ShadoKat's Samus Aran (Metroid Prime 3) helmet sculpt - WIP

[Condor4]

I cant wait to see this helm finished!!!! its sooooo cool!!!!

[Anonymous ONI agent]

Ummm... that's a joke... that's my way of saying "that's awesome." But depending on the cost, I'd love one!

[LongShot-X]

I Had to have a look... Love the sculpt! Can't wait to see it finsihed.
Cheers!

[ShadoKat]

I got some advice over at the RPF to try working the clay with Vaseline and a metal spoon. The description of the technique was very sparse on details, but I tried it out on a small section of the sculpt tonight, and it looks to be working out great so far! Still takes a lot of working the clay with other tools, but I'm really really amazed with how well it seems to be working. In the interest of cautious optimism, though, I'm going to come back to it tomorrow, and look at it with a pair of fresh eyes at that time. The sculpt always seems to look different after I let it sit for a day, for some reason. I'll get pics (and maybe even a video of the technique, if anyone's interested) tomorrow night.

It occurred to me, though... Does anyone know if working the clay with Vaseline is going to have any kind of adverse affect on the Rebound 25 that I'm planning to mold with? Petroleum jelly doesn't appear to contain sulfur, but if anyone has any experience with it, I'd love for you to share.

Also, speaking of molding, I had an idea for registration keys... I have an old keyboard, and I'm thinking of prying the keys out of it. The have a really good shape and size. Plus, it would just be perfect because they'd actually be registration keys... get it? Um.. yeah... Anyway, good idea or bad idea?

Wish me luck!

[Storm]

ShadoKat i just love your helmet, it looks great. Good luck with other pieces.

[Surmainey]

A video on your smoothing technique(if it works) would be super awesome. I'm working on a sculpt of my own right now.

[ShadoKat]

A video on your smoothing technique(if it works) would be super awesome. I'm working on a sculpt of my own right now.

Hah!! "If it works," indeed!! Sorry, I couldn't get the camera set up properly... I don't have a camera other than the one in my phone which, while a pretty decent camera, is unfortunately not compatible with a tripod. I'll work on it, though, and put something up if I can. However, the technique itself, as I suspected/feared, it doesn't look as good the next day. The shiny-ness of the Vaseline covers up a lot of the flaws. Not to say that it doesn't still work... it's still MUCH better than when I started, but not as great as it looks upon first glance. Really, smoothing seems to be somewhat light-sensitive.

In other news, I think I'm done with this. I've gone just about as far as I can go with clay. Its malleability is far too sensitive for my clumsy hands, so I'm just going to start molding and try to clean it up in the cast. So, here's what I've got...



And, if you're interested, here's a very short 360 video...



Since I've never molded anything before, I decided to do a practice mold with a (1.5 year old) Smooth-On trial kit and a different test subject before tackling a mold of the helmet sculpt...



Pray for the kitty... And wish me luck! Thanks much!!

[Surmainey]

I honestly think you are too hard on yourself, this will definitely look perfect after a good paint job. Could you at least describe how you did the smoothing?

[ShadoKat]

PLEASE HELP!!!

The molding has begun... I applied the first layer of silicone, and I think I may need some help...



I'm EXTREMELY nervous about this right now. I didn't make a big enough batch of silicone, and I didn't work it fast enough. I mixed a second batch, but clumps of the still-curing first batch mixed with the second, and the results are shown above. Should I be worried, or is this okay? Also, getting the silicone into the flanges at the back was a terrible ordeal... I pushed some in with a paintbrush, but I'm afraid I've either scratched up the clay (not a big deal) or created some air pockets (which could be a big deal). I know this stuff is relatively self-leveling, but it just looks so messy right now, and I'm starting to freak out.

EDIT: The freak-out continues... It's been over two hours and there are a few small spots that don't seem to be curing... they all seem to be "underneath" spots, but I just read something that is causing me some panic... I was wearing latex gloves while doing this, and I neglected to read the little warning on the material sheet that said that latex can inhibit silicone curing. OMFG, idiotic noob mistake!!! Since they're very small spots, can I press on and still be okay? Will it cure eventually, say if I leave it overnight? I read something about baby powder, too, will that help? Can I use a paper towel to "dab off" the little spots that aren't curing? Anyone have any experience here? Is there any way to save this?

I honestly think you are too hard on yourself, this will definitely look perfect after a good paint job. Could you at least describe how you did the smoothing?

Well, of course I'm too hard on myself Aren't we all our own worst critics? Actually, I was very very happy with how the sculpt turned out. Not bad for my first try. I agree, after some sanding and a paint job I expect it will look pretty nice, but I think I've gone as far as I can with clay. I just hope I haven't ruined it with a mold-fail.

As for the smoothing, here are the tools that I used...



Working in small sections, I started out with the triangle-head tools, applying light pressure and changing the direction often. They have nice surfaces for scraping large areas. Then I moved on to the metal scrapers (different sizes for different areas), also with light pressure and in different directions. (While using the metal scrapers, I use the wooden tool you see there is to FREQUENTLY clean off the metal scrapers, as clay accumulates on them and ends up smearing.) Then I do the same with the blue rubber kidney-shaped scraper. After using it you can really see the rough spots. After that I applied a thin layer of vaseline with a cosmetic sponge and started rubbing -- using firm pressure in a circular motion -- with the back of the metal spoon. Something weird starts to happen at this point... Clay particles collect on the spoon at the high points and start mixing with the vaseline to form a pasty consistency that fills in the low spots. (Kinda freaked me out the first time it happened until I realized what was going on.) I then go back over the spot with the blue rubber scraper. The vaseline helps the scraper to spread the clay/paste without gouging the surface, and smooths it out pretty nicely. Finally, I use a fresh cosmetic sponge in quick motions with as little pressure as possible to clean up the area. (Quick tips: DO NOT TOUCH IT WITH YOUR FINGERS!!! Also, don't rub too vigorously with the sponge.) At this point, it looks fantastic. After a day, though, the vaseline almost disappears, and you can see the deficiencies, but it's still a marked improvement from when you started.

So, that's pretty much what I did. Small sections, a few steps, but good results. Hope this helps!!

[CLOTHAR]

Wow, that is an amazing sculpt! I love how symmetrical you got it, I find that is the hardest part on scratch build projects. Best of luck casting it. I wish I had some advice for you but I am a casting noob as well.