Headband sculpt

After discussing my design with Pete Tindall, I have decided to cast the headpiece. With my headstand back in the studio, I have built up the basic shape of the headband in lumps of clay placed directly onto the plaster. I later learnt that as I am using WED clay, the plaster will absorb moisture out of the clay as I did not seal it with primer to create a barrier between the plaster and clay. However, as long as I keep the clay moist by spraying it with water and wrapping it up with cling film overnight, I should have a reasonable working time with the piece.

Beginnings of headpiece

To fit my model, my current stand is short of my model's head measurements by 40 mm. In order to be able to sculpt a good fitting headpiece onto the model I have added extra plaster to bulk the cast out. This will be sanded back once set. In order for the fresh plaster to stick to the primed surface of my existing bust, I had to firstly score lines into the surface with a sculpting tool. The plaster was mixed more thickly than usual so that I could apply it to certain areas without it running off the head. The main reason I am not making a fresh life cast is out of consideration for my model as she has only agreed to take part in the ending photo shoot.

model shots

My model is a third year fashion student at the University. Here I have photographed her front and side profile as reference to consider the differences between her face shape and that of my plaster bust. Considering the extra bulk of her hair, I have recorded her head measurements required for hat making and as reference to bulk out my plaster head.

shoulder piece mock-ups

shoulder piece resting on plaster bust

vacuum formed piece

detailed and sanded milliput piece

markings show where the pattern will be added

Using yellow foam and milliput, I created a test shoulder piece of my more organic design idea. The foam acts as support while I rolled out a layer of milliput in my desired shape. As milliput sets rigid, I felt this to be a suitable material to vacuum form ontop of without the detail becomming destroyed in the process. Before sanding the surface of the basic shape shown above, I punctured small holes into the soft milliput with a toothpick to mark out where the detail will be added. Using wire templates of the pattern, I have matched the detail at the front and back to join along the centre of the shoulder piece. To create clean edges at either end of the shoulder panel, I flattened and removed the excess foam and milliput at either end with the disk sander. Once the milliput had set, I vacuum formed clear styrene over the piece after attaching it to a piece of scrap wood to give a base which would aid with removal of the vacuum formed plastic from the milliput mold.

wing pieces

tiered pieces

segments layed flat

card guide for scale and positioning

In preparation for fabricating my backpiece, I have created a rough blue foam version to give me an impression of how large they should be in proportion to the body. From arranging each segment both flat alongside each other and layered up, I can see how the piece looks from all angles. An important thing to consider from this test is to make each piece of the wing fit better against each other if the wing is to lie flat as one piece. I can later use this tester to see how best to attach it to my model's back.

Final design rendering

Using the graphics tablet in Photoshop, I have started to render my final design. The colours have been sourced from art deco buildings, the Archandroid CD cover and the Metropolis, the chase suite CD artwork. Each segment of the overall design has been rendered on a separate layer to keep within the parmeters of the drawing. Whilst the shoulders and wing piece are highly influenced by art deco style and tones, the additional pieces over the shoulders and the headband reference modern interpretations of robots such as those seen in i robot and the Bjork music video, "All is for Love". I have tied these two styles together by using black graphics and gold bordering onto the headpiece detail. The finished costume will require different surface finishes for the shoulders and wing pieces. The headband and shoulder extensions should appear smooth and polished, reflecting the white shell of the Janelle Monae robot artwork. The shoulder pads will be finished in a more cracked and aged paintwork, appearing more dated in contrast. For the wings, I plan to cover these in metallic gold fabric for a more handmade appearance.

Life cast practice

mould ready for pouring the plaster into

front and back are secured together with bicycle tires, any gaps are filled with clay

plaster bandage over alginate and netting, the nose has been left clear to allow the model to breathe

alginate is applied to the face

model is sat upright to help support the weight of the modrock backing

After applying vaseline and a skull cap, the mod rock bandages are applied straight onto the skin of the model at the back

Today I assisted Amy with a head and shoulder life-cast to practice the processes behind making a plaster cast bust such as the one I have on my desk. Though my model does not wish to have a lifecast herself, I feel it is good practice to show how I would have reached this stage of a bust to work ontop of. If my fashion piece was more specifically fitted to my model then a lifecast would have deemed far more necessary, though it is more commonly used as a basis for makeup based projects.