Like so many others who had a chance to play Overwatch at Blizzcon, Im eagerly anticipating the next time I can jump into the game!
For those that havent seen much about it, the game features simply amazing character design its the kind of thing where someone like myself will sit in character selection for half the match, simply enthralled by all the awesome things I want to make. I instantly fell in love with the style and outfit of Reaper, and I knew I wanted to make his mask. The following write-up is a walkthrough of my build, I hope you enjoy!
For many of my mask/helmet builds I often opt to go the sculpting route, and the same held true for this project. Ive used Monster Clay from the company Monster Makers for as long as Ive been sculpting, its well priced, easy to use, and heat activated (which also means its completely re-usable!). The higher temperature the clay is the softer it is, which allowed me to quickly start blocking out the rough shape of the mask with warm clay.
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After messily throwing clay on the head form, the next step was starting to refine the shapes and angles of the mask, and for this I worked in stages, focusing on one side of the mask at a time. The eyes & brow were an area of special significance on this project, as Reapers mask has a very pronounced expression that I really wanted to capture. Some makers and sculptures like to put their own artistic spin on things and take creative freedoms here and there, but I really take pride in trying to attain perfection in relation to the source, making game assets really come to life!
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The tedium of chasing symmetry was a large portion of the 100+ hours this project took from start to finish. To help keep things identically mirrored throughout the process, I periodically took photos and would throw a grid over it in Photoshop so I could measure proportions and angles. While time consuming, it was definitely worth it to get all the sleek curves and lines of the mask looking impeccable.
After Im happy with the shapes of the main portion of the mask I moved onto the cheeks, and made a quick pattern with painters tape so the cheek portions would continue the symmetry Id been working hard to maintain. Rinse and repeat the same process of blocking out, refining, and double + triple checking on the cheeks, and then it was time to move on to adding details and smoothing things out.
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I measured everything out and marked off the detail placement with pin pricks to line everything up and make sure the distances and angles were correct. Then to get the indented seam lines in the mask I simply played connect the dots with a small metal dowel, pressing it into clay until all the lines were at an even depth. The rounded recessed areas were made using a small plastic tube, sharpening one end and again just pressing it into the clay. In the final stages of the sculpting process I will brush the clay with mineral spirits once or twice to help smooth out the clay.
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Next up was making the first mold. I used Smooth-Ons Rebound 25 for this mold brushing on 5-6 layers IIRC. Knowing I only wanted one cast from this mold make a cheap and dirty mother mold using plaster bandages and coating it with resin. I used this method for many mother molds on my first few projects, and while its cheap and works, If youre planning to get a ton of casts out of your mold I recommend making a sturdier mother mold (like I did for the final master copy of the mask).
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With the mold done, I cast up a resin prototype, ready for further refinement. As you can see from the cast, I could have done more work to smooth out the original clay sculpt, but knowing I would be making a second mold, I find it easier to smooth and refine a resin mask than the clay.
What followed was a long process of sanding, apoxie sculpt, filler primer, and wet-sanding (with multiple rounds of each), but in the end I got that original cast nice and smooth. I also backed the eyes and open spaces with sintra for the molding process and etched Henchmen Props and a few Reaper quotes into the sintra just for fun, and it would be there in raw casts before prep work. :P
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I made a clay base to prop the mask up for molding, and set about on another Rebound 25 mold. Knowing I wanted to do a 2 part mother mold for the final mold, I added registration keys to keep the molds aligned when casting from them in the future. After the silicone mold was done, I made a quick cardboard divider, and filled in the seams with clay.
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For the mother mold I started with a base detail layer of EpoxAcoat GREY from Smooth-On, and followed up with 3 more layers with fiberglass mat for strength. On top of that I added a few coats of Plasti-Paste (Again from Smooth-On) for further support and strength, I want this mold to last a long time!). Once the first half is done, the cardboard and clay divider was removed, and the exposed silicone and raised part of the first mother mold half are sprayed with mold release, and the same mother mold process is repeated on the opposite side.
After both halves are done setting, I drilled 5 holes in the raised areas through both sides of the mother mold, which are threaded with bolts and wingnuts to hold the mold firmly together while casting.
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With final master mold entirely done, next was casting up the first copy of Reapers mask (I used Smooth-Ons Smooth-Cast 65D). For these masks, I did about 6-7 thin coats of 65D for a strong and lightweight casting, and after the final layer is done the masks are left in the mold for at least 20-30 minutes to let the casting fully set and cool down before demolding.
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After all that, it was time to slap some paint on the cast
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I've got a bunch of work done on the rest of the costume now, and will post that progress in the next few days,
Cheers!
Jordan
For those that havent seen much about it, the game features simply amazing character design its the kind of thing where someone like myself will sit in character selection for half the match, simply enthralled by all the awesome things I want to make. I instantly fell in love with the style and outfit of Reaper, and I knew I wanted to make his mask. The following write-up is a walkthrough of my build, I hope you enjoy!
For many of my mask/helmet builds I often opt to go the sculpting route, and the same held true for this project. Ive used Monster Clay from the company Monster Makers for as long as Ive been sculpting, its well priced, easy to use, and heat activated (which also means its completely re-usable!). The higher temperature the clay is the softer it is, which allowed me to quickly start blocking out the rough shape of the mask with warm clay.
After messily throwing clay on the head form, the next step was starting to refine the shapes and angles of the mask, and for this I worked in stages, focusing on one side of the mask at a time. The eyes & brow were an area of special significance on this project, as Reapers mask has a very pronounced expression that I really wanted to capture. Some makers and sculptures like to put their own artistic spin on things and take creative freedoms here and there, but I really take pride in trying to attain perfection in relation to the source, making game assets really come to life!
The tedium of chasing symmetry was a large portion of the 100+ hours this project took from start to finish. To help keep things identically mirrored throughout the process, I periodically took photos and would throw a grid over it in Photoshop so I could measure proportions and angles. While time consuming, it was definitely worth it to get all the sleek curves and lines of the mask looking impeccable.
After Im happy with the shapes of the main portion of the mask I moved onto the cheeks, and made a quick pattern with painters tape so the cheek portions would continue the symmetry Id been working hard to maintain. Rinse and repeat the same process of blocking out, refining, and double + triple checking on the cheeks, and then it was time to move on to adding details and smoothing things out.
I measured everything out and marked off the detail placement with pin pricks to line everything up and make sure the distances and angles were correct. Then to get the indented seam lines in the mask I simply played connect the dots with a small metal dowel, pressing it into clay until all the lines were at an even depth. The rounded recessed areas were made using a small plastic tube, sharpening one end and again just pressing it into the clay. In the final stages of the sculpting process I will brush the clay with mineral spirits once or twice to help smooth out the clay.
Next up was making the first mold. I used Smooth-Ons Rebound 25 for this mold brushing on 5-6 layers IIRC. Knowing I only wanted one cast from this mold make a cheap and dirty mother mold using plaster bandages and coating it with resin. I used this method for many mother molds on my first few projects, and while its cheap and works, If youre planning to get a ton of casts out of your mold I recommend making a sturdier mother mold (like I did for the final master copy of the mask).
With the mold done, I cast up a resin prototype, ready for further refinement. As you can see from the cast, I could have done more work to smooth out the original clay sculpt, but knowing I would be making a second mold, I find it easier to smooth and refine a resin mask than the clay.
What followed was a long process of sanding, apoxie sculpt, filler primer, and wet-sanding (with multiple rounds of each), but in the end I got that original cast nice and smooth. I also backed the eyes and open spaces with sintra for the molding process and etched Henchmen Props and a few Reaper quotes into the sintra just for fun, and it would be there in raw casts before prep work. :P
I made a clay base to prop the mask up for molding, and set about on another Rebound 25 mold. Knowing I wanted to do a 2 part mother mold for the final mold, I added registration keys to keep the molds aligned when casting from them in the future. After the silicone mold was done, I made a quick cardboard divider, and filled in the seams with clay.
For the mother mold I started with a base detail layer of EpoxAcoat GREY from Smooth-On, and followed up with 3 more layers with fiberglass mat for strength. On top of that I added a few coats of Plasti-Paste (Again from Smooth-On) for further support and strength, I want this mold to last a long time!). Once the first half is done, the cardboard and clay divider was removed, and the exposed silicone and raised part of the first mother mold half are sprayed with mold release, and the same mother mold process is repeated on the opposite side.
After both halves are done setting, I drilled 5 holes in the raised areas through both sides of the mother mold, which are threaded with bolts and wingnuts to hold the mold firmly together while casting.
With final master mold entirely done, next was casting up the first copy of Reapers mask (I used Smooth-Ons Smooth-Cast 65D). For these masks, I did about 6-7 thin coats of 65D for a strong and lightweight casting, and after the final layer is done the masks are left in the mold for at least 20-30 minutes to let the casting fully set and cool down before demolding.
After all that, it was time to slap some paint on the cast
I've got a bunch of work done on the rest of the costume now, and will post that progress in the next few days,
Cheers!
Jordan
