gah...

I haven't really been documenting the process of making the models for the music video I'm doing because the Alice deadline came first so I was trying to get her finished, and it's more or less the same process. This is the final model I had left to make for the video (there's 5 in total, 3 band members and a male and female lead). The models for the band are ready to cast in plaster to create the moulds, so whilst waiting for my plaster to arrive (it came today!) I've been trying to get the other two characters to the same point so I can cast all 5 at once... hopefully.

So here is the basic wire armature, made from 2mm aluminium wire, and then I used 1mm aluminium wire to bind it and create the fingers...

Below shows it after I'd finished with the 1mm wire. As with the other models I made the fingers longer than I'd originally drawn them as they were a little short and this would make animating them difficult, and they certainly would struggle to hold things....

To make the feet I first made a basic shape using sculpey and made sure it was flat on the bottom and that they were both level, then baked them in the oven to harden. This meant that when I added the nuts for the ties downs I didn't have to worry about one being pushed too far into the sculpey and making the model stand on uneven because they had a flat even surface to be placed onto, then the scupley was added around them. I also allowed it to slightly cover the edges of the nuts to hold them in place...

I built up the shape and size of the foot, adding a little sculpey at a time and blending with a modeling tool, then created the detail of the sole of the shoes, the toe cap and the detail to create the layers of the tongue and side of the shoes and baked in the oven...

Once cooled I went back and added the top of the tongue, and added to and tidied up the ankle area. I added laces and a small tab at the back on the heels, just like converse have. The laces were stupidly fiddly to do as the pieces I was using were so small and thin and wouldn't stick to the already baked sculpey, so I had to blend the edges in to make sure they moulded to it...

I had wanted to make hi-tops but this would have restricted the ankle movement. The laces might also be a little too fragile so when I cast the model in plaster I'll have to cover the laces with plasticine so they don't get damaged, and remove it after the silicone part of the process is finished...

So they're currently baking in the oven. Then the next step is to cover the two lead models with polymorph to create the joints, flesh out the two models with plasticine, then all five models will be at the same stage, then I can make the boxes for casting the moulds and start playing with plaster! I'm actually bricking it, it could all go terribly wrong and I'm running out of time now :s *crosses fingers*