WIP Skull Island Spider Pit Diorama

I thought I'd share a few work in progress photos. This past week I've been concentrating on finishing up the fallen log that bridges the spider pit chasm.

Here I am drilling a hole in the Apoxie Sculpt clay "bark" of the tree.

After drilling the holes I glued in my roots which were coat hanger wire covered in foil and then wrapped with floral wire. The floral wire helps the clay stay in place as you model it.

This is the first layer of clay. After it cures a second layer of clay will be applied which I'll texture to match the bark on the rest of the log.

Here is the snapped off top section of the log which I made by hot gluing Styrofoam over a cardboard tube. You can see the finished trunk section of the log primed grey in the background.

After using a rasp to shape the Styrofoam I coated it in wood putty.

The smaller roots of the log trunk were formed using aluminum and floral wire.

Here is the root nearing completion. It is covered in cotton and tinted liquid latex.

Next post I'll show the roots added to the log and go about painting and detailing it.