+

[underdog1425]

HI all,

I am working on Ulquiorra's mask for this first form and would like to share and document my progress.

I am carving floral form which will then be fiberglassed. I've already tested this with a few pieces and had satisfactory results. I started with a very firm and sturdy one and moved to a softer but more easily carved one.



v2.1




This one is 'done' and while I learned a lot about this hard foam, I will not be using it again.

[underdog1425]

v2.2

I made a big 'block' out of the little bricks that this foam comes in by gluing them all together in 2 rows of 5, then gluing the rows together. This works well except for the glue not really solidifying once dry. It wound up with a kind of rubbery texture that didn't agree well with sanding. You can see the 'glue hunks' hanging off in some of the pictures below.







This last picture I am gluing on a large chunk that I will carve the horn from. I propped up a corner of the mask and wadded up a bunch of news paper and set it inside the hollowed out part with a weight on it to help the glue set properly. This will sit overnight.

Next I will need to glue on some chunks around the bottom and sides for the ridges and to make the skull shape in the front.

[underdog1425]

I finally got some time to work on this! Its been a busy week T_T

I carved the glued on piece into a semblance of ulqui's horn and then added on some great stuff expanding foam, to fine tune it. I did all of this yesterday and hopefully the foam is nice and solid by now.

I should be getting some done on this today as well.



under side

[underdog1425]

Got some work done over the weekend!

This light green foam is VERY soft, and as i get into the more detailed carving it is becoming increasingly unforgiving. So faryou I have only had to resort to anchoring the lower 'eye socket' part with a toothpick. Nothing else has catastrophically broken.

If i go slowl and carefully it seems like this will work out even better than i had hoped.

The center ridge, lower ridges, eye socket area still need work. Currently the mask is curing some expanding foam added to the center ridge and eye socket area.

Pictures are unavailable at this time because photobucket sucks. Also, forgive any errors or anything as i am posting from my phone.

** EDIT ** Pictures!

[Misseeriechan]

Looking good so far! Can't wait to see how it turns out in the end. I might start over on my sword and use some of your techniques.

[underdog1425]

I'm not gonna lie, that expanding foam is not easy to carve or sand at all. Its main benefit to me is that it bonds to the green foam, effectively removing any need of gluing the foam. This is handy because cutting, carving and sanding with dried rubbery glue in the way is a pain.

[underdog1425]

I got some more work done!


Here I had to add some more expanding foam around the eye piece to build the ridge that would form the edge of a brow on the eye socket of a skull, you can see this here right below the horn.

And my good friend came over to work on cars, after that he helped me with the fiberglassing. I managed to make a few parts already, but he worked in a body shop before and had a LOT of pointers for me.

Here are some shots of laying the first few sheets and resin.



(my friend is brushing the resin into/onto the fiberglass)

Below are some more pics that cant be thumb'd due to post limit of 5 pics. There is still some more carving and shaping to be done, and now I have to go back and grind down/sand/body filler the fiberglassed areas. With that said though, this really is coming along nicely.

By the way, we learned that ambient temperature has a TREMENDOUS affect on cure time for the resin. This stuff should be tacky in 30 minutes, firm and solid in an hour. I had some stuff wind up kind of rubbery after 8 hours O_o so since its colder outside, we had to use waaaaay more hardener in the solution than recommended. Sounds expensive TT_TT


Final coat of resin for the day.

First coat/laying the fiberglass
close up of the seam between helm and horn
Final coat for the day, another angle
The ridge mentioned earlier under the horn

[Unaki]

This thing is a royal pain in the butt @.@ I had really great success with just using the Crayola craft foam. After some bond-o and painting the thing was hard as a rock and looked really good. The hard part is finding a way to keep the stupid thing on your head especially if you have to have a wig.

[underdog1425]

Originally Posted by Unaki

This thing is a royal pain in the butt @.@ I had really great success with just using the Crayola craft foam. After some bond-o and painting the thing was hard as a rock and looked really good. The hard part is finding a way to keep the stupid thing on your head especially if you have to have a wig.

Its hard by normal standards? D: I figured most good masks/props took work like this! I guess that gives me hope for future stuff lol.

I couldn't get any work done due to christmas tornadoez in alabama. Thankfully my family and i made it safely through it all.

[Druhzin]

I'd realllllllly recommend your friend using a respirator with resin, especially since he was like 3" from it. That stuff will do nasty things to your lungs/body

[underdog1425]

Originally Posted by Druhzin

I'd realllllllly recommend your friend using a respirator with resin, especially since he was like 3" from it. That stuff will do nasty things to your lungs/body

Yeah we didn't that day >_< but I have been since then.

Forgive me that there aren't many pics..

I got the lower two ridges attached and fiberglassed the horn and top some more. Now all that's left is fitting it better, and for that purpose I think I will use some very thin layers of model magic on the inside to kind of get a fitment for my head then put resin over that to seal the shape in place. After that, more fine tuning then paint!

[underdog1425]

update

almost done

*freaking out because wants to be done by kamicon in a week O_O*

[underdog1425]

Followup!

The mask turned out alright, given the circumstances. It turned out very heavy, I only wound up wearing it for the skit and for pictures, otherwise I carried it around the second day.

Pros: much easier to get exactly the accurate shape you want

cons: expensive, bondo can be very heavy if too much is used

At Kami a bud and I threw together a skit to demonstrate my jacket's cool interactive tearing action, to reveal ulqui's #4 tattoo.









Thanks to all who watched and commented/followed.

I will be making a new mask, will be revisiting model magic with some new ideas in mind for the process that should yield a firmer structure that won't flap about the way model magic tends to want to.