Les Enfants Terribles - Don & Delia

Im a bit confused if critique is for critique of the head and WIP is for journaling and progress. So excuse me, if Im doing it wrong


Day 1


Day 2


Correcting chin and giving more symmetry


(not anymore) current state, but I dont wanna stress my camera and clay with these temperatures. So Im taking a break till more critique has run in.


Thanks for taking your time to look at my work. I appreciate it.

 

It's my first human. So far Ive only sculpted cosplay props for human and miniatures. Ive been sculpting like 4 years. Started with Fimo. Nowerdays I use a selfmade clay for food miniatures.
http://chocodecadence.livejournal.com/70399.html was my first experience with Chavant sculpting and casting it into dragonskin.
I need to fix the CSS on my journal very badly, but you can catch a glimpse what I do here: http://chocodecadence.livejournal.com/

Material is Chavant hard. It's oil based clay. Waxlike. Its hard like a candle. Need to be warmed up to form. I work with "hard" and "Automobile" but I guess most sculptor will suggest you medium.
It can also be frozen and sanded with sandpaper, but it will never harden. I did cosplay props years ago, thats why I chose the harder types.

 

Some tiny update here. Thansk to the suggestions and help, I fixed some issues, cut him open, made his insides with the shook thingie and stuff. I'm so excited to make his first cast soon.

 

So, while thinking changing Mold Star 30 silicone would be a good choice, I somewhat ignored to see some warnings about Mold Star 30 and Chavant LBT. And while I was ignoring these warnings, I also ignored sealing the head, because "whats gonna happen, casted things a dozen times before".


well the mold would have been nice, if only...


The gooey mess. Now it it was sulfur clay, I'd understand what happend, but it leaves me puzzled a biz. I found some threads on the RPF and other casting forums and I dont seem to be the only one.
Another solution to avoid this: Seal the master. Ah learning hurts so well ;_;


I found the suggestion to wipe off the silicone with iso 99, which luckily helps and doesn't influence the clay like iso 70 does. So, this will be my weekend.
Fot the prototype cast, Noyadolls offered me help with casting the master, which I will take now, as I only have Star 30 in the house and totally dont feel like going through this again. So now the head will make a small trip to France.

 

So, some update.

I called Smooth-On about what happend with Mold Star 30 and was told that only Mold Star 16 is a good choice for wax. I asked what to do and they suggested me to try out a matte sealant to cover the head in.
So I tested with some stuff I had around and was very well surprised that MSC gave the best results.



But still I didn't dare to cast again. Noyadoll helped me with this and today I got the picture of the casted head.



I am so happy how he looks and am surely excited to have him home again soon. Now all he needs is some polishing and adjusting and then he can be sent of to Haru. Public Pre-order will open soon, although I have to mention that 5 from the 10 casts are already reserved. Thank you very much for this support

 

So Don is home, and I couldnt resist testing him before I start priming and sanding. I'm very pleased so far!
I hope the mistakes I made and documented will save someone from making the same mistakes. I've learned a lot, but most important that wax is forgiving and most issues can be saved.



Also...I couldn't resist starting a second head. This time an elderly Lady called Delia. I'm really starting to enjoy making heads.

 

So far I'm very pleased with Mr. Surfacer. Enjoy sanding the head an working with a primer that fulfills it's promise finally.
Also I finally found a way to sand wax without dissolvent like Iso/gasoline, which made the progress on Delia even a bit more faster.
Not it's time to line and correct once more \o/

 

Somekind of "technical" update. While I work with lined mats and geometrical correction via photo, it hasnt been enough for me. I want to quick check the positions while sculpting, not take a break.
So I found these lasers on ebay, currently building a stand for top down.
I'm posting the whole, as I hope someone finds this helpful and because I cant explain electronics.
It still has to be put on a proper platine and get a proper box, too.

 

So now that Don is finished
https://www.flickr.com/photos/36684379@N02/20632665789/in/dateposted-public/

I have to focus on comissions again, so I cant progress on Delia currently.
I'm fond of her current state tho.


Also, the guiding lights in action:


I still hope I can finish her before the year ends. Critique is very very welcome

 

I will give my best to explain idea, concept and built ^^

I saw some sculptors working with cross-laser laserpointers and liked the idea. But I dislike holding an extra tool in my hand. Also moving or changing the angle is no big help. Some saws have such guiding lasers built in.
So I wanted a cross laser with fixed holding from top down to work with. I found a shop on ebay that sells single parts for lasers and got one there.
A normal laserpointer takes some small micro batteries. But the crosslaser is strong and needs 3V. Thats why it now takes 4 AA batteries. It can go for days and days and days...

The parts are...scrap. The holding arm is an old tube holder for chemistry. The tub the laser is inserted was a tool wrapping. Same goes for the box parts. My dad is an engineer and this is where I honor him for helping me with such projects and has a huge collection of scrap parts. Biggest hazzle actually was to adjust it in the end (and mark it, in case I change it accidently) so the beam is straight.
The lazer has an adjustable focus luckily too.





This is the laser and lining again

I think I went a bit over the top after seeing those laserpointers, but I think this will be useful for many things. Not only dolls But yeah, if you have a friend whos into electronics or an engineer, let him have a look into it. Or try a normal pen cross laserpointer, if it's more liking.

 

An update after a long time.
As some point I was tired of Dalia and started with a third head, Ryan. Now I'm close to finishing both. Plan is still to cast them both before christmas.

Ryan & Dalia by ChocolateDecadence

 

So, I havent been active for a long long time.
Decided to study abroad in a place with barely/no internet, got some health problems, all in all not a good year.

Glad I'm back at work now and also can work on the heads.
Delia has changed a lot, again. And again I'm not pleased with her. I guess it's time to put her away for a while.
Ryan is already prototyped and in his finishing steps. This time casting the wax went smooth and I got a nice resin prototype.
I really hope I can send him of to Harus end of this week.

I'm really pleased with Ryan. Comparing him to Don I feel ashamed for some mistakes I made on Don. Welp, but I didnt know better at that time.

Les Enfants Terribles - Ryan by ChocolateDecadence, auf Flickr