Making Talos Awakes – Part 14 of 20
I modelled the hips in Plasticine (below left) and took a plaster mould of the form (right). I then cut a skirt from a donor cast and ground it to an even thickness, before heating and pressing it into the varnished mould.
After cutting away existing skirt sections, I used localised heat to fine-tune the donor skirt and fit it to the legs (below right).
At this stage the resin skirt form lack much of the shapeliness of Plasticine skirt form and the waistband was far too low. So the skirt would need a significant amount of additional work to achieve its final form.
Plaster mould of the Plasticine skirt form with a skirt section shaped by heating and pressing into the mould
Skirt form modelled in Plasticine | Fitted skirt form heat-shaped using plaster mould
Filling the right thigh gap
Due to the acute angle of the right hip joint, the top underside of the thigh was missing. So, I cut two sections of thigh that matched the adjoining texture. Then I ground them to a 2mm thickness, heat-formed them in line with the Plasticine profile and glued them into place. I then grafted in a missing section of loin cloth between Talos’ legs extending to the skirt line.
Two grafts fill a gap at the top of left thigh and another reinstates a section of loincloth | Right thigh graft
Expanding the skirt height
As previously mentioned, the waistband of the skirt needed to be raised (see right). To set the waistband at its original level, I needed to expand the back of the skirt by 18mm. To achieve this I:
- Cut away the front sections of a spare formed skirt just past the original mould side seams
- Slit between the pleats leaving a 5mm connection on each side
- Used localised heat to expand the pleats by 2mm (although some required less)
- Super-glued in 2mm wooden spacers to the pleat below each cut
- The spacers were only glued to the lower pleat to enable me to then carry out some initial fine-tuning of the pleat profiles
The too low level of the waistband before skirt expansion
The replacement skirt graft, slit and expanded by 18mm in total (2mm between most pleats)
Fitting the expanded skirt graft
I then cut away the old skirt, leaving the lowest pleat in place. This allowed me to fit the new skirt after cutting away its lowest pleat (see below).
The expanded skirt graft fitted to re-establish the original level of the waistband
Setting a new waistband and left skirt front
Next I cut a new waistband section including the left skirt front. To fit I adjusted the existing skirt section down over the right thigh and cut away the stomach below the rib cage.
I then removed all but the lowest pleat of the left skirt front, fitted the graft and heat-adjusted the profile of the lowest pleat from its central stomach junction with the waistband to the outside of the left thigh (right).
Now that both outer profiles had been set (waistband and lowest pleat), I slit between the pleats of the rear skirt section at the left side seam and adjusted the pleat profiles to form and flow around the left buttock across the hip to waistband, using three additional grafts to reinstate the missing front skirt pleats (below).
The too low level of the waistband before skirt expansion
Pleat profile adjustments and left skirt front pleat grafts laid out (see completed work below)
I then used four additional grafts to form and reinstate the original left hip mould seam.
The waistband and left front hem infilled with four grafts and the left mould seam is reinstated | The profiles adjusted to flow around the left buttock and hip
Setting the initial tight curve of the right skirt front
The new right side skirt front hemline (below left) initially follows the original skirt’s downwards sweep from the waistband. It then curves tightly up to a new line further down the top of the right thigh, beyond the junction the right thigh and rib-cage. Before rejoining the existing line of the lowest pleat graft at the outside centre of the thigh (below right).
To construct the skirt front over the right thigh, I grafted in a section of the waistband and lowest pleat, heat-bent to the desired tight curve. Then I formed and set the next two contracting curves inside the first and a small fourth section on top.
The right skirt front instated over the right thigh | The new lower hemline adjusted to meet the new lower hemline on top of the thigh
The skirt’s junction with the upper body
In order to allow the body halves to fit back together I slit between the pleats of a three pleat wide section I had formed and fitted over the top of the right thigh (below right, green/grey section). Then I adjusted the profile with heat and die-grinder to achieve a close fit with the chest (note the indents to accommodate the rib-cage).
The skirt pleats on top of the right thigh adjusted to allow allow the body halves to fit snugly together
The right hip’s contracting pleats
The relative positions of the hemline and waistband necessitated a gradual contraction in the width of the skirt pleats from the right hip to thigh top. I drafted the required form in Plasticine (below left). Then I reproduced it by cutting, heat forming and setting six individual grafts (below middle).
Right thigh skirt pleats drafted in Plasticine | Profile reproduced by six heat-formed pleat grafts
Finalising the skirt form and reinstating the right hip mould seam
As with the left hip, I slit between the pleats of the rear skirt section at right hip side seam. Then I adjusted the pleats down to meet and flow into the new pleat grafts running over the thigh (below right). I also took the opportunity to make final adjustments to skirt form around the right buttock and hip (below right).
Now that I’d set the form of the skirt, I cut, formed and fitted 13 variously sized grafts to fill the gaps left by the expansion of the skirt (below left).
It took a further nine grafts to reinstate the original right hip mould seam (below right). It took five more grafts to complete than the left. This was due to the reduced width of the pleats and because the change of line was far greater.
13 grafts fitted to fill the gaps caused by the skirt expansion | The reinstated right hip mould seam and the contracting right thigh pleats
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.
