Mortal Engines 'Shrike'...
The head is based on a fibreglass underskull that I have sculpted in WED clay and then made a mold and cast it. Then I've again used WED clay to sculpt an initial base skin on top of the underskull and again made a mold and took a cast from it. The teeth are dental grade teeth which were bonded to the upper skull and lower jaw. I've then attached the base layer of latex skin and gradually built up the skin layers by placing individual pieces of skin which took about four weeks to complete, In between each layer of skin I've hand painted it and then used a hot air gun to distress and age the skin further. For the eyes I used clear 26mm clear resin spheres which I've then back lit with 4mm ultra bright LED's. I've then painted the the mechanical looking parts of tje head and torso 'Humbrol no54 Brass' and then applied a dark brown, Mid brown and light brown boot polish and the applied a thin latex clear coat and finally sealed with 'Plastidip' clear gloss to achieve a mummified skin tone and look. Once this was done I applied a dark brown wash to the teeth to make them appear old and decrepit..
The long coat is made up of an old green 6 berth family canvas tent that I had lying about for years which I've then cut into the coats patterns and sewn together, This took me around four months to do, due to my health acting up and finances for threads etc. I've then used a hot air gun to burn through the coat in some areas that I've then added patches underneath to make it look like the coats had various crude repairs over the centuries. For the weathering again I've used a hot air gun and light, Mid and Dark brown boot polishes aswell as the cold coffee and tea methods of dying and aging. The brass buttons are screen matched to the film version 'The Lancashire Regiment' buttons.
His waistcoat is made up of an old leather jacket that I've taken apart and resticjed together, Burnt through with the hot air gun to show his stomach and his mechanical braided hydraulic tubes etc, His stomach is made from latex and taken from a clay sculpture that I created and is attached to the remnants of his trousers which are an old pair of grey 3/4 cargo shorts that I've cut down, Then aged and weathered using latex, The boots polish method and the hot air gun to finally distressed them before adding a couple of coats of sealer.
For his hands and fingers I created a WED clay sculpture that was then molded and a latex cast were take of each hand and then adding resin claws to his finger tips, Around six super thin layers of pre cast skin was then applied to different areas of his hands and fingers to depict centuries old, Mummified and decrepit skin, I then applied different tines of boot polish before frankly sealing them. For the mechanical fingers I cast resin items that were then painted Himbrol no54 brass, Aged and then Weathered and sealed using the above methods I've used throughout this costume.
The lower legs and feet were done using the above methods and then sealed with about five coats of 'Satin' clear Lacquer.
The belt was a real pain to replicate as there are no base item that could be used or modified/Adapted which was the same for his longcoat. So I've used pieces of an old three seater sofa that we were throwing out, Genuine WW1 brown leather pouches for his upper thigh pouches, Various metal greeblies that give tried my best to screen match and then again aged and weathered as with the above items to this costume.
I'm just waiting for a last coat of sealer to dry and I'll take further images of the full and complete costume this week and add them to my thread and entry..
Link to my Facebook Creations page Dark-Heart Creations.https://www.facebook.com/DreamWeaverFX
https://www.instagram.com/dark_heart_creations/profilecard/?igsh=NGJtdXpxYjhtMDZ2
Below is a link to a video I've taken of his completed head and torso that I've posted on YouTube...
https://youtu.be/_Im6xhutyE4?si=AJ2ytJtfki69HgY6
Comments
I present 'Shrike' as my 'Halloween costume contest' entry, And thankyou for your consideration.
Here's a link to a video posted to YouTube of the full and complete costume...