality but fun to do and a nice touch!
Final paint job on the Body Print Chamber
Final Chamber ready for load up on Thursday
At Gallifrey was the first time I had the facial appliance added to my face. It was put on with Medical adhesive and that stuff STICKS. I was a little worried as I wouldn't be able to breathe through my nose but I managed through it.
The make up process begins
Kelby Makes up my face in the Green Room
Kelby took her time and we spent about 45 minute applying the face and starting the paint work. We then moved into the green room were I was half suited while Kelby with help from paul finished painting the face to match the suit and blending it off into the head.
Paul tweaks my head fitting
With this long process done, I got fully suited up though often the back was left undone and the gloves off to keep me cooler during breaks!) and I was off to get judged for workmanship. Luckily one of the judges had read the first 3 parts of this blog and they knew what all had gone into this build. Mette Hedin then got walked through the costume by Paul and Kelby using reference photos to explain how it all came together. I was just happy I could easily see and not be blinded by sweat this year during this process!
getting judged in the green room
Terror of the Zygon!
Afterwards we lined up and then were marched backstage with all the other contestants in very awesome costumes for our performances. Paul caught a few things to correct with my mask as I was already sweating so much a little of it was coming off.
Backstage with Two Doctors!
Backstage with Paul
We had fun goofing off backstage and following this we performed our skit which seemed to go down very well with the crowd. I couldn't hear super well but I managed to hear my cues and overact (as one has to through a large latex/foam suit!) accordingly. At first I wasn't sure if people totally liked it but i was assured by the rest of the cast we were down very well and having looked at the tape since then I can see all that foam around me really did alter my perceptions!
On Stage performing the Let Zygons be Zygons skit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VgaVnuj3VU
The Let Zygons Be Zygons Sketch - Rough Copy- a more polished audio mixed one is coming
Afterwards we learned we won both Best in Class Workmanship for Master Category and Best Monster/Presentation for Master Class. We're all getting copies of the certificates but we gave the ribbon to Kelby. We were justifiably proud and happy people liked it so much. After this I took a victory lap through the lobby stopping to pose and terrorize where I could. This was short lived as I had to get to Program D for our COmedy Show where I got to play a Mr. Roper in a Three's company skit as a Zygon. Not something you get to do everyday!
Finished Zygon After the Masque!
Sadly there wasn't time for me to wear this again on Sunday for an hour or so of hall wandering like we'd planned. Major shame- but we only had the one facial appliance and while it remained intact, it wouldn't have looked as good the next day. Oh well. The creature lives on a body form at the moment but it stands ready for action the next time the world is ready for the Terror of the Zygon!
And that wraps up this Build Diary! Thanks for reading!
-Honorarydoctor
So Paul, Kelby and I were back at it on Day 6 (and beyond) of the Zygon Build. Today was mostly about making a snap mold for the facial applicance adding a few details and most importantly the paint job!
More Zygon goodness and Info
Finished hands
So after taking stock of where things were at we tackled little closure issues like adding hidden eyes and hooks to the neck to lock the head in place once it would be on my head (and hole the right shape when viewed form all angles).
added hooks and burlap to hold the head in place.
We looked over the head again to see just how far the facial appliance would need to go to blend in with the foam sides.
Checking to see where the appliance will blend with the head
Paul added stirrups to the legs to help hold them in place when worn.
Added stirrups
We spotted a little pre-wear and tear in the crotch and knee... so a small foam gusset was added along with a quick repair brushing on of covering latex.
Repair and latexing some damage to the crotch and knee.
Kelby gives areas a vaseline coating to help pull the mold off later
Then we got out my trusty headcast and Kelby pre applied vaseline to certain areas for easy removal of the algenate later.
Prepping the Snap Mold process
Now it was time to make a snap mold of my face (from the cast) which Kelby would sculpt the facial appliance on (and would ensure a perfect fit when I would wear it!) The table was setup with plaster bandages, burlap, hot water, the extra algenate from our headcast supply run and Ultracal. Paul and Kelby led the charge here as they much more experienced here than I was!
Spearing on the algenate
The Algenate was mized with lukewarm water this time, quickly mixed and then spread over the cast by Paul and Kelby.
Algenate settles
Prepping plaster bandages
The Algenate quickly set within 5-10 minutes and then it was time to take the plaster bandages (pre cut into small, med and large strips) and there were applied expertly by Paul. First the small strips to get the details and the larger strips afterwards to finishing covering the area and build up the layers.
Adding in layers of Plaster bandages
The plaster hardens
Within about another 10 minutes the plaster hardens and we're ready to pull this and the algenate off the headcast. This was fairly easy thanks to the vaseline prep from earlier.
Once set the algenate and plaster is peeled off the headcast
Algenate pull
Once off the cast, I cleaned up some of the extra algenate form the foam head with a rag and water while Kelby and Paul cleanup up the edges of the pull.
Cleaning the algenate edges
Mixing the UltraCal
From here the plaster/algenate was set up to have a positive made (again) of my face. We took some of the spare ultra-cal form my first headcast, mixed it up and carefully applied it into the new pull.
Reenforcing the mold with layers of burlap
Building up the UltraCal
This was slowly mixed in with small layers of burlap to build up it's strength while each layer was poured on and smoothed over over and over til a nice thick mold would be produced with a flat 'bottom' it could rest on where Kelby would be making the sculpt later.
Final Ultracal 'stone' mold
After this was done at the end of the day a stone mold of my face was ready for Zygon action!
Prepping materials and references
Mixing up the Procaid and fleshy orange base coat paint.
After lunch, we then went to a friend of Kelby's to use his garage space (as it began to rain that day!) for the all important paint work. Paul and Kelby mixed up a light fleshy orange color from paints you can get at Michael's which was mixed in with a rubber adhesive (although Mod Podge can work here too) to ensure it would stick to the latex suit. This base coat or pax was mixe dup in about 3 small batches and then all three of us went to town brushing on a good coating of this over the entire suit.
Hands and feet w base coat
Legs paxed
Head Pax base coat
Torso base coat
Once thie base layer was finished, Kelby brought out her trusty airbrush and mixed up a good red color to be painted on for details and also to break up the texture and look.
Getting red detail on hands and suckers
All important airbrush
The main area to get this color treatment was the suckers as they really highlighted the creature (and of course we're mimicking the ref photos and aciton figure!)
Finished Hand
Finishing the Head
I was amazed at how the thin spray of red color over the body perfectly brought the bright orange (almost yellow) down to the right color hue of Orange I'd always known and seen the Zygons to be. Once I saw the finished hands and head I knew we were going to have something really awesome beyond what I'd hoped for!
Paul's motivation for Kelby
Finished legs
Kelby took over a lot of this stage under supervision from Paul while I acted as a third set of eyes when needed. Once the legs were finshed it was on to the torso and once on the body form it was strange to see the difference a little airbrushing makes!
Airbrushed legs vs non airbrushed torso- night and day
The components coming together
Airbrushing the back
Almost there
Accentuating the suckers
Once the entire suit was done, Kelby mixed a darker red to really make the sucker pop and she did another light detail coat mostly on the just the interior large suckers and occasionally on a few other areas of the body that needed the extra breaking up.
Adding extra deep red details and breaking up texture
Feet and toenails get a green paint manicure
After this was done and we called it a day on the body painting. Paul and I agreed the feet needed a little touching up. Kelby had exhausted all of her red color on the body but she got creative mixing up a murky green color to simply touch up the toenails and toe area and that really brought it to life!
Fully painted
With the Paint job done we were feeling pretty good about the costume, so we packed it up for the return trip home!
Loading up the suit to drive home
After this to seal it and give it a bit of a shine Paul used one of the large jars of Mod Podge and gave it a coating which really gave it a nice sheen and brought it home!
Suit after a gloss Mod Podge coating for shine and sealing
Kelby then returned with one of the foam latex pulls from her sculpt. It looked fantastic. She explained how she felt the Zygons essentially looked simian and seeing the face separate from the suit I could see her point!
Final Foam latex face appliance Kelby sculpted over the snap mold
So I did a final test fit of the whole suit with added straps and hooks for comfort and locking everything in. We pinned the facial piece in place and I have to say it was pretty darn cool. (or rather hot inside there as I was discovering!)
Final Test fit!!
Inside Paul showed me the last two touches he'd done to the suit in the interim. Once was to build the Skarrassen Control Beacon base don a screencap. It was thrown together from a plastic half sphere, extra foam scraps, cardstock strips, string and some charcoal paint. It was a little on the wide side from the original prop but the read was fantastic. Outside of a few pics and being judged I never got to wield this much at Gallifrey which was a shame.
Skarrassen Control - or foam, string, a half sphere and some cardstock.
His other crowning touch was adding the 'chest microphone' in the top cheat sucker- just like Broton's in the show. it looked so good everyone thought it was a functional microphone for me (or at least a real mike head that had been cannabalized!). In truth it was just some grey foam curved under some spare wire mesh Paul had and spray glued in place. Simple solutions for good effect- that's what it's all about.
Added chest 'microphone' - or simple mesh and foam spray glued in place
The last thing we had to do was build a Zygon prop for the skit we wrote for the masquerade entry. It called for a Body Print Chamber - so finding some used cardboard boxes at the warehouse where we bought our spray glue, some cheap 2X2's lumber, cheap foam tubing, some spare ganky unused suckers we'd pulled from the earlier molds, a little spray paint and a can of expanding foam... we built it!
Building the base frame for the chamber
Making sucker attachments from Foam tubing and armature wire
Paul came up with a pretty sturdy way to make the frame using the lumber. With the basic rectangle shape done the cardboard was arranged and glued and duct taped in place. Seams were then hidden with tape and expanding foam to gank up the look.
Adding foam to cover the attachment
Paul had some spare armature wire which was arranged on a wood base in a four prong fashion and then covered with the foam tubing. This was filled in with some scrap mattress foam to hold in place (all with spray glue), the latex sucker attached to the end and a lot of thin rope and expanding foam used to texture it up and hide any joins. The foam was re-enforced with duct tape to hold it down.
Attaching sucker controls
Adding foam/thin rope to gank up the Chamber
The Zygon sucker controls were added to the cardboard with wood base screwed into the wood of the frame. We added the last of the rope with spray glue and a lot of expanding foam all over the the thing to make it look gross and organic. Finally brown, orange and red spray paint was used in layers to color it up and make it presentable for the stage. It was very high school play mentality but fun to do and a nice touch!
Final paint job on the Body Print Chamber
Final Chamber ready for load up on Thursday
At Gallifrey was the first time I had the facial appliance added to my face. It was put on with Medical adhesive and that stuff STICKS. I was a little worried as I wouldn't be able to breathe through my nose but I managed through it.
The make up process begins
Kelby Makes up my face in the Green Room
Kelby took her time and we spent about 45 minute applying the face and starting the paint work. We then moved into the green room were I was half suited while Kelby with help from paul finished painting the face to match the suit and blending it off into the head.
Paul tweaks my head fitting
With this long process done, I got fully suited up though often the back was left undone and the gloves off to keep me cooler during breaks!) and I was off to get judged for workmanship. Luckily one of the judges had read the first 3 parts of this blog and they knew what all had gone into this build. Mette Hedin then got walked through the costume by Paul and Kelby using reference photos to explain how it all came together. I was just happy I could easily see and not be blinded by sweat this year during this process!
getting judged in the green room
Terror of the Zygon!
Afterwards we lined up and then were marched backstage with all the other contestants in very awesome costumes for our performances. Paul caught a few things to correct with my mask as I was already sweating so much a little of it was coming off.
Backstage with Two Doctors!
Backstage with Paul
We had fun goofing off backstage and following this we performed our skit which seemed to go down very well with the crowd. I couldn't hear super well but I managed to hear my cues and overact (as one has to through a large latex/foam suit!) accordingly. At first I wasn't sure if people totally liked it but i was assured by the rest of the cast we were down very well and having looked at the tape since then I can see all that foam around me really did alter my perceptions!
On Stage performing the Let Zygons be Zygons skit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VgaVnuj3VU
The Let Zygons Be Zygons Sketch - Rough Copy- a more polished audio mixed one is coming
Afterwards we learned we won both Best in Class Workmanship for Master Category and Best Monster/Presentation for Master Class. We're all getting copies of the certificates but we gave the ribbon to Kelby. We were justifiably proud and happy people liked it so much. After this I took a victory lap through the lobby stopping to pose and terrorize where I could. This was short lived as I had to get to Program D for our COmedy Show where I got to play a Mr. Roper in a Three's company skit as a Zygon. Not something you get to do everyday!
Finished Zygon After the Masque!
Sadly there wasn't time for me to wear this again on Sunday for an hour or so of hall wandering like we'd planned. Major shame- but we only had the one facial appliance and while it remained intact, it wouldn't have looked as good the next day. Oh well. The creature lives on a body form at the moment but it stands ready for action the next time the world is ready for the Terror of the Zygon!
And that wraps up this Build Diary! Thanks for reading!
-Honorarydoctor