Working on the Gates

To make working on the gates easier I first removed them from the wall. After studying screen grabs from King Kong (1933) provided to me by Eric Kessler I decided to add two crossbeams to each side of the gates.

I used wood glue on the crossbeams and clamped them in position. The next day when the glue had dried I removed the clamps and drilled holes in the crossbeams to accept short pieces of hardwood dowel.When I finished adding the dowels I painted the gates with brown acrylic paint.

The Skull Island Wall in Miniature

I recently had the opportunity to recreate the look of the gates and wall of Skull Island from the classic film King Kong (1933).

Film maker Eric Kessler had made the wall out of plywood. Now he wanted me to give it a stone like appearance.

I knew from our conversation that the wall was 6 feet long. But when he arrived at my studio with his wall in tow it took over my work space! Here is a photo of the wall and gate before work began on it.

The Completed Styracosaurus Sculpture

Working on the Styracosaurus was enjoyable. It was an interesting challenge to sculpt something that had to have movable parts for stop motion animation. Eric Kessler has since completed filming the sequence where the raptors are feeding on the dead Styracosaur.

He was kind enough to give me a sneak preview and the scene came out great! It isn't often I get to see one of my creations come to life in a film. What made it even more exciting for a Kong fan like me was it is featured in a stop motion King Kong film.

If you haven't seen any of Kessler's animation of Kong and the other inhabitants of Skull Island you should check out his work on Youtube. Here is a link to one of my favorite clips:YouTube - Kong vs. Pack of Raptors

Painting the Styracosaurus Sculpture

Making a base to display the Styracosaur.Using Apoxie Sculpt clay I textured the edge of a wood base to look rock like.

Next I mixed ground cover with a 50/50 mixture of water and Elmer's Glue to coat the base. While it was still moist I worked some moss here and there to add some color.

When it came to painting the Styracosaur I used paints from WASCO -- Wildlife Artist Supply Company and my Iwata HP-BC airbrush. Once I had the general coloration and markings laid out I clear coated my work with Testor's Dull Cote to protect it.

When that dried I used pastel chalks on the horns and also sprayed them with Dull Cote. The next day I mixed up some thinned down acrylic paints with blending medium to make a dark brown wash. I brushed this over the entire dinosaur and wiped off the wash to accent the scale work and tie all my colors together.

Sculpting the Styracosaurs Body

Once I had the head and legs added to the armature I began to sculpt the dinosaurs body in Aves Apoxie Sculpt clay.

Since the neck and jaw were going to be manipulated for stop motion animation I installed a stop nut in the side of the body. This would enable the Styracosaur to be tightened down onto the set and prevent unwanted jiggling during animation.

When I had finished the sculpting I gave the dinosaur several light coats of grey automobile primer. I then built up the sections of jaw and neck which would be animated with foam rubber.

A Tongue for the Styracosaurus

In his film Kessler wanted the downed Styracosaur to have its tongue ripped out by attacking raptors. This would require a flexible tongue, jaw and neck area.

I began by sculpting the tongue out of Super Sculpey polymer clay. Next I made a two piece Plaster of Paris mold of the tongue. Several days later when the plaster had dried I was ready to cast the flexible tongue.

I chose latex from the Monster Makers . They carry a high quality latex used for mask making. I mixed a small amount of latex with acrylic paint till I had a suitable fleshy tone. I brushed two light coats of this latex/paint mixture inside my mold. When it dried I clamped my mold halves together and carefully inserted a braided section of aluminum wire down the center. I then filled the rest of the mold with pure untinted latex. When the latex dried a few days later I had my flexible tongue.

The Styracosaur Gets Some Legs

Using Apoxie Sculpt clay I began building up the front and rear legs of the dinosaur. The claws were made of Super Sculpey polymer clay which had been baked before they were added to the toes.

The look of the Styracosaurs scaly skin was achieved by pouncing a piece of textured latex over the clay while it was still soft.