I still haven't done the materials tests needed to transform my PVA powder into a nice plastic. Soon, maybe? Hard to say.
I also need to do an inventory of the materials that Dr. Carpenter gave us, and make a shopping list of what is needed to round them out. Wednesday tends to be my random task night, but Wednesdays have been busy lately! And NEXT Wednesday is the Scare meeting at the Lodge.
The last two Wednesdays a few of us have gotten together to round out the Scare project / task list. We've filled in some estimates and cut out some projects, and generally tried to get a grip on the massive task that is building an ambitious haunt. All of it is in the Wiki, so for those who have access, go check it out!
What I have been able to do the last week, however, is still pretty good. The Goblin program is coming along, and I've got a basic system of lights worked out. I need to work up some of the advanced features, and get the communication network integrated too.
I built up three of the little blinky circuits (the so-called "micro-Goblin"), and I still need to build up some of the other circuits -- the bridge/power board, the laptop interface, and the 110VAC control version.
Saturday I spent the morning reinforcing the weaker of the mother molds on Nathan's lifecast, and extending both halves of the mold down to an even, square base with a nice flange. This will make it easier to hang upside down (or plug and clamp into the rotomolding machine) later.
Saturday afternoon I packed up my makeup kit and wandered out to the IGDA picnic for abour four hours, doing some fun makeup on random strangers who foolishly wandered into our tent:
http://tinyurl.com/ljd8zm
After that I started heading to Paul's for a bit of party time, but never made it; overcome by heat and weariness, I headed home and turned into a blob.
Sunday I went to the lab a bit later than usual (10am, goodness, I'm slacking!) but I did spent an hour or two prior working on the Goblin system.
The first thing I did was clean up the INSIDE of the plaster part of Nathan's mold. I figure that cleaning up the inside of the mold once will be easier than cleaning up the two or three positive castings I expect to make later. I had hoped to cast a positive today too, but decided to let the fresh plaster cure for a day first.
Instead, I did the finish work and then heat-polished four sets of teeth; the first teeth I started when the whole dentistry project was launched months and months ago. I did some large fangs for Ian, and finally finished up Crystal, Marla, and this quiet girl's teeth (Niobium? Titania? Nicky? They are marked "Ni"... it could mean anything!).
Soon, I'll make molds and cast acrylic and be done with that phase of the project! Yay!
I also did a second pass of cleanup on these crazy saber-tooth fangs I'm experimenting with on my own teeth.
Oh, and I captured Marla's lower teeth, but didn't get Charlotte or Nathan today for some reason. Right! They must have slept in.
Coming up next: Lifecasting me, I hope I survive! Also, Nathan's first casting and the beginning of the Demon makeup in earnest.
Wow, it's been a couple of weeks (three weekends!) since my last update. I could have sworn I was going to do weekly posts... ah well, work has been crazy and the weekends not much slower!
Since I last wrote, I received my shipment of silicone, alginate, plastics, and other supplies from Smooth-On; sadly, one work-day later then I needed, so the life casting was moved forward to last weekend. More on that later.
Also last weekend we had a massive workshop setup and cleanup event (we call these things "parties" to draw more workers) -- and we got excellent results. In the midst of this chaos, Mohammad, one of our diligent volunteers, used the (shiny new) tubing bender to curve out a half dozen or so tubes for the vortex tunnel. Minions are great!
Paul, when not building new stairs to help us get IN to the lab, or shelves to help us store stuff, also started work on the portable "oven" for the vacuum table, very handy.
In my copious free time, I put together the prototype for the large blood pump. I also whipped up a useful magnetic stirring device to make it easier to formulate the blood and slime recipes (some powders really must be continuously stirred while sifting or they clump terribly). The blue LED from the variable-speed computer fan gives the whole thing an eerie mad-science glow that I love, too.
I never did get to trying to make skull-cap material out of PVA; I'm -sure- it will work, though! Just need to try a dozen or so formulations until one works... maybe next weekend.
Also, last short piece, my dentist (Matthew Carpenter, in Round Rock, great guy) has been providing information and materials support for our dental prosthetic task.
The BIG event, that we've been preparing for, was the lifecast of Nathan, who we will then sculpt Demon makeup for (pics later). We will transform this nice fellow into a nine foot horror... it will be fun! We will also do the same to _me_ (the price I demand for buying all the supplies) as a backup, and for my Christmas costume. Sadly, my own lifecasting won't be for another couple of weeks, due to schedule constraints.
Beginning our Sunday early at the Lab, I put some finishing touches on the magnetic stirrer; kicked around a bit; and started assembling supplies. We were using a number of new things this time around -- burlap and raw plaster, a new additive to the silicone to act as a built-in release, and of course, no bald cap.
The bald cap and the burlap instead of medical bandages is due to the offensively expensive nature of these items. Sadly, it turns out that at least one of them (the plaster bandages) is still critical to the success of a good plaster shell. But burlap and Hydrostone 105 (10-15 minute set time) can still act as a durable second layer just fine. And it’s infinitely cheaper than medical bandage.
I did a test of the burlap "bandage" and it set up fairly well, and it took the plaster nicely.
I got an ancient tub with remnants of some body double (the silicone I use) and mixed up a small batch to make sure it would set. It did, if a bit sluggishly.
Marla cut a bunch of burlap strips. I organized the table, pre-measured some stuff, fiddled with some minor things. Matt came around noon and built a scrap box out of scrap wood, it lovely and useful thing. Beth showed up, as did Susan P (the OTHER Susan P).
Nathan had gotten turned around, but eventually Susan was able to get him to the lab... but our noon start time was well destroyed by then.
At two-ish, I gave the assembled (restless, cat-like, distracted) crew the long, detailed "this is what we are doing" story, referring to my three pages of notes in the process. Sorry for the tedium! But I like to have a well-informed group.
Of course, Matt and Marla have assisted me on this stuff for _years_ and are great -- I'll be relying on them to do my lifecast later. A lot of the spiel was for Nathan (a complete newcomer, unaware of the torments to come, though we did try to warn him), Beth, and Susan.
That done, we propped Nathan up on a comfy stool, gave him his last chance to drink or pee for the next three or four hours, and then taped cling wrap to his head. Okay, I used spirit gum for parts, and cloth bandage tape for others.
Since we aren't doing an "art mold" but just a form (with detailed face/clavical) to act as a base for prosthetic makeup and costume, we weren't worrying about most of the details.
Once he was capped, some trash bags and duct tape made a fetching protective skirt for him. Of course, the rule at the Lab, especially if I'm working with anything the least bit moist, is to never wear anything you love...
The back shell of burlap soaked in plaster went very well, though the weight of the material made it pull away from the center line we started with -- annoying, but not too bad, since we just reset the center line after the bulk of it had firmed up. However, medical plaster bandages do a much better job of sticking and conforming to the model, so the first layer should be made up of those, with a second layer of burlap/plaster for strength (and cost reduction).
The final aspect of the back shell was to build up a ridge about an inch back from the edge, to act as a back-stop for the front shell (a technique that I decided just prior to this project) and with keys for rotational alignment. I then used some loose plaster to fill any undercuts around the ridge and to generally firm up anything that looked too dry.
Once the ridge and keys were firm, I took a sharp modeling tool and cleaned the edges, removing texture, locking points, and giving clean lines to the ridge and edge. Then, a liberal (very liberal, widely applied) layer of petroleum jelly. Yum!
The front frame went in about the same as the back, though we started with bandage based on our experience with the back shell. We had just about finished the front from (and partial shell) when we, and by we I mean Nathan, discovered that lifecasting in a 100-degree lab is not the best way to support life. Heat-induced claustrophobia took over Nathan's brain and we popped the shells off of him. We were at a point, however, that everything was in good shape.
After cooling Nathan down, we remembered that we had a (newly cleared) air-conditioned office at the back of the Lab. Oops! We moved into there to help finish revive Nathan.
To all of our surprise, Nathan then insisted that we finish the mold. Dubious, we were eventually convinced.
We strapped the shell back onto him, held in place with a loop of duct tape, and then I used one layer of medical plaster bandage to lock the halves together. No worries about having to chisel him out, though, since a single bandage will peel off pretty easily; it has just enough grip to act as a clamp.
Our trusty assistants (Marla and Glen by now, Beth had to take her leave) then started mixing up silicones.
Remember that test I did at the beginning of this day? Yeah, well, it appears that storing the silicone at the lab in fact did kill it -- it set all right, it set up almost instantly! Even with the new Hyper-Folic additive, which would normally retard the setting.
Of course, the 80+ degree weather in the office still didn't help. These materials say "Store and Use at Room Temperature." Apparently, rooms don't normally reach 110 degrees during the day.
Very aware of the amount of time that Nathan was having to spend in his shell, we threw out that batch of silicone and opened a new one, straight from the mail last week... only to find that it is setting up too fast too!
I didn't notice (at the time) that we had opened a quick-set one. Oops?
So I grabbed my trusty cartridge gun and my last two cartridges (which had been cooking at the lab just like the first, bad, tub we had discarded; I crossed _all_ my fingers on this one, believe you me!) and we went back to the old-fashioned method for the bulk of the silicone layer.
The details turned out surprisingly good for such an interrupted, heat-damaged process. For this, I have nothing but praise for my trusty assistants, Matt and Marla.
Eventually, we were happy with the silicon and I had thickened some and stuck on a few blocky, blobby keys, and we went straight in to finishing the front shell (even before the keys had set).
This was a simple layer of plaster locking the silicone onto the frame, and it went quickly and easily.
Then we popped the shells apart, as I marveled at how well my new technique at the edge worked, and pried it all off of Nathan's facial and head hair.
The tiny amount of hair-release we did manage to get onto his face, in that aborted silicone batch, did an amazing job.
Soon, though, I need to do a mix test with this stuff in a new, air-conditioned batch of silicone, to see how it affects the material.
And, from now on, I keep all delicate materials at home, and we start all lifecastings in the cold room in the back.
In spite of the excitement, we were done before six, giving us maybe three hours of working time on the model, and we got a mold that will do what we need -- provide a base to sculpt the Demon makeup onto.
Success!
I’m currently uploading over 100 megabytes of pictures to Flickr, so I don’t have links for them yet -- but look me up as EdwinWiseOne (a person) or for the sets “Blood Pump” or “Casting Nathan” to get a glimpse of the exciting life of a haunted house FX team.
Let's see... busy busy!
Last weekend I worked on some teeth Saturday (added the pics to this Flickr set: http://tinyurl.com/dbdx6q ) and ended up roughing out a half-dozen sets, including a new experimental one on my (new) duplicate that goes over the gums, to give me more control.
Sunday, then, I built up some sculpting turntables and armatures and generally fiddled around, and then did some actual sculpting (with Beth, whose work isn't online yet)... pics of the little guy I call Elmo, who has an hour of work or so in him, here: http://tinyurl.com/njsbpc He looks kind of ragged because he is... an hour doesn't give much time to clean up!
Then, later in the week, I worked up a fairly comprehensive project list for Scare 2009 (which will kick ASS) -- it clocks in at 148 entries right now... not ALL of which are for me to do, but still, the core group is about a dozen of us, we are gonna be BUSY.
Working off of THAT list, I worked up a shopping list and then went shopping!
I bought a metric buttload of materials from Smooth-On, then scattered my cash across another half dozen or so local stores.
Used the shiny new tubing bender (three-roller variety from Harbor Freight, model #99736) to do trial bends on some 1/2" square pipe, 1" EMT (which is actually an inch and an eight OD), and 3/4" EMT. Got some excellent results, some iffy results, one bad result. Overall, an excellent tool, and for $160 it's a HECK of a lot cheaper than the next cheapest which clocks in at $1,200 (or did I see one for $800? The overpriced stuff all runs together after a while).
An interesting result of crushing the 1.25" OD pipe into the 1" dies is that it forces it into an oval shape that is strong in the direction of curvature. I don't know if I care or not, but there it is. It also requires slow adjustments or the tube will squirrel out of plane, which is bad. To get a full quarter circle uses a lot of effort! And I have sixteen of these to make! Well, 15 now.
I'm also testing a variety of (cheap-ish) wheels and casters to use as supports for the pipes, which are destined to become a middle-sized vortex tunnel.
Worked up a design for a vacuum table with companion radiant oven, so I can do a lot of efficient molding work on THAT; bought the supplies to build it of course. Got the heater wire online last week, not to bad for price, hope it behaves! Also, have a query in to Regal on cheap thermoform plastic.
Worked up a design for massive chunk-tolerant blood pumps, using 4" PVC schedule 40 pipe, some miscellaneous other PVC fittings, weather stripping for O-Ring sealing, and racket balls for check valves. So far, the O-Ring test has been VERY promising, I'm quite encouraged. May get some leakage at the edges of the ring, but overall I expect the backing material to keep most stress off the seal, and with a 4" ID pipe I'm moving a LOT of blood. I'm going to use some 6" stroke pneumatic cylinders I have laying around to drive dual 4" PVC blood pumps with alternate cycles to get nearly continuous flow.
Did some research and found a company selling water-soluble skull caps... and then did some MORE research because their prices hurt my sensibilities and decided that they were using PVA to make these; and also using PVA to make prosthetic appliances for cuts and stuff. Which is AWESOME, because I'm about to order a HUGE amount of both PVA and Methylcellulose for my fancy-shmancy slime needs. Very neat; if this works, I'll be a happy camper. Oh, had to run out to Sally Beauty to get a few foam heads, to try to make skull caps on. May have to build those up some so they are big enough.
Almost forgot; bought and reviewed relevant chapters in "Clinical Aspects of Dental Materials: Theory, Practice, and Cases"... good book! Though not as good as the one we found at Half Price books, whose name escapes me.
Okay, have to do more shopping. Then, coming up; tooth work, sculpting, and more experiments. Next weekend, life-casting! With any luck.