COPYING USING FOIL - PART 2

So in part 1 we took the copy in foil project (a skull) right up to the layering in foil & then masking tape. Between then & this post i covered the skull in 3 layers of paper; 2 news print & 1 white 80gsm printer paper. Now ordinarily that alone would NOT be enough for most peoples projects as in terms of over all strength & i certainly would not advise anyone to leave any project that thin, BUT i intend on using 'most' of these skulls in such an arrangement & covering them all in a layer of 'bone mix' dragon skin which will make the skulls as strong as if they were made from 10/20 layers of paper.

So let's get to work & remove a skull copy & re-build it shall we?

Normally i would not require the 'red lines' but i added them here to show you were you would need to 'trim' the copy to allow it to be removed. Below you can see i have mapped out the 'whole skull' for you.

In case you were curious the 'CCO' on the copies forhead stands for Cut Copy Off.

Start by trimming the eye & nose cavities first then cut around the face & over & down the back of the skull. Once you are sure you have ALL the area's mentioned cut it's time to remove the face.

Release 'both' sides of the face down by the cheeks & pull evenlly as you go. If you cut it just right it should pop right off.

Perfect.

Now pull the back of the skull free.

If you are lucky then the back of the skull may come of as a single (but split) piece as this one did. If not then you should have 3 'crude' copies of your original skull ready to be pieced back together again. Do not worry if the back of the skull never comes off in a single piece it makes no differentce to the re-build.

Prepare some masking tape in advance to 'tack' the copy together with. On small builds such as this one i find i can fit ALL the masking tape pieces i will require on the back of one hand. This is a good handy (no pun intended there folks) tip when building a small but awkward project as i can hold the project & NOT be distracted looking away to reach for tape.

NOTE: If you are wearing rubber gloves for this stage not only will placing the masking tape ON the project be difficult but the prepared pieces of masking tape WILL stick to the latex gloves too firmly to remove it cleanly. When working with masking tape or ANY other kind of tape latex gloves are not helpfull.

Once you have the back of the skull re-built you are then ready to re-attach the face again. Remember you ONLY require enough tape to cover the cut you made. There is no point in wasting tape or time in covering the entire skull copy. It will serve NO purpose beyond time & wasting expensive tape.

Once you have the face back on you can NOW 'modify' around the eye sockets & nose cavities with the required ridges as a real skull would have. Add the small flat bone region to the sides of the templates & the short length of cheek bone, teeth etc Don't forget to add a small hole on each side of the skull to where the inner ear working reach into the brain for more authentisity. Then cover the 'whole skull' in as many layers of paper strips to make it strong. Leave to FULLY dry then paint as you wish.

Once you have a few skulls why not try making some 'grotesque' or 'demon' skulls too. The modyfications required are minimal & it will take next to nothing in time to modify the 'human' skull features to make a new skull. Here is an example of one of my future projects using some of these skulls.

By enlarging the cheek bones & the ridges of the eye sockets. This skull is already taking on a 'grotesque' form. It will be used after copying 'again' to make 4 entirely NEW projects i have in mind. Below are a few more angles of it to look at.

So far i have 24 skull copies ready for final modyfication before using in projects & they only took me 4 days to make them. Here are 16 of them the others are waiting to be cut free & re-built in another room.