Making Talos Awakes – Part 1 of 20
In March 2014 we began work on what is undoubtedly the most fascinating and involved sculpture project that we have ever undertaken. It has taken us over two years to complete with more than 3000 hours of painstaking work.
Talos is one of Ray Harryhausen’s most powerful and iconic creations. Talos Awakes depicts the Titan at the moment that he first comes to life and turns his head towards Hercules.
Ray had started work on this sculpture in the 1990s; he had made the plinth for Talos to kneel on but had not sculpted the figure of Talos.
When Vanessa Harryhausen, Ray’s daughter, asked me if I would take up the challenge of finishing this sculpture, using the original animation model for the figure, I instantly agreed. Talos has always been one of my favourite of Ray’s creations and having the opportunity to make a sculpture of him was a dream come true.
The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation kindly loaned the plinth to us so that we could carefully take a silicone mould from it. We decided that the best approach to working from the animation model would be to create our figure for Talos Awakes utilising the latest in 3D scanning and printing technology.
3D scanning and printing
Talos is now in his 50s and very fragile, so to avoid any possible risk in transporting him Nick and Tom of Central Scanning scanned him at Ray’s London home.
The digital data from the scan was processed to create a complete detailed 3D model.
Central Scanning then produced a high resolution copy of Talos at their workshops in Bromsgrove, Birmingham. They printed him slightly larger than actual size to allow for shrinkage during the moulding and casting process.
The images below show the 3D print, which was the starting point for the figure in our sculpture. You can clearly see that Talos’ latex rubber skin is has suffered the ravages of time. After 50 years, it shows signs of crumbling, particularly at the shoulders, knees and feet.
I have been lucky enough to meet Talos on several occasions. However, I had not studied the extent of the deterioration until the 3D printed model was in my hands. Making the sculpture was going to involve a staggering amount of work.
Restoration and repositioning
Before we scanned Talos I enlisted the help of a good friend and colleague of mine, Ben Southwell. Ben is an incredibly talented artist who has worked on numerous projects for Raven Armoury over the past 25 years. I don’t know anyone more dedicated to perfection or exact in their work. Quite frankly he was the only person I would consider for taking on the task.
Over the next few weeks we will be revealing the complicated processes behind the making of Talos Awakes. I will hand over the narration to Ben who will explain the trials and tribulations that have dominated our lives for the past two years.
Simon Fearnhamm
Raven Armoury, Thaxted, England.
These sculptures were hand made by Raven Armoury in association with The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation.
Based on effects characters created by Ray Harryhausen for a Charles H. Schneer Production.
TM & © Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
