1. Alginate applied for head-cast. 2. Completed head-cast with front section removed
We probably didn't get very good copies of the hands and feet from our original body cast - we were trying to get the entire body shape rather than little details like that. It's possible we didn't even include the hands and feet in our original body cast since we knew we'd be replacing them later anyway. Also, our body-cast subject was standing - if we did use the original foot position the feet would be at right angles to the legs. We can't have that - our alien will look like a department-store mannequin that somebody knocked over.
Well, more like one, anyway.
So we do specific hand and foot casts on our original subject - or anybody else whose extremities are approximately the same size. We use our clay pour technique again to get instant hand-and-foot sculptures which we resculpt just a bit, adding the extra fingers and toes. (Or if we prefer, an equally acceptable method would be to sculpt new hands and feet from scratch.)
We take our finished clay extremities and attach them to our clay body, taking care to position the feet in a relaxed pose. We smooth the surface of the clay over the connections, and our alien body sculpture is ready.
1. Alginate applied for head-cast. 2. Completed head-cast with front section removed
Then again we might not. It really doesn't matter either way - creating creature heads is done every day in the FX biz, whether it's a makeup we'll be applying to an actor, or just a dummy head. There are many ways to go about it, depending on the artist's preference.
To go with our chubby little body, we'd probably make a chubby little head, with a little double chin and bags under the eyes and so on. Like this...
And hopefully this time we won't forget our alien will be seen on its back...
Ooops.
We connect the head sculpture to the rest of the body. Now our entire alien sculpture is finished, with the clay skin textured continuously throughout.
Anyplace two sections of the mold come together, our final alien body will show a seam line that will need cleaning up later. But this time we can be careful to construct our mold with close-fitting joints and put them in places where seams are less likely to be seen on camera.
We also can make this mold of silicone rubber and fiberglas, rather than alginate and plaster. Silicone rubber will mirror the body's shapes and textures just like alginate does - but silicone won't dry and shrink. The fiberglas will be both lighter and stronger than the plaster bandage.
Sculpture being molded in fiberglas.
(No, that's not an alien, that's Casper!)
Our new mold will last for as long as we need it and we can refill it to make as many alien corpses as we want.
And Now - A Tricky Decision ...
The Truly Dangerous Company
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