Monday 22 August 2011

District 9 Bunraku... Legs

Christopher Johnson now has legs!

The legs (believe it or not!) are pool noodles. I carved them into the shape I wanted, then layered several coats of latex and modpodge to them. Once they were the thickness/texture I wanted, I pieced them together with sections of PVC tubing and metal hinges.




I cut two holes into his hips and added more PVC tubing. Elastic was threaded through the two pipes, then through the legs, so they could move in all directions (while still remaining fixed to the hips themselves.



Although the feet still need to be added, the legs sure help him look more substantial than just a torso.

Monday 8 August 2011

District 9 Bunraku.... Harness

Sorry for the lack of updates, aside from work (which limits the amount of time I have to devote to this guy)... a lot of the process of cleaning the seams after removing the torso from the cast is slow; a little bit of work on the seams... fill some gaps with latex... wait for a day or two for latex to cure... do a little bit more work.

So! I now have a torso. The inside is filled with expanding foam (there are sections I hollowed out, as I noticed even with light foam, he is still pretty heavy). PVC tubing was inserted in key points in his back, his which were then attached to a harness.



The harness itself has an acrylic sheet for a base, then wrapped in the backing of a backpack I dismantled. I chose the backpack material since it has nice airflow and a little bit of padding... it should keep me from getting too sweaty, but stay comfortable. Right now the shoulder part of the harness is a little high, so I have a lot of weight pressing on my upper shoulders/neck area. I may move these shoulder straps lower so they rest on my shoulderblades. I'll give him a few more test runs to find the best location to distribute his weight.