Trimming

With the fabric stiched together and pinned to the silicone cast I began the process of trimming the lengthy fur.

Using my reference pictures I began trimming the fur to short lenghts along the muzzle and sides of the face. I used hair dressing trimmers which worked fairly well, but sometimes got caught in the goat hair. I used scissors as well for certain parts of the fur.

Cutting The Fur Fabric

With the pattern made, I layed it on the fur fabric in the most space efficient way as possible. I also had to pay close attention to the direction of the fur making sure it ran down the wolf's head from the nose to the ears. I pinned it to the fabric and cut out the first piece.





I cut the second piece out without any problems. However, I made a mistake on the third piece as I discovered once i'd cut it out that the fur was going in the wrong direction. This was unfortunate as it meant I had to cut another piece out of my fabric. Once rectified I had the three pieces I needed to stitch together to form the fur on the wolf's face.



I pinned these three pieces together and began to stitch them trying to make the seam as invisible as possible. I sourced some clear nylon thread which is both strong and ideal for concealing itself among the fibers of the fabric.

I decided to stitch the seams completely, covering over where the eyes would be, and cut the eyes out once I'd shaven the fur.

With the pieces stichted together I pinned them to the silicone cast.

Pattern making

To make the pattern for my wolf's head I used clingfilm and selotape, a technique suggested by Jeremy Hunt. I also tried using paper and laying it on top of the silicone head, a more conventional method of pattern making. This method wasn't as effective as I had hoped as the paper was too rigid to lay nicely on top of the head to ensure a good fit.

The clingfilm was used to form around the shape of the head, and the tape was used to make the clingfilm firm enough to hold the shape of the head.

I used strips of tape in layers. Once enough layers had been applied, I pulled the tape and clingfilm off the head and trimmed off the excess. I then placed the pattern back over the head and drew lines on the tape where I thought the cuts and seams should be.

I then cut the tape to make the pattern to lay on the fabric.



With the pattern made I needed to ensure that it could be flattened out so that the fabric could be cut to fit the head. Fortunately the fur fabric is stretchy so it contours to the head quite well.

The next step is to cut out the fabric to the shape of my pattern.

Casting

I began the process of casting my wolf head a few days ago. To begin I sprayed release agent into the mould. I then thought about the methods I would use to cast the head. To help my cause I decided to ring Russel at Mould Life. He was extremely helpful and recommended I begin by stippling in the detail using the fast catalyst, and then paint the bulk of the head in layers using a thixotropic agent.

Taking on board Russel's advice I used a brush and stippled the silicone into the details such as the nose and eyes. I then began painting in layers. I found this method to be quite slow, having to wait for each layer to cure before adding the next.
After two days of this process the head was just about thick enough for me to demould.



In addition to casting the wolf head I also cast the wolf teeth out of resin from the silicone mould I made. Whilst I was painting in the tinsil gel into the wolf head mould I also painted some onto the teeth I cast. I thought this would be an effective way of masking the teeth so I can spray the gums the right colour.



I now need to tidy up the cast by cutting of the flanges and rounding off the gums. Once the gums are even I will cut out the silicone eyes and replace them with the glass eyes I bought.

Moulding

Last week was dedicated to moulding my wolf head sculpt. I began the process by covering the clay sculpt in Gel Coat, this process picks up the important detail on the nose and around the eyes. Once this had gone tacky I began laying on the fiberglass matting and resin. After about two-three coats of this, I left it to dry over night.



Once the fiber glass mould was cured I was able to take out the clay. Unfortunately this method of moulding is one shot only. So the clay comes out in pieces. It took a good amount of time spent picking out the clay before I was even able to clean it properly.

Once it was clean I was able to begin the moulding process. I began by mixing up the tinsil gel 10, the black pigment, and the fast catalyst. I then stippled the silicone into the details, such as the nose and the eyes. I then began painting in layer after layer of silicone.

Unfortunately this method is very slow. I decided to termintae this method and use the work I did as a test.

I shall redo the cast, hopefully using a better method.

Sculpting continued

This week I spent most of my time sculpting the wolf head. I tried to get as much feedback from my peers as possible to help me achieve the right look for my wolf head. I have been waiting for the arrival of my wolf's eyes and jaw set this week. They arrived on the 4th of November and from the eyes I was able to make replicas which I have put into the clay sculpt.

This has enabled me to close the eye lids around the eyes so that hopefully the real eyes will fit nicely. For now the replica eyes I made have helped me to get the eye lids to look more realistic. Until now the empty sockets distracted the viewer from the wolf head as a whole. The sculpt is already hard to identify, as it without the fur and looks very strange.

Having recieved the jawset this week I have prepared a mould for the upper jaw. I wish to mould and cast the teeth because currently part of the form which holds the jaw open when set against the lower jaw is protruding downwards. I wish to remove this so I will mould and cast without including this part.



I hope to start working with the fur next week as I am going home to collect it this weekend.