Conceptualize – Bust
Conceptulaize – Bust
KRYS BAIOA FUSION GODZILLA
“This head bust is a concept sculpture of Fusion Godzilla, named for the “atomic” reference and for being a fusion of many different features from my favorite incarnations. I decided to make it to get the image out of my head and bring it into existence. It’s to familiarize myself with the design, a technique often used in Hollywood where a concept model is designed before construction.”
This is concept art drawn out to get the image out of my head and onto paper. Its the first step for any of my works and is beneficial to have ideas down on paper.
Materials used to make the eyes. From left to right they include mixing cups, Castin Craft Catalyst, Castin Craft Clear Polyester Casting Resin, paint tray to make the molds for the eyes,eventual paints used, and a fine point paint brush. The process involves pouring 2 ounces of the casting resin into the mixing cup then you add the catalyst which is a hardener for the resin. You add 10 drops of the catalyst per 1 ounce so use a total of 20 drops. Mix it well, there will be air bubbles but they will all rise and dissapate as the resign dries. You then pour the resin into each paint tray well up to the rim. carefully place the paint try into a clear plastic container with a lid on it and place it outside in the sun to cure. With good sunlight, the whole curing process takes about 3 hours. Once the reisn hardens, give the tray a good wack on the floor and the resin molds will pop out of the wells and you’ll have eyeballs ready to paint. You paint the flat side of the mold so the colors and patterns show through the rounded side giving it the look of a realistic eyeball.
Here are the eyeball molds curing in the sun. The process takes 3 hours. I made two batches to make sure I had enough pairs of eyes to test different paint colors and patterns.
Here is the finished product. There is a flat side which you paint on and a rounded side which gives the eye the look of depth.
My first attempt at painting the eyes. I used the eraser end of an old pencil to make the pupil by dipping it in black paint and carefully dabbing the center. It came out too big for the look I was going for but the color was pretty close. I wanted to stick to amber colored eyes.
Test trial #2… I painted on the pupil instead of using an eraser and tried a more elongated shape which I didnt end up using but the color and textures were spot on with what I was trying to achieve.
Test trial #3… I used different colors and tried different patterns just to see what would happen. Dont be afraid to explore when trying new techniques, it can lead to happy accidents.
Test trial #4… Getting the colors down. Tried different paint techniques to get different patterns. This was very close to what I was wanting for his eyes. Be very careful to remember the order in which you layered the different paint and patterns so that you can replicate the look on the matching eye.
Test Trial #5… I used an old earring holder to “stamp” a black ring around the pupil just to try a more menacing look.
Test Trial #6… VERY close to what I want with the patterns and textures.
Test Trial #7… This was the “BINGO” attempt. It had the perfect mix of a menacing look and different shades of amber. This is the eye that ended up being used.
All the materials needed to begin including the base board for the display, PVC pipes for the skeleton, ancors for the PVC pipes, foam rubber, hotwire to cut the foam rubber, and Super 77 spray adhesive for the foam.
This is a PVC pipe ancor drilled into the wooden base which will support the skeletal frame.
Cut the PVC pipes to form the basic skeletal frame of the sculpture. It leads from his shoulders up to his neck then to where his head will go on top.
This is to show the tenative angle at which the neck will curve. The pipes were cut with a PVC pipe cutter. All of the materials here can be found at Home Depot.
The idea was to have the sculpture in portions by cutting seperate slabs of the neck and layering them on top of each other like a cake up the PVC pipe skeleton. Here is the first slab of Godzilla neck. Its a basic cut that will later be trimmed down and detailed. The outline includes the shoulders. The markings on top represent the outline of where the next layer of foam will go and cuts that need to be made for the PVC pipes to go.
Front view. The foam rubber was cut with an electric knife used to carve meats. I use that tool for the larger cutting then move to my hotwire for the smaller cuts.
The next layer of neck added. I used scissors to dig holes into the foam for the PVC pipes to be skewered through.
The third and final slab of Godzilla neck added.
Looks like a confusing mess of foam rubber but I cut things large to leave plenty of sculpting room.
Trimmed down the edges so that all the layers lined up and began sculpting the basic structure of the neck line.
The shapes on the side are his shoulders and the frill of his neck. The shape in front is his neck line leading down to what would be the beginning of his chest.
This piece is the basic shape of his lower jaw. Everything is cut big and looks blocky at first but it’s so that I have breathing room to cut away the foam down to the shape I want it. This technique is often refered to as subtractive scultping.
Did a little more refining of the jaw. Its important to have reference material nearby to look at when scultping. I often look to the S.H.Monsterarts figures as they have great detail and thier segmented pieces are perfect for the style in which I’m creating this sculpture.
When constructing the upper portion of the head, I used two layers of 5 inch foam. I placed the eyes I made into where they would go to help me gage the anatomy of his head.
When sculpting, I often use a sharpie marker where I want the foam to sink in to create an outline. By this time, I’ve switched over to the hotwire for cutting. It’s important to be in a well ventilated room or outside as the fumes from the cutting are unhealthy. Here I’m focusing on his cheeks which are largly inspired by the Legendary Godzilla.
Whats tricky about subtractive sculpting is that the details on one side have to mirror the details on the opposite side. It doesn’t have to match perfectly however as there is a lot of asymmetry in biology. The nose is looking flat in detail here which is the next focus area.
Added a little more definition to the snout. The classic “Godzilla brow” is starting to take shape and become a little more recognizable.
Continuing to sink in all the little wrinkles and shapes. Note that a lot of pieces are held together with pins. I wont glue anything down until the very end once I’m satisfied with the final shape.
Here I’ve added the lower jaw to get a sense of the direction the upper head is heading in.
The back side of the neck was looking too slim for how big the head was going to be so I added some bulk which ended up serving a double purpose of being the armor plating on his neck.
More neck plating added. This design is inspired by Legendary Godzilla as I’ve always loved the look.
Adding the plating made everything a little more proportionate.
Another feature I like about Godzilla is his ears so thats going into this design.
Beginnings of his horns leading into his dorsal plates. Also addded sharper lines to his brow as I cut too much away and lost a little bit of the menacing look. Everything is held in place by pins until I’m satisfied with the look before gluing down.
Another feature I’ve seen on some Godzilla incarnations is having one or two larger head horns at the crest of his head which is what I have going on here.
Added a few more rows of horns. All of these were carefully cut with fabric scissors.
It was at this momment that I could finally step back and say “Yup, looks like Godzilla.”
So here was an experiment that worked out very well in the end. I’ve always loved the ridged neck pattern often seen in the Godzilla designs from the 2000’s. To save me some time from cutting foam down to the size and shape I wanted, I took yarn and cut it to length going up the neck.
The blank space between the yarn and the bottom of the neck will be filled in with larger foam rubber strips to have a tapered effect going up the neck.
Refined all the wrinkles and features on his head and added more horns.
I temporarily removed the yarn strips and began adding larger foam strips leading up to where the yarn would start.
Here’s the other side of the neck completed. I also added detail to the neck line. Each piece was cut seperately then layered over each other.
Taking a step back, I noticed his shoulders were looking too small so I added a thick piece of foam over the existing shoulder then used a needle nose pliers and tweezers to pluck at the foam which achieved the scaly look.
Added little bumps to his jaw. I’ve seen this feature in lots of fan art and I’ve always liked the look.
Here’s the opposite side completed with scales and detail. One thing about sculpting is that what you do to one side, you have to do to the other but biology is asymmetrical so it doesn’t have to match perfectly.
Added horns to his shoulder. I’ve always liked this feature on some of the Godzilla designs. I also marked where I think his dorsal plates are going to go.
Here are a completed set of teeth for the upper jaw. They were made out of sculpty clay then I baked them at 275 degrees for about an hour and a half to harden them. I then painted them and added gloss finish to give them a wet look.
Added a few of his teeth. I used a hot glue gun to glue them in place. The two front fangs are elongated to resemble the 54′ 55′ and 84′ incarnations.
Close up of the teeth. Also added a few foam pieces to make a more seamless connection between the upper and lower jaw.
Hearing the roar in this picture. There’s always a moment when making suits or things like this where you can almost see it all come together. You can almost envision the finished product.
While the sculpture will have the mouth locked open, I still wanted to make sure that the teeth lined up realistically and were positioned correctly. I also marked where the bottom teeth would go in between the upper teeth.
With the teeth now in place, I sculpted “root lines” into the snout. I achieved this detail with tweezers.
Added small fins along the back side of the neck.
Added small fins to the other side of the neck. This design is pulled from the Legendary Godzilla.
Sculpted the tongue out of sculpty.
I formed the tongue in that position to give the look as if he’s roaring.
Added the bottom teeth and marked where I’m gonna sculpt the teeth “root” detail.
The area in between the horns was looking too flat in detail for me so what I did was take the left over plucks of foam from using the tweezers and used it to make a bumpy skin texture. I bag up all the plucks of foam and just spray adhesive the area then sprinkle the foam bits onto the glue.
Added more detail to the tongue and baked it. If you look closely, you can see little taste bud dots. I took a small hair brush while the sculpty was still soft and pressed it agaisnt the sculpty. Also added detail to the bottom jaw.
Added the main middle dorsal plates down his neck along with a secondary row of smaller plates. The little foam plucks were once again utilized for the detail on his larger fins.
His cheeks were looking a little flat so I added this detail to them. This is definitely inspired by Legendary’s Godzilla.
Matched the detail on the other side.
First coat of primer going over the neck. I took a grey latex friendly paint and mixed it with liquid latex and hand brushed it onto the foam. I let each coat dry with a total of 3 coats. The first coat is sucked up by the foam like a sponge so 3 coats are required. The liqid latex gives the sculpture a rubber suit look and also protects the foam rubber.
Everything looks so much more seamless when its in one color.
Spray painted the neck with highlights to make things pop and used black to add shadows.
Moved onto the head with adding the latex.
Focusing on the mouth now, I painted the inside with a flesh tone base then added a darker fleshy color over that.
Feeling like the tongue was blending in too much, I added an orange color to make it pop a little bit against the darker flesh color.
Here’s a little experiment that I wasn’t sure if it would turn out the way I wanted it but it did. I took some leftover liquid latex and spread it out onto a sheet. I let it dry and pealed it off. The final product was a nice sheet of skin like material to use for the sides of his mouth.
And heres’s the finished product of my experiment with the latex. This is a feature from legendary’s Godzilla that I really liked so I wanted to include it.
Added this detail to the bottom of his jaw….leaving no stone unturned. I created this by using yarn and gluing it down then painting liquid latex over it to blend it in a little.
View from the top. All done painting.
View from the front of completed head.
A last minute detailI thought to add were eye lids which brought a lot of realism.
Here’s the completed sculpture compared to the head of my very first Godzilla suit.
Another comparison shot from the front.
Size comparison with me, the Mad Scientist.
Side view of completed Godzilla head. Note the painted base.
View of the back. I’m very happy with the placement of the fins.
Here’s the head on display in the Dojo Studios room at G-Fest 2015. I was able to get his eyes to light up using LED’s from a auto parts store.
Head on display in the model room at G-Fest 2015
And there you have it…from beginning to end. It started with concept art on a piece of paper and ended on the display table in the model room at G-Fest. The completion of this project brings me one step closer to a fully realized Godzilla costume….coming very soon.