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BTVS FAITH & WILLOW PROJECT - PAGE 2, HAIR & PAINT

Experiments in hair. The idea here is to figure out the best method for applying hair.

Progress: Trial one - separate sculpted hair

Trial 1: Sculpted hair - The hair is sculpted in two or more pieces so that it may be assembled to curve around the head or face. The ears act as alignment pegs for the hair pieces. 

Step 1. These were sculpted from Sculpey on resin copies of the first sculpts. Before sculpting the hair, I hollowed out the resin copy as much as possible, then paint the head with several layers of acrylic paint. I do this in order to facilitate a later process: if the hair pieces come out well enough to be replicated, I will need to remove the head from the hair. The safest way to do that without damaging the hair (the piece I want to keep) is to just scrape/sand the head underneath away. Hollowing the head as much as I can now will save me much time with my Dremel, energy, and cursing later on. The paint will act both as a base for applying the Sculpey, and as a skin should I decide to remove the hair later.

Step 2. I start sculpting hair onto the hollowed, painted resin head. At this point, I only sculpt a bob/pageboy After sculpting the bob, I use a needle/pin to gently score a separation line (generally, along the part), making sure it works its way all the way to the resin. I then cure the Sculpey in my oven.

Step 3. I complete sculpting the hair with Sculpey and Milliput. After curing, I sand and smoothen. Then I coat and seal the completed sculpture with primer.

Step 4. If the completed product looks good enough to replicate, I use my Dremel with a carving or cutting bit to remove the remaining resin that was the head. I remove just enough resin to leave a thin skin, which then bends and tears easily enough for removal from the acrylic paint. If the score made in step 1 was deep enough, the hair pieces should also come apart easily enough from each other. Once separated, of course, I resand, putty, and prime over again as necessary. I can then make a two-part RTV silicone mold of the pieces and replicate them as many times as necessary.

TRIAL 1.3 - finished. Trial 1 was made on resin copies of the bald heads. Here are some pictures, with the hair pieces assembled, and separated.