Cavern Work In Progress

Now that I had created my cavern ceiling using resin and chopped fiberglas cloth it was time to begin covering it in Apoxie Sculpt clay.

After mixing up a batch of parts A & B of the clay I apply a thin veneer of it to the cavern ceiling working it down onto the walls of the cave.

I can't work too large of an area at a time because I have to impart a rocky texture to the clay before it begins to set up.

This photo is of the entrance to the cavern. It is made of hardware cloth and styrofoam board.

After adding a layer of mache I covered it in Apoxie Sculpt clay. I find the mache closes the pores of the styrofoam board otherwise I keep getting loose particles of styrofoam as I apply the Apoxie.

An added benefit is it bulks up the piece without the added weight ( and expense ) of a thick layer of Apoxie clay.

This photo shows the finished cave entrance painted with acrylics and placed in its position on the plywood base. I now begin building up the rest of the cliff face which will eventually be joined to the entrance.

Here is one of the supports for the interior of the cave. It shows the wood frame, styrofoam board and veneer of Apoxie Sculpt.

This is a close up photo of the rock texture of one of the supports.

I hope to get a great deal of work done today before the heat and humidity return later in the week!

Skull Island Wall Completed

Once I had finished painting the wall I sprayed it with two light coats of Krylon Matt clear to protect the finish. Working on the wall was definitely an interesting project but I was glad to have finally finished it!

Next up I'll be making a miniature sacrificial altar to match the wall.

Staircases Added To The Skull Island Wall

After I had painted and antiqued the staircases I positioned them in front of the wall to take some photographs. I shot one in B&W to see how it would look.

Painting The Miniature Skull Island Wall

Eric Kessler the filmmaker that had designed the six foot long wooden wall had cut it in half to make transporting it to my studio easier.

A fact I was thankful for when it came time to lug it outside to spray it with grey auto body primer.

After priming it I dry brushed several acrylic colors over the entire wall to make the stone texture stand out. Next I mixed up a thinned down mixture of acrylic paints to make a wash. Using a soft brush I applied this over the stone and wiped off the excess with a rag. The wash settled in the cracks and crevices giving an antiquated look to the wall.

Beginning Work On The Skull Island Wall

Using a ruler I penciled in the location of the stones on the plywood. Mixing up a small amount of Apoxie Sculpt clay I began applying it to the wall.

After I had a thin veneer of clay in place I began to texture it with wood tools and rubber stamps I created to give it a stone like look.

I had about an hours time before the clay had cured to a point that wouldn't allow further tooling. I would then mix up more clay and start another row of stones. It was slow going but I think the results were worth it. The stones appeared realistic and no two were exactly alike.

Skull Island Gate Update

After my one piece latex mold had cured I needed to make a mother mold. A mother mold is an outer rigid shell that prevents distortion of the flexible latex mold. In this case I used Apoxie Sculpt clay to make my two piece mother mold.

I brushed Vaseline over my latex mold and the tile it was mounted on. Then I pressed the Apoxie clay over one side of the mold. When the clay had cured I brushed Vaseline over the edge of the mother mold and mixed up another batch of Apoxie clay. I covered the second half of the latex mold and firmly pressed the Apoxie clay in place. The next day I popped the mother mold open.

I turned the latex mold inside out and cleaned out any debris. Then I sprayed mold release over the inside surface. I set the latex mold inside my mother mold and clamped the two halves together. Slowly I poured in my casting material. After pouring the mold a second time I had identical castings of the catches that the bolt of the gate would slide through. This photo shows how the finished catches looked mounted on the gate.

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.