I started working on my characters heads, at least the main ones. I am going for a Claymation style, but having had so many problems the last time I intend to use a more stable material. I will model the exposed skin areas in plasticine and then make plaster moulds so that I can then cast the models. My first attempt is with industrial clear silicon.

 



 

The first two images are showing the build up process.

 

 

The characters didn't exactly turn out like the drawings, that was proving hard to do but as I'm still experimenting I'll carry on with these.



 

 

The first step was to remove the lips, as I will add them after with latex, or maybe I'll use replacement mouths for the dialogue. I then mixed some plaster and after coating the face with a release agent (vasaline) I placed it into the plaster.

 

I'm only making the face part of the heads for now.

 

Next I covered the mould with release agent. You might notice that the tip of the nose seems very pointed - I'm not sure how that happened but I'm sure it can be trimmed off later.

 

The next step was to mix some acrylic 'flesh tint' paint with the silicone. I also added some white as I don't want it to be too pink.

 

 

The mixture turned out to be very sticky, it kept coming out of the mould as I was trying to put it in. I also had to guess the eye positions as I hadn't made any reference marks. As you can see I also added a piece of plasticime where the mouth is as I want a cavity there.

 

The silicone is supposed to set faster when mixed with paint but I had no idea how long that would be. Thick layers of silicone can take ages as it is air cured, so I dried it for a while with a hair dryer.

 

I was surprised at how easily the cast came out of the mould. I was only estimating that it had set and I was sure the nose would break off.

 

Now I know this looks fairly rough but it was a first attempt and it proved that this method con work - and it was cheap enough to do.

 

 

The shadow below the eye is actually a cavity just below the surface. When I guessed the eye ball position I had the mould upside down in my hand so they ended up about 7mm down from the correct place.

 

There are also a few unfilled spots, probably from the sticky mixture moving around so much.

 

This image gives an indication of the scale I'm working to.

 

All in all for a first attempt I'm happy enough with the result. before I try again I will make armature's with movable jaws and make moulds of the full head - with the centre line separating the two halves (of the mould). That way the armature should force the silicone into any gaps and give a smoother finish. I still haven't figured out how I'll move the mouths for the dialogue, or make eyelids that will work. Anyway once I get one made properly the technique will work on the rest.