Hey there everyone! Here is my first attempt at using "Sculpey" polymer clay. I wanted to learn how to build my own figures from scratch to go with my Muppet theatre and I thought Polymer is the way to go. I wanted my sculpts to be in the same style/scale as the PALISADES line of Muppet Show figures released in 2006.
I always thought that Fraggle Rock would be a great series to create figures and sets for, so I decided to use a Fraggle head as a test of the materials and my ability to match up with my existing figures. I think it turned out pretty good. Please enjoy the pics and process:)
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| Here is the Final Sculpt. Same Scale and finish as the Palisades figures. The base and eyes are polymer clay, the hair is made from cotton thread. |
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| Here is a side view of the finished sculpt. I am pretty happy with the result, very close to the Palisades style. |
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| Here is the beginning of the process. I started by using the Polymer clay, working it till soft. its like plasticine and dries hard as plastic. I shaped it into Wembley's head and began texturing it with a skewer. |
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| This "sponge texture" detail was done on the entire head. |
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| Eyeballs are shaped from the polymer clay as well. |
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| I used many different images and videos as reference to the shape of the head and eyes. |
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| The mouth has to have the flat Muppet surface. |
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| Here is the head with the texturing all finished |
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| Once it was done, it has to be baked. I created metal holders for the oven so it would bake evenly. This material needs to be baked 15min for every 1/4" of material being used. |
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| While it was baking, I assembled the materials for the hair. According to the images, wembleys hair has multiple colors of green, yellow and white. I wanted the hair to be fairly close to the mariboo feather style of the Muppets, and cotton thread had the right scale and texture. |
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| First i would wrap the thread around my fingers until I had the amount I needed... |
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| Pull off the Loop... |
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| Cut it in half... |
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| Ready to be used as hair. |
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| I did the same with the yellow thread. These short ones are Wembley's bangs |
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| Now to bunch it up. |
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| I inserted a few flex of green and white... |
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| Muppet hair is growing!! |
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| Once I had all the colors bunched up, I wrapped it in tape and prepared it for glue. |
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| I dipped the bundle into some rubber cement to soak the base of the threads. Once it was solid, it was ready to go into the head of Wembley. |
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| Once the material was baked, and it was cooled down, I tested out the eyeballs with wire pegs to hold it in place. |
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| I then used my Dremmel tool to dig out a hole in Wembley's head to stick the hair bundle into. |
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| Hair gets tested in place. Fits great. |
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| The head gets painted a pale yellow, hair gets tested again for matching. |
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| Looks like a good match |
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| I used the oven stand to paint and finish the head sculpt. |
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| Mouth painting was next. Getting this right is almost as important as the eye pupil placement. |
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| Looking more and more like a Muppet. |
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| Once it is painted, I added a sealer to protect the paint job. Adds a bit of shine and finishing. |
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| Metal pins are in place ready for the eyeballs. |
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| I used the oven holder to spray paint the eyeballs. Gives a nice smooth even "Muppet Eye" finish. |
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| Eye balls are put in place....No Pupils yet..... |
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| Hair is added...but still needs to be styled and shaped. |
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| With Pupils added the eyes come to life! I wet the thread and used a blowdryer to shape it. so much better. |
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| Im not completely happy with the hair situation, but for a first run at it, Im pretty happy! |
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| I would call this a success and Im excited to start creating my own figures, especially Fraggle Rock!! |
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| Here is the Fraggle head in comparison to the other Palisades figures. Althogh the hair is real, and not sculpted I think its a good match. |
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Thanks again for checking it out! Let me know what you think of this Fraggle Head. Real hair? Sculpted?
