Nearly done

My entry back into the vent-building biz is starting by finishing the project I left unfinished 5 years ago.  I have two more conversion figures to build before I allow myself to tackle one of my original characters.

This little Asian fellow will also get a mustache, small whisker on the chin and a black braid. I already have the body and beautiful traditional silk-like Asian costume. Mechanics are simple... just a jaw and self-centering side-to-side brown eyes. As soon as he's whiskered, he'll go up for sale.

Clay every day

Today I've filled in some cheek areas and some territory on the sides of the head and above the eyes. It's best not to do too much because you risk putting finger dents in wet areas you've already worked on as you work on new areas. When that starts happening, it's time to stop for the day.

Hey, it's clay

This was even more fun than I thought it would be. I've laid on the first layer of paper clay on my alien figure sculpture. I have created a good foundation for the eyes and nose. I'll be putting on more nuanced wrinkles and facial textures. This will dry overnight, then more fun tomorrow.

My... what big eyes you have

I know this photo looks a lot like a previous photo, but there is a difference. The eyes are actually attached. I also decided that the front should be the back and the back should be the front.

I used Tacky Glue to attach them. I plan to start the application of paper clay around the eyes to secure them better.

A new part of the plan is to give this alien vent figure a long thin neck.

Filled the bill

The Locktite Foam worked. It expands as I was warned. In fact, it expanded even more than I expected. After it dried, I used a pair of old scissors to chop away the excess. My goal in this was to fill the voids so I wouldn't have to use so much paper clay. The bulging alien eyes aren't actually attached yet. I just wanted to show you for effect.

Tomorrow, the paper clay application starts... well... soon anyway.

See foam

My idea of filling the cavities on my armature with wadded-up plastic bags, then using duct tape to secure them was a failure. Not my first dumb idea and likely not my last.

My new strategy is to fill them with Loctite foam..the stuff used to seal cracks in walls and window frames. I have been advised by the fella at the hardware store to be very conservative with how much I spray into the cavity. Y'see, the foam expands... a lot! He said he once used it to seal a crack in a wall. He sprayed too much of it, it expanded and blew a BIG hole in the wall.

If it works, I'll post a photo. If it doesn't work... well.. on to my next bright idea.

My new website

Here's the new website I launched. DummyStore.net. It's a listing service for folks who want to buy or sell ventriloquism or puppetry items. I charge a modest listing fee of $10 for items priced $100 or more, and $5 for items priced under $100. But for a limited time, ALL LISTINGS ARE FREE! I'd like to attract a large number of listings so buyers will find a selection of cool items to purchase. Please give it a look and by the way, feedback is appreciated!

I wonder if this'll work...

Eventually, I will have to indicate where the jaw cut lines are on a clay vent figure sculpture. But how do I make sure the lines are parallel to each other and straight up and down? Well, this hacked tool might work.

I took two 90-degree-bent brackets and Krazy-glued them together. I measured the top and bottom to make sure the distances between them are the same (in this case, 2-inches apart). Then I Krazy-glued a small line level to the bottom of the brackets.

My plan is to make sure the line-level bubble indicates I'm holding it level, then I'll gently press the edges of the brackets into the clay.

For wider jaws, the brackets could be spaced and glued farther apart. Think it'll work?

Head on a pole

Sounds grisly, but it's harmless actually. I have mounted the styrofoam armature on a PVC pipe. I drilled a hole at the bottom, vacuumed out the debris and slid the pole into the hole. I used Tacky Glue to secure it.

Next, I need to fill the cavities on either side. As I stated in my last post, I'll try using wadded-up plastic bags secured with duct tape. I don't want to waste paper clay filling those cavities. Plus, the weight would be objectionable if I filled them with paper clay.

Pretty soon I won't be able to avoid starting the actual sculpture. (GULP).

The task before me

My big project is sculpting the alien from the drawing.  As I mentioned previously, the sculpture is for Buzz James of Braylu Creations. He intends to make a mold, produce polyurethane castings, and build figures from the castings. I came up with the drawing with his help, then Buzz provided the styrofoam armature, the vacuum-form eyes, the wood egg eyes, and the PVC-pipe neck.

My first job will be to mount the styrofoam armature on a PVC control stick. I figure I'll drill a series of small-to-larger holes at the bottom of the armature until the control stick slides in. I'll try to glue it in place. Next, I want to fill the cavities in the armature with wadded-up plastic bags secured with duct tape. Then I'll attach the vacuum-form eyes. Finally, the laying on of paper clay begins.

Green

Can you see it? I can't. I have a common red/green color-blindness. I think I've admitted to that before. In any case, one of my band members saw the Charlie head I'm working on and said, "Oh...a Frankenstein puppet". I asked him why he thought that and he said, "because it's green".

Usually, I ask my wife to check me on color, but she hadn't seen this guy yet. So, yeah. It's green. I prefer house paint on my figures which I order in the sample-size from Home Depot. I picked the color from online swatches. That's not a reliable way to pick color samples because every monitor is different.

I use a Behr house paint color called Coronado Dunes to paint Caucasian skin color. I think I'll mix in some acrylic yellow and try that out for Asian flesh tone.

And that's all for today.

No aversion to conversion

As you may remember, I like building conversion figures. This one was started 5 years ago (prior to my hiatus) as a special order from a client. Before I got too far, the client changed his mind, so this project has been staring at me for quite some time.

The client had requested an Asian character and that's what this figure will be when he's completed. The left photo shows the current progress. The right photo (Photoshopped) shows where I'm going. A fully costumed body has been sitting on the shelf all this time. I've built the self-centering eyes and the jaw is spring-loaded.

I have two more heads sitting on the shelf, one Charlie and one Slappy. They'll be getting some attention soon.

Get back

After a hiatus of almost 5 years, I'm active in the ventriloquist community again. I don't have much to show for it yet except for the cartoon drawing on the left. I've been engaged to sculpt a model of this fella by my friend and co-conspirator Buzz James of Braylu Creations. He's been building figures as well as designing, manufacturing and selling dummy-building parts. He plans to make a mold of my alien friend, cast heads from the mold, and build figures from there.

I'm also working on a website project that I will announce and unveil soon. It's still in the testing phase, but I expect it to go live within a few days or weeks. More on that later.

My reentry will probably not involve order-taking for figures. I'll likely build at my own pace and sell what I build. I'm way too lazy to do it any other way.

Over time, I'll clean up the links on this blog. I've noticed some have expired. Again, I'm a little lazy.

It's time

I need to admit to myself and others that the time has come to end this blog. I'm not really contributing to it and readership is declining appropriately.

I started the blog in 2006 to post news about my dummy-building adventures. You'll find nine years of proud moments, disasters and discoveries in the postings. I plan to leave the blog in place in case anyone needs to or wants to search for information. Just use the "Search" window in the upper left.

I appreciate the time you've spent reading and commenting over the years. I feel I've received more than I've given as I've posted to this journal. I will continue to design, build and sell ventriloquist figures. You'll probably see and hear about it from postings on the several Facebook vent groups, including the Kenny Croes Dummy Store Facebook site.

Again my thanks for making Vent Into The Mic relevant and fun. - All the best, Kenny