Scaroth's Head Build Part One
It has begun! I have started the head.
Here it is sitting on my bookcase drying nicely as I wait for it to be ready for painting :)
So how did I get to this stage, I hear you ask?
Well, I started with my styrofoam head I got from Hong Kong at $5.00 including postage (local retailers wanted 25 dollars plus). I could wait for the head to arrive; gave me more time to contemplate how I was going to tackle all this.
Once I got the head, I wrapped it in cushion wadding (about 5 bucks a bag), tape and cling film. This is to give the head of Scaroth a more "helmet" type of thing so I can slip it on and off more easily, as the caulk when dry is flexible but not stretchy like latex. The reason I used caulk is because it's easier to use and gives that tentacle look far better than latex would without having to do molds (and I can have lots of holes to see through without spoiling the look).
Well, that's how I've seen others do Scaroth's head I've seen on the net :)
I then began the caulking process. I used about 6 tubes of caulk at 3 bucks each:
Caulk takes about 30 minutes to 'set' so I worked in sections. I did the crown first, then the temporal regions, then the back and the face once the top was dry enough to support the weight of more caulk without slipping off the head and becoming a big gooey mess on my table:
After adding the resin eye, I used green pipe cleaners cut up for the eyelashes (at the moment they stick out a bit because the head is in white caulk--once the caulk is painted they will blend in more and not look so obvious). Here is how I made the eye in a previous build, here. I then finished off the caulking process and began making his cheek flaps.
The cheeks I made with cotton wadding, the kind you find in first aid kits (not cotton balls). To get the cotton wadding into shape I used wood glue diluted a little, then I soaked the cotton in it so I could mold it like clay (well sort of, you get the idea). I then placed caulk over the whole thing and attached them to give me the final look I wanted. I re-did the cheek flaps as the ones I've pictured here I wasn't happy with. I made them thicker and more prominent (as you can see from the final picture of Scaroth drying on my bookcase).
Now, I put the head away to dry, but not before trimming some of the caulk off the bottom of the head (as some of it did slump during the drying process). My advice is patience. Patience. Patience. Let the caulk dry enough between sections so you have more support to add another section of caulk onto the head.
In my next post I will go through the painting process and I may even add a cardboard support structure inside the head to help keep it's shape (Caulk is flexible). I will also see where the gaps in the caulk are for me to see through. If I need to add holes I will (disguised, of course).
Until then...
Here it is sitting on my bookcase drying nicely as I wait for it to be ready for painting :)
So how did I get to this stage, I hear you ask?
Well, I started with my styrofoam head I got from Hong Kong at $5.00 including postage (local retailers wanted 25 dollars plus). I could wait for the head to arrive; gave me more time to contemplate how I was going to tackle all this.
Once I got the head, I wrapped it in cushion wadding (about 5 bucks a bag), tape and cling film. This is to give the head of Scaroth a more "helmet" type of thing so I can slip it on and off more easily, as the caulk when dry is flexible but not stretchy like latex. The reason I used caulk is because it's easier to use and gives that tentacle look far better than latex would without having to do molds (and I can have lots of holes to see through without spoiling the look).
Well, that's how I've seen others do Scaroth's head I've seen on the net :)
I then began the caulking process. I used about 6 tubes of caulk at 3 bucks each:
Caulk takes about 30 minutes to 'set' so I worked in sections. I did the crown first, then the temporal regions, then the back and the face once the top was dry enough to support the weight of more caulk without slipping off the head and becoming a big gooey mess on my table:
After adding the resin eye, I used green pipe cleaners cut up for the eyelashes (at the moment they stick out a bit because the head is in white caulk--once the caulk is painted they will blend in more and not look so obvious). Here is how I made the eye in a previous build, here. I then finished off the caulking process and began making his cheek flaps.
The cheeks I made with cotton wadding, the kind you find in first aid kits (not cotton balls). To get the cotton wadding into shape I used wood glue diluted a little, then I soaked the cotton in it so I could mold it like clay (well sort of, you get the idea). I then placed caulk over the whole thing and attached them to give me the final look I wanted. I re-did the cheek flaps as the ones I've pictured here I wasn't happy with. I made them thicker and more prominent (as you can see from the final picture of Scaroth drying on my bookcase).
Now, I put the head away to dry, but not before trimming some of the caulk off the bottom of the head (as some of it did slump during the drying process). My advice is patience. Patience. Patience. Let the caulk dry enough between sections so you have more support to add another section of caulk onto the head.
In my next post I will go through the painting process and I may even add a cardboard support structure inside the head to help keep it's shape (Caulk is flexible). I will also see where the gaps in the caulk are for me to see through. If I need to add holes I will (disguised, of course).
Until then...