:Finishing

Once the model was finished, I coated the whole thing  in acrylic sealant (I use to do that to a lot of my early projects!).   Apart from adding a fire retardant layer to the mask, it unfortunately increased the weight factor drastically.  However it did have the desired effect of smoothing out all the harsh edges and giving the whole thing a rounder, softer look.  It also gave the foam sheeting a good surface to adhere to.

I used a spray  mount adhesive to bond the foam sheeting to the primed rubberised head.   The whole head was covered by one single sheet.  By starting off at the crown of the head, work your way around in an organised fashion teasing and stretching the material around the contours of the mask.  Any excess could then be trimmed off.

A clawed hand was manufactured quickly, by adapting a kitchen washing up glove.  Firstly by gluing the two outer fingers to their respective partners, and then building out finger extensions from construction card.   Once this was crafted to represent an insects appendage (remember, I had no reference material for this!), the same process of acrylic sealer was applied and smoothed, and left to dry.  I still had plenty of foam rubber sheeting remaining from the head, so I used what was left.  Some very nice claws were created by cutting up an empty plastic 'Cola' bottle.

And that's it.  Quick and easy mask making!

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©   S y l a k    S p e c i a l   E f f e c t s

Sculptor / Model maker: Sylak  -   Make-up artist / Painter: Nicky
Assistant concept designer: Curt.

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